Temporal Diversity Patterns and Phenology in Fruit-feeding Butterflies in the Atlantic Forest

The Atlantic Forest deserves special attention due to its high level of species endemism and degree of threat. As in other tropical biomes, there is little information about the ecology of the organisms that occur there. The objectives of this study were to verify how fruit-feeding butterflies are distributed through time, and the relation with meteorological conditions. Species richness and Shannon index were partitioned additively at the monthly level, and beta diversity, used as a hierarchical measure of temporal species turnover, was calculated among months, trimesters, and semesters. Circular analysis was used to verify how butterflies are distributed along seasons and its relation with meteorological conditions. We sampled 6488 individuals of 73 species. Temporal diversity of butterflies was more grouped than expected by chance among the months of each trimester. Circular analyses revealed that diversity is concentrated in hot months (September-March), with the subfamily Brassolinae strongly concentrated in February-March. Average temperature was correlated with total abundance of butterflies, abundance of Biblidinae, Brassolinae and Morphinae, and richness of Satyrinae. The present results show that 3mo of sampling between September and March is enough to produce a nonbiased sample of the local assemblage of butterflies, containing at least 70 percent of the richness and 25 percent of abundance. The influence of temperature on sampling is probably related to butterfly physiology. Moreover, temperature affects resource availability for larvae and adults, which is higher in hot months. The difference in seasonality patterns among subfamilies is probably a consequence of different evolutionary pressures through time.

Phenology of Tayloria dubyi (Splachnaceae) in the peadands of the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve

The sub-Antarctic Magellanic ecoregion harbors a high diversity of bryophytes, greater than the species richness of vascular plants. Despite this fact, phenological studies on bryophytes are lacking for this ecoregion and Chile. Based on the study of the sporophytic phase of Tayloria dubyi, an endemic moss from the sub-Antarctic Magellanic ecoregion, we propose a methodology for phonological studies on austral bryophytes. We defined five phenophases, easily distinguishable with a hand-lens, which were monthly recorded during 2007 and 2008 in populations of T dubyi at the Omora Ethnobotanical Park and Mejillones Bay on Navarino Island (55 degrees S) in the Cape Horn Biosphere Reserve. The sporophytic (or reproductive) phase of T. dubyi presented a clear seasonality. After growing in November, in three months (December-February) of the austral reproductive season the sporophytes mature and release their spores; by March they are already senescent. T. dubyi belongs to the Splachnaceae family for which entomochory (dispersal of spores by insects, specifically Diptera) has been detected in the Northern Hemisphere. The period of spores release in T. dubyi coincides with the months of highest activity of Diptera which are potential dispersers of spores; hence, entomochory could also take place in sub-Antarctic Magellanic ecoregion. In sum, our work: (i) defines a methodology for phenological studies in austral bryophytes, (ii) it records a marked seasonality ion the sporophyte phase of T dubyi, and (iii) it proposes to evaluate in future research the occurrence of entomochory in Splachnaceae species growing in the sub-Antarctic peatlands and forest ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere.

Five New and Narrowly Distributed Species of Paepalanthus Section Diphyomene (Eriocaulaceae) from Central Brazil

Five new species of Paepalanthus section Diphyomene are described and illustrated: P. brevis, P. flexuosus, P. longiciliatus, P. macer, and P. stellatus. Paepalanthus brevis, similar to P. decussus, is easily distinguished by its short reproductive axis, and pilose and mucronate leaves. Paepalanthus flexuosus, morphologically related to P. urbanianus, possesses a distinctive short and tortuous reproductive axis. Paepalanthus longiciliatus, morphologically similar to P. weddellianus, possesses long trichomes on the margins of the reproductive axis bracts, considered a diagnostic feature. Paepalanthus macer shares similarities with P. amoenus, differing by its sulfurous capitula and adpressed reproductive axis bracts. Paepalanthus stellatus also has affinity with P. decussus, but possesses unique, membranaceous, reproductive-axis bracts and a punctual inner-capitulum arrangement of pistillate flowers. Four of the described species are narrowly distributed in the state of Goias, whereas P. brevis is endemic to Distrito Federal. All are considered critically endangered. Detailed comparisons of these species are presented in tables. Comments on phenology, distribution, habitat and etymology, along with an identification key, are provided.

Reproductive biology of six Brazilian Myrtaceae: is there a syndrome associated with buzz-pollination?

The floral phenology and reproductive biology of six sympatric arboreal Myrtaceae species were studied in the coastal plain forest (Ubatuba, Brazil, 44 degrees 48`W 23 degrees 22`S), from September 1999 to April 2002. Flowering started in the transition from the driest to the most humid season (Sep/Oct) and lasted until March. The sequence with which the species flowered each year was consistently the same. However, the timing of flowering onset, peak, end, and overlap differed from one year to another. Myrtaceae species were classified as xenogamic according to the pollen:ovule ratios, but two of them seem to present some degree of self-compatibility. Flowers of all species opened at sunrise and lasted for I day. Bombus morio (Apidae: Bombini) was the most common visitor followed by Melipona rufiventris (Apidae: Meliponini). Buzz pollination in Myrtaceae was common at the study area and seems to be related to bees` behaviour and to some aspects of flowers` morphology.