O canto das senhoras :Análise do discurso do sujeito coletivo (DSC) de velhas mulheres da Ponta do Tubarão, no Rio Grande do Norte

The participation of women of more than 60 years of age in the social ritual of the creation of the Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável Estadual ( Sustainable Development State Reserve ) at Ponta do Tubarão, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, is the central object of this research. This work is an attempt to analyze the oral discourse of these women, to understand the historical participation in this ritual, pointing out the actions for dehistoricization that, in the Western world, take women out of the community scene making their roles less important or invisible as agents of social construction. The reflections that take place in this research, using as a starting point, the example of a traditional fishing community on the Brazilian coast, and denounce the mechanisms of male domination that try to silence their hábitus, such as: the discourse of power (that is responsible for the permanent division of sexual structures) and of the correspondent social and cultural division. The present research respects the oral discourse of the Elderly Women as a significant practice of community life in Diogo Lopes in Macau, Rio Grande do Norte. The creation of the community of RDSE in Ponta do Tubarão as an instrument for political and social management is also accepted here as a process conducted by various social actors that react to developmental threats that have interfered with and are still trying to interfere with the equilibrium of the regional ecosystem. The methodology used in the research is supported in the oral discourse of these women as social representations of a focus group, on which the method of the Análise do Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo (DSC) ( Collective Subject Discourse Analysis ) is applied

Empreendedorismo ambiental e preservacionismo compensatório: o turismo e as unidades de conservação Parque Estadual das Dunas e Área de Proteção Ambiental Jenipabu-RN

This doctoral thesis addresses the environmental issues and its vinculum with the tourism through the protected natural areas, in particular the conservation units, which consists in territorial areas created and demarcated by the government in order to protect ecosystems that have a high ecological and scenic-landscaped representativeness designed to the contemplation and controlled public visitation. In regard to its use for the touristic activities, are conceived while socio-environmental and symbolic materiality built around an imagery view of a nature-show, designed to attract visitors, aiming ensure the maintenance and reproduction of the capital in an entrepreneurial and preservationist way in the Metropolitan Region of Natal. It s a study about the Dunes State Park Jornalista José Maria Alves and the Jenipabu Environmental Protected Area, both created with the purpose of favor the implantation and empowerment of the touristic area through the State intervention as the main articulator agent of a new process of urbanization that uses the city marketing and the ideological discuss of environmental sustainability to recreate the imaginary of lost paradise and incorporate into the daily universe of tourists visiting the state of Rio Grande do Norte. The unveiling of this empirical reality made possible the construction and defense of the terms environmental entrepreneurship and compensatory preservationism, to explain how the formatting and idealization of this paradisiacal scenarios produce the commoditization of nature in an efficient and competitive way

Movimento de borboletas frugívoras e conectividade funcional em uma paisagem de Mata Atlântica

An organisms movement within and between habitats is an essential trait of life history, one that shapes population dynamics, communities and ecosystems in space and time. Since the ability to perceive and react to specific conditions varies greatly between organisms, different movement patterns are generated. These, in turn, will reflect the way species persist in the original habitat and surrounding patches. This study evaluated patterns of movement of frugivorous butterflies in order to estimate the connectivity of a landscape mosaic in an area of Atlantic Forest. For this purpose, we used the capture-mark-recapture method on butterflies trapped with fermented fruit bait in three distinct habitats. The first represents a typical Atlantic forest fragment, while the other two represent man-made matrix habitats. One contains a coconut plantation and the other a plantation of the exotic Acacia mangium species. Five traps were randomly placed in each landscape unit in areas of 40 x 40m. Using recapture data and relating it to distance between captures and habitat structure, I found that movement frequencies, both within and between landscape units were different for the analyzed species, suggesting that they do not interpret and react to the landscape in the same way. Thus this study was able to measure landscape functional connectivity. For most species, the exchange between forest and coconut plantations occurred with low frequency compared to exchanges between the forest and acacia plantations, which share more structural similarities. This seems to indicate that a matrix that is more similar to patches of native vegetation can shelter species, permit their movement and, consequently, contribute to the landscape connectivity

Determinantes locais da decomposição foliar e de raízes finais em um ecossistema semiárido do nordeste brasileiro

