Annual, seasonal and spatial variation of abundance of the shrimp Artemesia longinaris (Decapoda : Penaeoidea) in south-eastern Brazil

The influence of several environmental factors oil the abundance and spatial-temporal distribution of the shrimp Artemesia longinaris were investigated from January 1998 to December 1999 in the Ubatuba region of São Paulo State, Brazil. Collections were performed monthly in the bays of Ubatumirim (UBM), Ubatuba (UBA) and Mar Virado (MV). Six sampling transects were estabilshed in each bay, four were parallel to the shore line, and two were next to the rocky shores. A commercial shrimp fishing boat equipped with two 'double-rig' nets was used. A total of 11,503 individuals was collected, including 1633 from UBM, 6344 from UBA and 3526 from MV the majority of the captured specimens came from the deeper areas (15 to 20 m) with high salinity (34 to 36 ppt). The highest abundance of A. longinaris in Ubatuba bay was recorded in areas where fine and very fine sand comprised more than 70% of the sediment. Moreover, the abundance of A. longinaris followed a seasonal trend, being higher during the summer, when intrusions of cold South Atlantic Coastal Waters (SACW) are frequent. Thus, type of sediment, temperature and salinity are determinant factors in the distribution of A. longinaris in the studied region.

Temporal and morphological differences in post-embryonic differentiation of the mushroom bodies in the brain of workers, queens, and drones of Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera, Apidae)

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Spatial Variability of CO2 Emissions from Newly Exposed Paraglacial Soils at a Glacier Retreat Zone on King George Island, Maritime Antarctica

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Annual, seasonal and spatial abundance of the seabob shrimp Xiphopenaeus kroyeri (Decapoda, Penaeidae) off the Southeastern coast of Brazil

We investigated the influence of environmental factors in spatial and temporal distribution of the seabob shrimp Xiphopenaeus kroyeri in Santos Bay and São Vicente Estuary, state of São Paulo, Brazil. Monthly samples were obtained, from May 2008 through April 2010, from four locations in the estuary and four in the bay. No individual was collected in the estuary and this was attributed to the low salinity means recorded in this environment. We collected 109,153 individuals in the bay and there was no difference in abundance between the two years comprised by the study period. The similarity in spatial distribution can be related to sediment grain size that in all sampling locations showed great amount of very fine sand. The largest amount of reproductive females was obtained in early 2010, when temperature was high, and this could have increased the juvenile recruitment in April 2010. According to our results, the distribution of X. kroyeri in the study area is influenced by temperature, which is related to reproduction, and salinity, limiting the entrance of individuals in the estuarine region.

Transfer function-noise modeling and spatial interpolation to evaluate the risk of extreme (shallow) water-table levels in the Brazilian Cerrados

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Species composition and spatial distribution of a stream fish assemblage in the east coast of Brazil: comparison of two field study methodologies

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Seed dispersal and spatial distribution of Attalea geraensis (Arecaceae) in two remnants of Cerrado in Southeastern Brazil

The seed dispersal system of Attalea geraensis (Arecaceae), an acaulescent palm, was investigated during one year in two Cerrado fragments in the state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. A. geraensis had inflorescences and infrutescences throughout the year. Two scatter-hoarding rodents (the spiny rat, Clyomys bishopi and agoutis, Dasyptocta azarae) were identified as seed predators/dispersers, able to move seeds up to 30 in from the palms, although most of the fruits (57.5%) were dispersed less than 2 in. The removal rates were high and after 20 days, 97.2% of the fruits were removed. Fruit fate was not related to fruit mass, length and diameter. The application of Morisita's index showed a more clumped distribution of adults in the smaller fragment, probably because of the absence of agoutis. Higher seed removal by rodents in the large Cerrado remnant may decrease seed predation by beetles. (C) 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Phenology, sex ratio, and spatial distribution among dioecious species of Trichilia (Meliaceae)

