ABSTRACT
Conversion of tropical forests into pastures inevitably entails major changes in the ecosystem. There appears to be a consensus that this conversion changes the flora, the aquatic and land fauna and the physico-chemical and biological characteristics of the soils and surface waters. This chapter describes some available information for the humid tropics regarding known data about microclimates and the climate at a regional level. It aims to determine what land and ecosystem management techniques could minimize the impacts, especially the changes in the water and energy cycles. or the purpose of subsequent comparisons, the microclimatic data obtained in the Ducke Reserve, near Manaus, in the Brazilian Amazon, will be analyzed. Research was carried out in a joint program by Brazilian and British researchers, beginning in 1983. The water balance is difficult to determine due to the lack of basic data systematically obtained over time and space.