The decomposition process exercises an extensive control over the carbon cycle, affecting its availability and nutrient cycling in terrestrial ecosystems. The understanding of leaf decomposition patterns above the soil and fine roots decomposition below the soil is necessary and essential to identify and quantify more accurately the flow of energy and matter in forest systems. There is still a lack of studies and a large gap in the knowledge about what environmental variables act as local determinants over decomposition drivers. The knowledge about the decomposition process is still immature for Brazilian semiarid region. The aim of this study was to analyze the decomposition process (on leaves and fine roots) of a mixture of three native species for 12 months in a semiarid ecosystem in Northeast Brazil. We also examined whether the rate of decomposition can be explained by local environmental factors, specifically plant species richness, plant density and biomass, soil macro-arthropods species richness and abundance, amount of litterfall and fine root stock. Thirty sampling points were randomly distributed within an area of 2000 m x 500 m. To determine the decomposition rate, the litterbag technique was used and the data analysis were made with multiple regressions. There was a high degradation of dead organic matter along the experiment. Above ground plant biomass was the only environmental local factor significantly related to leaf decomposition. The density of vegetation and litter production were positively and negatively related to decay rates of fine roots, respectively. The results suggest that Caatinga spatial heterogeneity may exert strong influences over the decomposition process, taking into account the action of environmental factors related to organic matter exposure of and the consequent action of solar radiation as the decomposition process main controller in this region

A perda de grupos funcionais em comunidades virtuais: efeito das interações entre espécies e grupos funcionais

High levels of local, regional, and global extinctions has progressively simplified communities in terms of both species and ecosystem functioning. Theoretical models demonstrated that the degree of functional redundancy determines the rates of functional group loss in response to species extinctions. Here, we improve the theoretical predictions by incorporating in the model interactions between species and between functional groups. In this study, we tested the effect of different scenarios of interspecific interactions and effects between functional groups on the resistance to loss of community functional groups. Virtual communities have been built with different distribution patterns of species in functional groups, both with high and low evenness. A matrix A was created to represent the net effect of interspecific interactions among all species, representing nesting patterns, modularity, sensitive species, and dominant species. Moreover, a second matrix B was created to represent the interactions between functional groups, also exhibiting different patterns. The extinction probability of each species was calculated based on community species richness and by the intensity of the interspecific interactions that act upon it and group to which it belongs. In the model, successive extinctions decrease the community species richness, the degree of functional redundancy and, consequently, the number of functional groups that remain in the system. For each scenario of functional redundancy, A, and B, we ran 1000 simulations to generate an average functional extinction curve. Different model assumptions were able to generate remarkable variation on functional extinction curves. More extreme variations occurred when the matrix A and B caused a higher heterogeneity in the species extinction probability. Scenarios with sensitive species, positive or negative, showed a greater variation than the scenarios with dominant species. Nested interactions showed greater variation than scenarios where the interactions were in modules. Communities with maximal functional evenness can only be destabilized by the interactions between species and functional groups. In contrast, communities with low functional evenness can have its resistance either increased or decreased by the interactions. The concentration of positive interactions in low redundancy groups or negative interactions in high redundancy groups was able to decrease the functional extinction rates. In contrast, the concentration of negative interactions in low redundancy groups or positive interactions in high redundancy groups was able to increase the functional extinction rates. This model shows results that are relevant for species priorization in ecosystem conservation and restoration

Análise da resiliência sócio-ecológica em unidades de conservação de uso sustentável: subsídios para o manejo da pesca artesanal no Brasil

O uso da biodiversidade pelo homem leva a alterações no funcionamento dos ecossistemas, podendo ainda levar a perda de resiliência. Pode-se definir resiliência como a capacidade de um sistema absorver um distúrbio e reorganizar-se, enquanto submetido a mudanças, mantendo a mesma estrutura e funcionamento. Em um sistema social, entende-se como a capacidade dos usuários de recursos naturais de enfrentar e adaptar-se as mudanças nas regras que regem o uso e acesso a estes. Alterações na resiliência, tanto ecológica quanto social, podem ser resultantes das ações de exploração e manejo destes recursos. Assim, torna-se essencial compreender como funcionam as estratégias de manejo e sua interação com a resiliência sócio-ecológica, permitindo a auto-avaliação das ações e possíveis modificações das mesmas. Neste projeto, propõe-se comparar a resiliência sócio-ecológica de três Unidades de Conservação (UCs) de uso sustentável: Reserva de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (RDS) Ponta do Tubarão, localizada no estado do Rio Grande do Norte; e as Reservas Extrativistas do Batoque e Prainha do Canto Verde, ambas localizadas no estado do Ceará. Em cada área de estudo serão escolhidas comunidades pesqueiras, permitindo a comparação entre elas. A partir destas comunidades, alguns aspectos relacionados ao uso dos recursos serão analisados, como atividade pesqueira, dieta e modo de vida. Os dados serão coletados através de questionários semi-estruturados, contendo questões baseadas em aspectos sociais, econômicos e ecológicos. Os resultados obtidos servirão de indicadores para a resiliência ecológica (informações obtidas com base na atividade pesqueira) e social (informações obtidas com base no acompanhamento da dieta e análise do modo de vida). Apesar da similaridade ecológica entre as áreas de estudo, algumas estratégias de manejo distintas em função da categoria da UC podem apresentar diferentes resultados sobre a resiliência sócio-ecológica. Desta forma, compreender como a resiliência sócio-ecológica se comporta, dentro dos sistemas de manejo estudados, permitirá avaliar a influência destes dois tipos de UCs (RDS e RESEX) na promoção da sustentabilidade ecológica e/ou social

