Publications
Spera SA, Spangler KR, Hubert MO, Gorman MG (2023) The effects of climate change on the timing of peak fall foliage in Acadia National Park. Landscape Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-023-01703-0
Salisbury DS, Powell CV, Odraya BB, ..., Spera SA, ... (2023. Crossing Boundaries: transboundary geographic information in the Amazon borderlands of Peru and Brazil. Book chapter in: Socio-Environmental Research in Latin America. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22680-9_3
Reygadas Y, Spera SA, Salisbury DS. (2023) Effects of deforestation and forest degradation on ecosystem service indicators across the Southwestern Amazon. Ecological Indicators. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.109996.
Flores de Melo AW, Souza da Silva S, Oliveira I, Salisbury DS, Spera SA, Bordignon L, Brown F. (2022) Impactos da Rodovia Proposta Cruziero do Sul-Pucallpa na Amazonia Sul-Ocidental. Book chapter in: Ciencias ambientais na Amazonia, Stricto Sensu Editoria. DOI: 10.35170.
Spera SA, Franklin MS, Zizzamia EA, Smith RK. (2022) Recovering a Black Cemetery: Automated Mapping of Hidden Gravesites using an sUAV and GIS in East End Cemetery, Richmond VA. International Journal of Historical Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-021-00642-3.
Media:
Rattis L, Brando PM, Macedo MN, Spera SA, Castanho ADA, Marques EQ, Costa NQ, Silverio DV, Coe, MT. (2021) Climatic limit for agriculture in Brazil. Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01214-3.
Reygadas Y, Spera SA, Galati V, Salisbury DS, Silva S, Novoa S. (2021) Mapping forest disturbances across the Southwestern Amazon: tradeoffs between open-source, Landsat-based algorithms. Environmental Research Communications. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ac2210.
Webb MJ, Winter JM, Spera SA, Chipman JW, Osterberg EC. (2020) Water, Agriculture, and Climate Dynamics in Central Chile’s Acongagua River Basin. Physical Geography. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723646.2020.1790719.
Spera SA, Winter JM, Partridge TF. (2020) Brazilian maize yields negatively affected by climate after land clearing. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0560-3
Media:
Ivory S, McGlue M, Spera SA, Silva A, Bergier I. (2019). Vegetation, rainfall, and pulsing hydrology in the Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland. Environmental Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab4ffe
Spera SA, Winter JM, Chipman JW. (2018) Evaluation of Agricultural Land Cover Representations on Regional Climate Model Simulations in the Brazilian Cerrado. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 123. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JD027989.
Spera SA. (2017) Agricultural intensification can preserve the Brazilian Cerrado: Applying Lessons from Mato Grosso and Goias to Brazil's Last Agricultural Frontier. Tropical Conservation Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940082917720662
Parker CL, Lynch AH, Spera SA, Spangler KR. (2017) The Relationship between Tropical Cyclone Activity, Nutrient Loading, and Algal Blooms over the Great Barrier Reef. Biogeosciences Discussion. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2017-23
Roy ED, Willig E, Richards PD, Martinelli LA, Vazquez FF, Pegorini F, Spera SA, Porder S. (2017) Soil phosphorus sorption capacity after three decades of intensive fertilization in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2017.08.004
Spera SA, VanWey LK, Mustard JF (2017) Drivers of Sugarcane Expansion in Goias, Brazil. Land Use Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.03.037
Spangler KR, Lynch AH, Spera SA (2017) Precipitation-Related Drivers of Cropping Frequency in the Brazilian Cerrado: Evidence and Implications for Decision-Making. Weather, Climate and Society. https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-16-0024.1
Spera SA, Galford GL, Coe MT, Macedo MN, Mustard JF (2016) Land-Use Change Affects Water Recycling in Brazil’s Last Agricultural Frontier. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13298
Media:
Roy ED, Richards PD, Martinelli LA, Coletta LD, Lins SRM, Vazquez FF, Willig E, Spera SA, VanWey LK, Porder S (2016) The phosphorus cost of agricultural intensification in the tropics. Nature Plants.
Cohn A, VanWey LK, Spera SA, Mustard JF (2016) Cropping frequency and area response to climate variability can exceed yield response. Nature Climate Change. http://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2934
Media:
Richards P, Pellegrina H, VanWey L, Spera SA (2015) Soybean Development: The Impact of a Decade of Agricultural Change on Urban and Economic Growth in Mato Grosso, Brazil. PLoS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122510
Spera SA, Cohn A, Mustard J, Rudorff B, VanWey L, Risso J, Adami M (2014) Recent cropping frequency, expansion, and abandonment in Mato Grosso, Brazil had selective land characteristics. Environmental Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/6/064010
VanWey LK, Spera SA, de Sa R, Mahr D, Mustard JF (2013) Socioeconomic Development and Agricultural Intensification in Mato Grosso. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0168
Salisbury DS, Powell CV, Odraya BB, ..., Spera SA, ... (2023. Crossing Boundaries: transboundary geographic information in the Amazon borderlands of Peru and Brazil. Book chapter in: Socio-Environmental Research in Latin America. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22680-9_3
Reygadas Y, Spera SA, Salisbury DS. (2023) Effects of deforestation and forest degradation on ecosystem service indicators across the Southwestern Amazon. Ecological Indicators. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2023.109996.
Flores de Melo AW, Souza da Silva S, Oliveira I, Salisbury DS, Spera SA, Bordignon L, Brown F. (2022) Impactos da Rodovia Proposta Cruziero do Sul-Pucallpa na Amazonia Sul-Ocidental. Book chapter in: Ciencias ambientais na Amazonia, Stricto Sensu Editoria. DOI: 10.35170.