The flowering, sex ratio, and spatial distribution of four dioecious species of Trichilia (Meliaceae) were studied in a semi-deciduous forest in southeastern Brazil. All reproductive trees (T. clausseni, T. pallida and T. catigua) with dbh greater than or equal to5 cm within a 1-ha plot were collected, sexed, mapped and, for individuals of each species, the distances to the nearest neighbour of the same and opposite sex were measured. For the shrub species T elegans (dbh <5 cm), all reproductive individuals were sampled randomly in 10 samples of 10 x 10 m. The reproductive phenology was observed at weekly to monthly intervals from May 1988 to January 1990. The species are strictly dioecious, did not present any sex-mixed trees or sex switching during the study, and sex ratio did not differ significantly from 1:1. The size distributions and the relative size variation were not significantly different. between sexes. There was no significant segregation or clumping between individuals of either sex and no fruit production without pollination. Onset of flowering and flowering peak were synchronous between male and female plants for all species studied. Flower synchrony was related to outcrossing and pollinator attraction rather than climatic factors.

Density and Spatial Distribution of Buffy-tufted-ear Marmosets (Callithrix aurita) in a Continuous Atlantic Forest

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Diet and Spatial Pattern of Foraging in Ectatomma opaciventre (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in an Anthropic Area

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Identification of Landslide Scars in the Region of the Serra do Mar, São Paulo State, Brazil, Using Digital Image Processing and Spatial Analysis Tools

The objective of the present study, developed in a mountainous region in Brazil where many landslides occur, is to present a method for detecting landslide scars that couples image processing techniques with spatial analysis tools. An IKONOS image was initially segmented, and then classified through a Batthacharrya classifier, with an acceptance limit of 99%, resulting in 216 polygons identified with a spectral response similar to landslide scars. After making use of some spatial analysis tools that took into account a susceptibility map, a map of local drainage channels and highways, and the maximum expected size of scars in the study area, some features misinterpreted as scars were excluded. The 43 resulting features were then compared with visually interpreted landslide scars and field observations. The proposed method can be reproduced and enhanced by adding filtering criteria and was able to find new scars on the image, with a final error rate of 2.3%.

Husserl on Geometry and Spatial Representation

Husserl left many unpublished drafts explaining (or trying to) his views on spatial representation and geometry, such as, particularly, those collected in the second part of Studien zur Arithmetik und Geometrie (Hua XXI), but no completely articulate work on the subject. In this paper, I put forward an interpretation of what those views might have been. Husserl, I claim, distinguished among different conceptions of space, the space of perception (constituted from sensorial data by intentionally motivated psychic functions), that of physical geometry (or idealized perceptual space), the space of the mathematical science of physical nature (in which science, not only raw perception has a word) and the abstract spaces of mathematics (free creations of the mathematical mind), each of them with its peculiar geometrical structure. Perceptual space is proto-Euclidean and the space of physical geometry Euclidean, but mathematical physics, Husserl allowed, may find it convenient to represent physical space with a non-Euclidean structure. Mathematical spaces, on their turn, can be endowed, he thinks, with any geometry mathematicians may find interesting. Many other related questions are addressed here, in particular those concerning the a priori or a posteriori character of the many geometric features of perceptual space (bearing in mind that there are at least two different notions of a priori in Husserl, which we may call the conceptual and the transcendental a priori). I conclude with an overview of Weyl's ideas on the matter, since his philosophical conceptions are often traceable back to his former master, Husserl.

Seasonal and spatial species richness variation of dung beetle (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae s. str.) in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Coordinated views to assist exploration of spatio-temporal data: a case study

In this paper we focus on providing coordinated visual strategies to assist users in performing tasks driven by the presence of temporal and spatial attributes. We introduce temporal visualization techniques targeted at such tasks, and illustrate their use with an application involving a climate classification process. The climate classification requires extensive Processing of a database containing daily rain precipitation values collected along over fifty years at several spatial locations in the São Paulo state, Brazil. We identify user exploration tasks typically conducted as part of the data preparation required in this process, and then describe how such tasks may be assisted by the multiple visual techniques provided. Issues related to the use of the multiple techniques by an end-user are also discussed.