Dunas costeiras de Jenipabu: Status de conservação e diretrizes para restauração da vegetação

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Ajudando os inimigos: espécies nativas facilitam a invasão do semiárido brasileiro por árvores exóticas

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior

Arquitetura de Software para Barcos Robóticos

We propose in this work a software architecture for robotic boats intended to act in diverse aquatic environments, fully autonomously, performing telemetry to a base station and getting this mission to be accomplished. This proposal aims to apply within the project N-Boat Lab NatalNet DCA, which aims to empower a sailboat navigating autonomously. The constituent components of this architecture are the memory modules, strategy, communication, sensing, actuation, energy, security and surveillance, making these systems the boat and base station. To validate the simulator was developed in C language and implemented using the graphics API OpenGL resources, whose main results were obtained in the implementation of memory, performance and strategy modules, more specifically data sharing, control of sails and rudder and planning short routes based on an algorithm for navigation, respectively. The experimental results, shown in this study indicate the feasibility of the actual use of the software architecture developed and their application in the area of autonomous mobile robotics

Estudo dos parâmetros de extração de fenol de efluentes aquosos por um tensoativo não iônico

Environmental sustainability has become one of the topics of greatest interest in industry, mainly due to effluent generation. Phenols are found in many industries effluents, these industries might be refineries, coal processing, pharmaceutical, plastics, paints and paper and pulp industries. Because phenolic compounds are toxic to humans and aquatic organisms, Federal Resolution CONAMA No. 430 of 13.05.2011 limits the maximum content of phenols, in 0.5 mg.L-1, for release in freshwater bodies. In the effluents treatment, the liquid-liquid extraction process is the most economical for the phenol recovery, because consumes little energy, but in most cases implements an organic solvent, and the use of it can cause some environmental problems due to the high toxicity of this compound. Because of this, exists a need for new methodologies, which aims to replace these solvents for biodegradable ones. Some literature studies demonstrate the feasibility of phenolic compounds removing from aqueous effluents, by biodegradable solvents. In this extraction kind called "Cloud Point Extraction" is used a nonionic surfactant as extracting agent of phenolic compounds. In order to optimize the phenol extraction process, this paper studies the mathematical modeling and optimization of extraction parameters and investigates the effect of the independent variables in the process. A 32 full factorial design has been done with operating temperature and surfactant concentration as independent variables and, parameters extraction: Volumetric fraction of coacervate phase, surfactant and residual concentration of phenol in dilute phase after separation phase and phenol extraction efficiency, as dependent variables. To achieve the objectives presented before, the work was carried out in five steps: (i) selection of some literature data, (ii) use of Box-Behnken model to find out mathematical models that describes the process of phenol extraction, (iii) Data analysis were performed using STATISTICA 7.0 and the analysis of variance was used to assess the model significance and prediction (iv) models optimization using the response surface method (v) Mathematical models validation using additional measures, from samples different from the ones used to construct the model. The results showed that the mathematical models found are able to calculate the effect of the surfactant concentration and the operating temperature in each extraction parameter studied, respecting the boundaries used. The models optimization allowed the achievement of consistent and applicable results in a simple and quick way leading to high efficiency in process operation.

