Educação e sustentabilidae :Assentamento Maria da Paz - João Câmara/RN

This work is a research and action in the field of enviromental education, oriented for the construction of the land s distribuction of the Maria da Paz Settling, in João Câmara/RN, as process of social learning, collecive production of new knowledge, values and attitudes related to the environment. It was consolidated through a partnership beteween the UFRN (GERAH/DARQ and GEPEM/DEPED), MST and INCRA/RN. The drawing that represents the way the space organization of the settling was made constructed through effort of many people, in a process of dicussion with the community had as technical support the environment inventory (soil, vegetation, water resources, and others) allowing the agro-ecology zoning of the settlers participation conditions, their contradiction and conflicts, the challenges that appear in the search for consensus and the factor that creat chages

Colêmbolos (arthropoda: hexapoda: collembola) numa área de caatinga do nordeste brasileiro

Edaphic ecosystems are the basis for the production of terrestrial biological resources and their dynamics affect not only the natural environment but also society and their economic activities. In Caatinga biome, the semi-arid climate associated with an inadequate soil management has increased the degradation and loss of productive potential of the soil. In this context, the study of soil fauna, including springtails, becomes an important indicator of soil quality. This study aimed to evaluate the fauna of Collembola in an area of Caatinga of Rio Grande do Norte State and the influence of biotic and abiotic factors, such as soil, vegetation and climate characteristics, on the structure of the taxocenosis. The environmental variables which were used were the following ones: granulometry (represented by the proportion of sand), quantity of organic matter and soil pH, richness, density and aerial biomass of the vegetal structure, and necromass. We used pitfall traps intending to collect specimens of the epiedaphic fauna of Collembola in 30 points located on Cauaçu Farm, João Câmara, RN, in July (rainy season) and November (dry season) 2011. We collected 5513 individuals of 15 species distributed in 13 genera and 9 families of Collembola. Five of the recorded species are new to science, confirming the expected high degree of endemism for Caatinga biome, and the highest abundance was recorded in the rainy season, which suggests Collembola sensitivity to low humidity. Four species were more abundant in the dry season, all of them belonged to the Order Entomobryomorpha. Results of statistical analyzes suggest that plant species richness, aerial biomass of vegetal structure, proportion of sand in the soil, pH and humidity are the main influences to the abundance of Collembola in the region studied

Efeitos das variáveis ambientais locais sobre a abundância, a riqueza e a biomassa da macrofauna de solo em um ecossistema semiárido no estado do rio grande do norte, nordeste do brasil

The soil macrofauna is influenced to several biotic and abiotic environmental factors, from changes in the physical environment to a variety of interactions among the species involved, affecting the patterns of biodiversity of soil fauna. The power and specificity of the mechanisms that act on soil organisms vary greatly depending on environmental conditions at different scales of space and time. The Caatinga has great spatial heterogeneity of vegetation, climate and soil, so the soil macrofauna would follow this local spatial variation in the environment? This study aimed to investigate the effects of local environmental variables on biological parameters (taxa richness, total abundance and biomass) of soil macrofauna in a fragment of caatinga in João Câmara, Rio Grande Norte, Northeast Brazil. The study was conducted in the Cauaçu farm, where a grid of 2000m x 500m was drawn, and later, 30 sampling points were randomly selected. The methodology used to collect the macrofauna was the TSBF method. We tested the effects of 10 environmental variables on macrofauna across the plots and across the layers of soil. The hypothesis that macrofauna soil responds to changes in the environment was not supported throughout the plots, but was confirmed to soil layers. The soil macrofauna shows a pattern of concentration in the surface layer and decreases considerably in the deeper layers. This pattern had significant and positive relationship with the aerial plant biomass and fine root stock. The aerial plant biomass releases plant necromass that accumulates in the surface layer, providing an important source of resource and shelter for soil macrofauna, explaining their greater abundance in this layer. The roots are used as a means for the arrival of nutrients to the soil from the primary production, thus a greater amount of root conditions higher food intake for macrofauna, especially the herbivores

Investigação dos processos hidrossedimentológicos em parcela experimental no semi-árido potiguar

In northeastern semiarid, seasonality on precipitation temporal distribution, high intensity storm events and inadequate management of native vegetation can promote soil erosion. Vegetation removal causes soil surface exposure, reduces soil water storage capacity and can be the source degradation processes. In this context, this approach aims to analyze water and soil erosion processes on a 250 m2 undisturbed experimental plot with native vegetation, slope 2.5% by using 2006 and 2007 monitoring data. The site was instrumented to monitor rainfall, overland flow runoff and erosion by using a 5 m³ tank downstream the plot. Soil erosion monitoring was made by transported sediment and organic matter collection after each event. Field infiltration experiments were made at 16 points randomly distributed within the plot area by using a constant head infiltrometer during drought and rainy seasons, respectively. Infiltration data revealed high spatial and temporal variability. It was observed that during the beginning of the rainy period, 77% of the events showed runoff coefficient less than 0.05. As the rainy season began, soil water increase produced annual species germination. High intensity storms resulted in runoff coefficients varying between 0.33 and 0.42. Once the annual species was established, it was observed that approximately 39% of the events produced no runoff, which reflects an increase on soil water retention capacity caused by the vegetation. A gradual runoff reduction during the rainy season emphasizes the effect of vegetative density increase. Soil erosion observed data allowed to fit an empirical relationship involving soil loss and precipitation height, which was used to analyze the plot installation impact on soil erosion. Observed soil loss in 2006 and 2007 was 230 Kg/ha and 54 Kg/ha, respectively