Valores, crenças e comportamentos nas ações e atitudes dos indivíduos de caráter ambiental no município de Lavras -MG

The concept of environment involves social, political and economic aspects, in addition to natural elements. The acknowledgement that the environmental issue is complex highlights the importance of understanding the dynamics of relations that guide the individuals in their interactions with the environment. In this sense, studies have shown the relation between values, beliefs and behaviors. The theory on values developed by Schwartz (1992) identifies the complexity of the relations between values and behavior, organizing the field of human motivation into ten motivational types. Studies conducted by Pato (2004) on environmental beliefs are capable of indicating how the individuals relate to the environment, and its predisposition in acting or not in an ecological manner, allowing an understanding of ecological behavior and its forms of manifestation. Therefore, the objective of this study consisted of analyzing the value perception over environmental beliefs and ecological behavior of the individuals inserted into the environmental theme of the municipality of Lavras, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The research was conducted using a sample of 82 participants, comprised in its majority of male (62.2%), married (54.9%) individuals, and those with age from 31 to 40 years (35.4%). A survey of four segments was conducted: Ecological Behavior Scale (EBS), Environmental Beliefs Scale (EBeS), Schwatz Value Profile (SVP-40) and sociodemographic variables. The participants assumed, first, a value orientation directed to the universalism motivational type, which involves an important set of values for understanding the behaviors in relation to the environment. Furthermore, the results showed that the behaviors related to urban cleaning and economy of water and energy are more easily assimilated, while behaviors oriented to activism/consumerism and recycling were not yet incorporated in a satisfactory manner. On the other hand, the fact of belonging to an institution of which mission is to care for the environment seems to induce the participants to show a greater predisposition to pro-environmental behaviors. The environmental issue, urgent and moved by not always confluent debates, points to the need for reorganizing daily life, which necessarily involves change in values and behaviors. Thus, this study is relevant given that the interaction between the constructs can contribute with the research and the proposition of strategies that promote a reduction of behaviors damaging to the environment, as well as the strengthening of those that contribute for its preservation, sensitizing the actors involved to reorder their roles for benefiting the environment.

Influência do etileno na regulação do florescimento de Coffea arabica L.

Coffee is one of the most valuable exported agricultural product worldwide as well as the second most traded commodity after oil. This crop represents a source of employment and considerably accounts for the revenue of the country, besides its undeniable importance for local and world socioeconomical scenery. The quality of the coffee drink is directly related to the fruit ripening stage, which is found in different stages at harvesting due to the sequential flowering, increasing costs with the production and generating a lower-quality beverage. The asynchronous flowering of the coffee tree comes from the uneven development of buds, which can be influenced by environmental factors, taking into account that the anthesis takes place after a water deficit period, followed by precipitation. Changes in the hormone balance have been observed after water deficit and rehydration cycles, and such oscillation on the water status of the plant increased the level of ethylene in some species. This finding led to the association between the requirements at the flowering stage of the coffee tree and the involvement of the ethylene in promoting anthesis. The application of 1- MCP (ethylene action inhibitor) triggered the anthesis in coffee trees. And, in coffee seedlings in greenhouse conditions after a period of water shortage followed by irrigation, the profile of gene expression of the biosynthesis route and signaling of ethylene are changed in leaves and roots. The increased levels of the ethylene precursor (ACC) in roots throughout the dry season and the transportation of this compound into shoots may be the signal to trigger the anthesis in coffee tree after rehydration. Thus, in order to better understand the role of the ethylene in regulation of flowering, we analyzed the effects of the exogenous application of 1-MCP in different physiological characteristics and in the expression of genes related to the ethylene biosynthesis and signaling pathways in coffee leaves and bud from plants under field conditions. The evaluations and tissue sampling were carried out in different times treatments implementation: T1 – control, T2 – 1-MCP+Break-Thru, and T3 – Break-Thru. There was influence of 1-MCP and Break-Thru in gas exchange parameters and of 1-MCP contributed to the increase in relative water content. RT-qPCR analyses showed a different behavior in relation to the profile of gene expression in leaves and buds analyzed in the present study (CaACS1 – like, CaACO1 – like, CaACO4 – like, CaETR4 – like) and the expression levels were changed a few hours (2h) after applying the products. However, there was flowering only in plants treated with 1-MCP, in the absence of rain and irrigation.