Brazilian scientists sampled 800 trees across 63 Amazon locations; their atomic fingerprinting...

Wood samples being collected for cellulose isotope analysis. Credit: CENA-USP By analyzing the atomic signatures of 800 trees collected from 63 locations across the Amazon, Brazilian researchers have developed an isotopic mapping model that can rule out 92% of the rainforest when tracing suspected illegal timber.The project, led by Professor Luiz Antonio Martinelli at the Center for Nuclear Energy in Agriculture (CENA-USP) at the University of São Paulo, uses stable isotope analysis to create a forensic tool for law enforcement. The research gives Brazil's Federal Police a chemical fingerprinting method that cannot be forged or changed by loggers trying to fake harvesting permits.The team's first findings were published in the journal Molecules in a paper led by Ana Claudia Gama Batista titled Isoscape of Oxygen Stable Isotopes in Woods of the Amazon.How stable isotopes expose fake paperworkIllegal logging is one of the main causes of deforestation in the Amazon. Brazilian environmental agencies and police currently use plant anatomy, species distribution data, and the Forest Origin Document (DOF) system to check timber shipments. However, fake paperwork still allows illegally cut ...