Victor L Caetano Andrade, PhD
Main Focus
Victor's research focuses on the connections between tree ecology, forest ecosystems, and human history, exploring how human actions influence the environment.
Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Victor Caetano-Andrade completed his Doctorate in Natural Sciences at Friedrich Schiller University and the Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, Germany. He also holds a degree in Forest Engineering from the Federal University of Viçosa and a Master’s in the Science of Tropical Forests from the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA) in Brazil.
His research investigates the intricate relationships between human activities and forest ecosystems, focusing on topics such as Land Use Change, Regenerative Practices, and the Anthropocene Biosphere. By using methods like dendrochronology, stable isotope analysis, and radiocarbon dating, he studies how historical human actions have shaped environmental conditions and biodiversity.
Dr. Caetano-Andrade has conducted extensive research on the Brazil nut tree, exploring its genetic diversity and how it responds to past and present forest management practices. His work sheds light on the ways Indigenous Peoples and local communities have influenced tropical forest landscapes, aiming to promote sustainable management approaches.
As part of his current postdoc, he is involved in key projects including "Historical Insights from Tree Rings on Eastern Germany’s Pollution" and "Ancient Trees of the Ek Xux Valley, Belize". These initiatives seek to understand both the historical and modern impacts of human activity on forests, helping to inform conservation strategies and environmental policies.
Dr. Caetano-Andrade seeks to combine traditional ecological knowledge with modern scientific techniques, enhancing discussions around environmental conservation and the sustainable use of forest resources.
Publications:
Wang H & Caetano-Andrade V, et al. Long-term human influence on the demography and genetic diversity of the hyperdominant Bertholletia excelsa in the Amazon Basin. Current Biology. 2025 Feb 3;35:1-1.
ECHOES, Zuccarelli Freire V, Ziegler MJ, Caetano-Andrade V, Iminjili V, Lellau R, Stokes F, Rudd RC, Heberle Viegas D, Maezumi SY, Jha G. Addressing the Anthropocene from the Global South: integrating paleoecology, archaeology and traditional knowledge for COP engagement. Frontiers in Earth Science. 2024 Oct 29;12:1470577.
Roberts P, Caetano-Andrade V, Fisher M, Hamilton R, Rudd R, Stokes F, Amano N, Antonosyan M, Dugmore A, Findley DM, Freire VZ. Uncovering the Multibiome Environmental and Earth System Legacies of Past Human Societies. Annual Review of Environment and Resources. 2024 Sep 11;49.
Caetano-Andrade V, Clement CR, Herrera-Ramírez D, Larsen T, Durgante F, Boivin N, Schöngart J, Trumbore S, Roberts P. Insights into growth, ring formation and maximum ages of Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) using 14C dating and tree-ring analysis. Radiocarbon. 2024 Apr;66(2):306-25.
Roberts P, Kaplan JO, Findley DM, Hamilton R, Caetano-Andrade V, Amano N, Kay AU, Renn J, Winkelmann R. Mapping our reliance on the tropics can reveal the roots of the Anthropocene. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 2023 May;7(5):632-6.
Antunes AC, Montanarin A, Gräbin DM, dos Santos Monteiro EC, de Pinho FF, Alvarenga GC, Ahumada J, Wallace RB, Ramalho EE, Barnett AP, Bager A. Caetano-Andrade V, et al. AMAZONIA CAMTRAP: A data set of mammal, bird, and reptile species recorded with camera traps in the Amazon forest. Ecology. 2022 Sep;103(9).
Caetano-Andrade V, Schöngart J, Ayala WE, Melinski RD, Silva F, Dobrindt R, Roberts P. Advances in increment coring system for large tropical trees with high wood densities. Dendrochronologia. 2021 Aug 1;68:125860.
Roberts P, Buhrich A, Caetano-Andrade V, Cosgrove R, Fairbairn A, Florin SA, Vanwezer N, Boivin N, Hunter B, Mosquito D, Turpin G. Reimagining the relationship between Gondwanan forests and Aboriginal land management in Australia's “Wet Tropics”. Iscience. 2021 Mar 19;24(3).
Caetano-Andrade V, Clement CR, Weigel D, Trumbore S, Boivin N, Schöngart J, Roberts P. Tropical Trees as Time Capsules of Anthropogenic Activity. Trends in Plant Science. 2020 Apr 1;25(4):369-80.
Antunes AC, Baccaro F, Caetano-Andrade V, Ramos JF, Da Silva Moreira R, Barnett AA. Igapó seed patches: a potentially key resource for terrestrial vertebrates in a seasonally flooded forest of central Amazonia. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 2019 Jul 31;128(2):460-72.
Caetano-Andrade V, Flores BM, Levis C, Clement CR, Roberts P, Schöngart J. Growth rings of Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) as a living record of historical human disturbance in Central Amazonia. PloS one. 2019 Apr 3;14(4):e0214128.
Cassino MF, Alves RP, Levis C, Watling J, Junqueira AB, Shock MP, Ferreira MJ, Caetano-Andrade V, Furquim LP, Coelho SD, Tamanaha EK. Ethnobotany and Ethnoecology Applied to Historical Ecology. In Methods and Techniques in Ethnobiology and Ethnoecology 2019 (pp. 187-208). Humana Press, New York, NY.