Caracterização dos resíduos esgotados de sistemas de tratamento individual de esgotos de Natal

In Natal still dominates the use of individual disposal systems for domestic sewage, once only 29% of the city has a sewarage system. Wastes that are accumulated in these individual treatment systems should be exhausted periodically, service provided by collector entrepreneurs. Some of these companies causing major damage to the environment. In Natal, only two companies have their own septage (RESTI) treatment system, which were designed with parameters from domestic sewage generating strain and inefficient systems. Therefore, the characterization becomes essential as a source of parameters for their design. Thus, this work presents the physical-chemical and microbiological characterization of waste pumped from individual sewage treatment systems. Samples collections were made weekly from 5 different trucks at the reception point on the treatment plant on the point of the preliminary treatment. From each truck it was taken 5 samples during the discharge in order to make a composite sample. Afterwards, samples were carried out to laboratory and analyses for determination of temperature, pH, conductivity, BOD, COD, nitrogen (ammonia e organic), alkalinity, oils, phosphorus, solids, faecal coliforms and helminth egg. The results were treated as a single database, and ranked according to its generating source (multi and single house, lodging, health, services and / or food), area of origin (metropolitan, south and north) and type of system (cesspits, septic tank and / or sink). Through these data it was possible to verify that the type of system adopted by most in Natal and the metropolitan region is cesspit, besides to confirm the difference between the septage of areas with a population have different social and economical characteristics. It was found that the septage have higher concentrations than domestic sewage, except for thermotolerant coliforms that showed concentrations of 1,38E+07. Among the parameters studied, is the median values identified for COD (3,549 mg / L), BOD (973mg / L) and total solids (3.557mg / L). The volatile fraction constitutes about 70% of the total solids of the septage. For helminths has been a median of 7 eggs/L. In general, the characteristics of the waste followed the variability found in the literature reviewed for all variables, showing high amplitudes

Avaliação da produção de sedimento na bacia hidrográfica do rio Potengi através do modelo SWAT

Anthropic disturbances in watersheds, such as inappropriate building development, disorderly land occupation and unplanned land use, may strengthen the sediment yield and the inflow into the estuary, leading to siltation, changes in the reach channel conformation, and ecosystem/water quality problems. Faced with such context, this study aims to assess the applicability of SWAT model to estimate, even in a preliminary way, the sediment yield distribution along the Potengi River watershed, as well as its contribution to the estuary. Furthermore, an assessment of its erosion susceptibility was used for comparison. The susceptibility map was developed by overlaying rainfall erosivity, soil erodibility, the slope of the terrain and land cover. In order to overlap these maps, a multi-criteria analysis through AHP method was applied. The SWAT was run using a five year period (1997-2001), considering three different scenarios based on different sorts of human interference: a) agriculture; b) pasture; and c) no interference (background). Results were analyzed in terms of surface runoff, sediment yield and their propagation along each river section, so that it was possible to find that the regions in the extreme west of the watershed and in the downstream portions returned higher values of sediment yield, reaching respectively 2.8 e 5.1 ton/ha.year, whereas central areas, which were less susceptible, returned the lowest values, never more than 0.7 ton/ha.ano. It was also noticed that in the west sub-watersheds, where one can observe the headwaters, sediment yield was naturally forced by high declivity and weak soils. In another hand, results suggest that the eastern part would not contribute to the sediment inflow into the estuary in a significant way, and the larger part of the sediment yield in that place is due to anthropic activities. For the central region, the analysis of sediment propagation indicates deposition predominance in opposition to transport. Thus, it s not expected that isolated rain storms occurring in the upstream river portions would significantly provide the estuary with sediment. Because the model calibration process hasn t been done yet, it becomes essential to emphasize that values presented here as results should not be applied for pratical aims. Even so, this work warns about the risks of a growth in the alteration of natural land cover, mainly in areas closer to the headwaters and in the downstream Potengi River

O efeito do regime hidrológico do semiárido na composição de espécies durante dominância de cianobactérias em um reservatório tropical