Spera SA, Franklin MS, Zizzamia EA, Smith RK. (2022) Recovering a Black Cemetery: Automated Mapping of Hidden Gravesites using an sUAV and GIS in East End Cemetery, Richmond VA. International Journal of Historical Archaeology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10761-021-00642-3.
Media:
- Drone helps researchers find unmarked graves at East End Cemetery NBC 12 - June 13, 2022
- 8,000 potential gravesites identified at East End Cemetery using drone and hydrology mapping software Richmond Free Press - Feb 24, 2022
Rattis L, Brando PM, Macedo MN, Spera SA, Castanho ADA, Marques EQ, Costa NQ, Silverio DV, Coe, MT. (2021) Climatic limit for agriculture in Brazil. Nature Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-021-01214-3.
Reygadas Y, Spera SA, Galati V, Salisbury DS, Silva S, Novoa S. (2021) Mapping forest disturbances across the Southwestern Amazon: tradeoffs between open-source, Landsat-based algorithms. Environmental Research Communications. https://doi.org/10.1088/2515-7620/ac2210.
Webb MJ, Winter JM, Spera SA, Chipman JW, Osterberg EC. (2020) Water, Agriculture, and Climate Dynamics in Central Chile’s Acongagua River Basin. Physical Geography. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723646.2020.1790719.
Spera SA, Winter JM, Partridge TF. (2020) Brazilian maize yields negatively affected by climate after land clearing. Nature Sustainability. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0560-3
Media:
- Corn growers in Brazil's Cerrado reap a hostile climate of their own making Mongabay - July 15, 2020
- Amazon Deforestation Could Affect Crop Yields Forbes- June 30, 2020
- Amazon deforestation is linked to lower corn yields in Brazil, study says Reuters - June 29, 2020
Ivory S, McGlue M, Spera SA, Silva A, Bergier I. (2019). Vegetation, rainfall, and pulsing hydrology in the Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland. Environmental Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab4ffe
Spera SA, Winter JM, Chipman JW. (2018) Evaluation of Agricultural Land Cover Representations on Regional Climate Model Simulations in the Brazilian Cerrado. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 123. https://doi.org/10.1029/2017JD027989.
Spera SA. (2017) Agricultural intensification can preserve the Brazilian Cerrado: Applying Lessons from Mato Grosso and Goias to Brazil's Last Agricultural Frontier. Tropical Conservation Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/1940082917720662
Parker CL, Lynch AH, Spera SA, Spangler KR. (2017) The Relationship between Tropical Cyclone Activity, Nutrient Loading, and Algal Blooms over the Great Barrier Reef. Biogeosciences Discussion. https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-2017-23
Roy ED, Willig E, Richards PD, Martinelli LA, Vazquez FF, Pegorini F, Spera SA, Porder S. (2017) Soil phosphorus sorption capacity after three decades of intensive fertilization in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2017.08.004
Spera SA, VanWey LK, Mustard JF (2017) Drivers of Sugarcane Expansion in Goias, Brazil. Land Use Policy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.03.037
Spangler KR, Lynch AH, Spera SA (2017) Precipitation-Related Drivers of Cropping Frequency in the Brazilian Cerrado: Evidence and Implications for Decision-Making. Weather, Climate and Society. https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-16-0024.1
Spera SA, Galford GL, Coe MT, Macedo MN, Mustard JF (2016) Land-Use Change Affects Water Recycling in Brazil’s Last Agricultural Frontier. Global Change Biology. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13298
Media:
- Soy made the Cerrado a breadbasket; climate change may end that Mongabay - May 5,2020
- O ‘primo pobre’ pede socorro com urgência O Estado de São Paulo - Aug 19, 2016
- This huge region of Brazil is even more deforested — and less protected — than the Amazon Washington Post - April 4, 2016
- Brazil's Cerrado region: A new tropical deforestation hotpot Mongabay - April 8, 2016
- Desmatamento do Cerrado para expansão do agronegocio afeta chuvas, dizem cientistas O Estado de São Paulo - April 4, 2016
- The Invisible Loss of Water Over Brazil's Advancing Agricultural Frontier Conservation Magazine - April 8, 2016
Roy ED, Richards PD, Martinelli LA, Coletta LD, Lins SRM, Vazquez FF, Willig E, Spera SA, VanWey LK, Porder S (2016) The phosphorus cost of agricultural intensification in the tropics. Nature Plants.
Cohn A, VanWey LK, Spera SA, Mustard JF (2016) Cropping frequency and area response to climate variability can exceed yield response. Nature Climate Change. http://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2934
Media:
- Global warming prompts farmers to plant few crops, study says - Independent - March 2016
- If You Don't Think a One-Degree Temperature Rise Matters, Read This - Gizmodo - March 7, 2016
- The Unexpected Reaction Farmers Could Have To Climate Change - ThinkProgress - March 9, 2016
Richards P, Pellegrina H, VanWey L, Spera SA (2015) Soybean Development: The Impact of a Decade of Agricultural Change on Urban and Economic Growth in Mato Grosso, Brazil. PLoS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0122510
Spera SA, Cohn A, Mustard J, Rudorff B, VanWey L, Risso J, Adami M (2014) Recent cropping frequency, expansion, and abandonment in Mato Grosso, Brazil had selective land characteristics. Environmental Research Letters. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/9/6/064010
VanWey LK, Spera SA, de Sa R, Mahr D, Mustard JF (2013) Socioeconomic Development and Agricultural Intensification in Mato Grosso. Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0168