Interference competition and scavenging by Crematogaster ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) associated with the webs of the social spider Anelosimus eximius (Araneae: Theridiidae) in the central Amazon

Crematogaster cf. victima is a common inhabitant in the sheet web nests of the social spider Anelosimus eximius in the central Amazon basin near Manaus. A number of other ant species were found foraging on the non-sticky webs of A. eximius, but none of these reached the web occupation frequency found in C. cf. victima, nor, with the exception of an unidentified species of Pheidole, did they form satellite nests in the web, as did this species. Many prey which escaped the knock-down threads of the sheet web of A. eximius colonies were captured by ants in the lower web portions which they dominated. Furthermore, prey which were rejected by A. eximius, especially large, heavily sclerotized beetles, were also consumed by this ant. Repeated observations and experiments suggest that C. cf. victima is able to deter A. eximius activity through aerial venom release. Resources lost by A. eximius colonies to ants, especially C. cf. victima, in colonial web area and prey, may pose significant costs and may reduce colony growth.

A dense GNSS meteorological network for observing deep convection in the Amazon

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

Spatial and temporal distribution of fishing resources exploited by the Manaus fishing fleet, Amazonas, Brazil

Recursos pesqueiros são importantes fontes de renda e alimento para as populações rurais e urbanas na Amazônia. O presente trabalho avalia a pesca e as variáveis ambientais que determinam a produção de pescarias que desembarcam em Manaus, e avalia também a abundância relativa de recursos pesqueiros em diferentes subsistemas na Amazônia Central. A informação coletada no porto de desembarque de pescado de Manaus foi utilizada para testar um novo índice de captura obtido a partir de um modelo de covariância que apresentou as seguintes variáveis significativas: número de pescadores/dia (dias de pesca vezes número de pescadores por viagem); distância do pesqueiro até Manaus; quantidade de gelo que usou durante a viagem; e nível de rio. Não houve nenhuma diferença significativa entre valores médios de captura entre os subsistemas do Purus, Madeira e de Juruá. Estes resultados sugerem que os tributários da margem direita são similares e mais produtivos em termos comerciais. Concluiu-se que a produção corrente varia de acordo com a magnitude de esforço pesqueiro, por variações ambientais, assim como por aspectos operacionais da pesca, particularmente o consumo de gelo.

Sedimentação na bacia do Pantanal Mato-Grossense, Centro-Oeste do Brasil

The Pantanal is a Quaternary sedimentary basin located at the left margin of the Upper Paraguay River, west-central Brazil. Basin infilling was mainly by siliciclastic sediments and the stratigraphic succession exhibits an overall finingupward pattern. The depositional system tract is composed by a large meandering fluvial plain and several marginal alluvial fans, being the Taquari megafan the most striking feature. The present landscape is a complex tropical wetland, with geomorphic features derived from the present conditions and other inherited from successive Pleistocene and Holocene climates. During the Pleistocene, the sedimentary environment was dominated by braided alluvial fans, the original geometry of which is preserved as relict forms, permitting remarkable patterns of distributary paleochannels to be easily recognized in satellite images. Eolian processes were active in some abandoned lobes, contemporaneously with sedimentation in active fan lobes. Closed ponds bordered by lunette sand dunes, originally salt pans produced by eolian deflation, are relict eolian landforms in the Pantanal landscape. Eolian processes were probably more effective at the glacial maximum. Landscape has been changing in the Pantanal area since the end of the Pleistocene in adaptation to a more humid and warmer environment prevailing during Holocene. Initiation of the modern wetland has occurred during the Pleistocene / Holocene transition, with the change to a more humid climate and the individualization of lacustrine systems. The modern Pantanal wetland is a vast expanse of poorly drained lowlands that experiences annual flooding from summer to fall months. Although climatic fluctuations have occurred during all the Holocene, the alluvial fans have remained active depositional systems and lobes were formed by progradation and abandonment. Abandoned lobes were subjected... (Complete abstract click electronic address below)