The potentially toxic cyanobacterial blooms in water bodies are spread across the globe, resulting in the loss of water quality and adverse effects on human health. In arid and semiarid regions, the hydrologic regime characterized by an annual cycle of drought and rain, change the volume and the retention time of the reservoir. Such changes affect the limnological characteristics and causing changes in composition and biomass community of cyanobacteria. The reservoir Cruzeta (Zmax = 8.7 m) is a eutrophic water supply source located in the semiarid tropical (Northeast Brazil). Raised the hypothesis that the hydrological regime of semi-arid tropical is a determining factor in the availability of resources in eutrophic water sources, which influences the composition of dominant species of cyanobacteria. The aim of this study was to analyze the changes in biomass and species composition of cyanobacteria for two annual hydrological cycles and evaluate factors drivers. The study was divided into five distinct periods (dry 2010, rain 2011, dry 2011, rain 2012, dry 2012). The dominant group found in all periods was Cyanobacteria (99% of total biomass), which contributed to the low diversity. The filamentous species Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii was present at both points in almost every study. The colonial species Microcystis panniformis and Sphaerocavum brasiliensis dominated only in periods with lower volumes of water. The diatoms contribute more to the biomass during the period of severe drought. The point near the dam (P1) had phytoplankton biomass larger than the point near the tributary (P2). The dominant species of colonial cyanobacteria lasted until the overflow in P1, and P2 this dominance was until the first rains. The redundancy analysis indicated that physical factors such as light availability and water level were the main factors driving the seasonal succession of phytoplankton. The composition of phytoplankton in spring was alternated by species of filamentous cyanobacteria in conditions of poor stability of the water column, such as Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, and colonial species under conditions of high stability of the water column, such as Microcystis panniformis and Sphaerocavum brasiliensis. The extremes of torrential rains and severe droughts, governed by the hydrological regime of the semi-arid region led to the availability of resources in the watershed, directing the spatial and temporal dynamics of phytoplankton in the reservoir Cruzeta

Avaliação da eficiência da remoção de matéria orgânica e microbiológica de três sistemas de lagoas de estabilização em série na Grande Natal-RN: Beira Rio, Jardim Lola I e Jardim Lola II

Waste stabilization ponds are the main technology in use for domestic sewage treatment in Rio Grande do Norte State (RN), northeast Brazil. The are around 80 systems, constructed mainly by municipal city halls, being series comprised by a primary facultative pond followed by two maturation ponds the most used configuration. Due to problems related with the production and destination of sludge and generation of bad odors, the designers have avoided the use of anaerobic lagoons. The majority of systems are rarely monitored to verify their efficiencies and to get new project parameters for future designing. This work has as purpose to make a diagnosis of efficiency of three series of waste stabilization pond series (WSPS) of Jardim Lola 1, Jardim Lola 2 and Beira Rio, located in the North Zone of the city of the Natal/RN, treating domestic raw sewage, on the removal of organic matter and thermotolerant coliform, comparing the operational conditions of the systems this inside of the bands foreseen in the project, through parameters BOD5, QOD, thermotolerant coliforms, dissolved oxygen, pH, temperature, ammoniac nitrogen, total and suspended solids. The work was carried through in the WSPS, all constituted by a primary facultative pond followed by two maturation ponds. Socioeconomic characteristics of population are predominantly low and all the plants are very near of the contributing basins. The series were monitored from of May the November of 2002, totalizing 20 collections of grab samples of raw sewage and ponds effluents between 8:00 and 9:50 h. The main aspect to be detached by the results was the great concentration of organic matter (BOD and COD) and microorganisms the raw sewage which were around two times more concentrated than those values foreseen one in project. Considering all series the highest removals of organic matter were observed in system Beira Rio (84 and 78% of BOD and COD, respectively), which presented high hydraulic detention time (TDH = 89 days). On the other hand, Jardim Lola 1 and Jardim Lola 2 presented a much lower values of HDT (36 days and 18 days respectively) and their removals of BOD and COD were the same (76% and 60%, respectively). The Beira Rio WSPS, was the most efficient verified in relation to solids and ammonia, proving the great influence of the operational variables such as HDT and applied surface organic loadings on the performance of pond series. Although the treatment plants have reached efficiencies of thermotolerant coliforms around 99,999%, the concentrations in the final effluent can be considered very high for launching in aquatic bodies, particularly those produced by Jardim Lola 1 and Jardim Lola 2 series

Estudos in silico da proteína AlkB e prospecção de bactérias alcanotróficas em solos da bacia petrolífera potiguar

Some microorganisms from virgin ecosystems are able to use petroleum it as source of carbon and energy. The knowledge of microbial biodiversity can help to reveal new metabolic systems for utilization alkanes with biotechnological importance. The aim of this study is: i) Accomplish an in silico study of the AlkB protein aimed to understand the probable mechanism involved on selectivity of alkanes in Gram positive and Gram negative bactéria. ii) prospect and analyze the response of the microbial alkanotrophics communities in soil and mangrove sediments of BPP RN and soil of Atlantic forest in the Horto Dois Irmãos Reserve area/PE using the molecular biomarker, gene alkB; with the PCR and PCR-DGGE approach