NEW PHYTOSEIIDAE (ACARI: MESOSTIGMATA) FROM COSTA RICA, WITH ADDITIONAL INFORMATION on OTHER SPECIES

This paper reports on a study of phytoseiids collected from the La Selva Biological Field Station, the ALAS (Arthropods of La Selva) Project, made available to us by the Canadian National Collection via Dr. E. E. Lindquist. This material includes two new species, Proprioseiopsis versus n. sp. and Transeius costarricensis n. sp., three new records for Central America, and additional information for nine species previously reported from La Selva.

Considerations in light truck suspension design

The present work aims at to approach considerations of trucks suspension design. The proposal of the work consists of discussing the aspects related to the acting of the suspension and of factors that interact with the system through representative models of the dynamic behaviour of the vehicle ride when operating in total load and/or empty conditions. The importance of this work is to revise some procedures of suspension study in the sense of adapting them to the Brazilian reality, tends in view the importance of the design characterisation and adaptation to the typical roads of Brazil. Copyright © 2000 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

Integração territorial na América do Sul: uma análise multiescalar a partir das obras da IIRSA/COSIPLAN

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

Histórias de Pescadores: estudo com ribeirinhos desalojados por uma hidrelétrica

In this research, made with riparians ousted by the construction of an hydroelectric power station, were gathered histories of the time when they were living in the edges of the river and of the current life in the town constructed in substitution to the ancient village flooded by the dam. In the histories, they proliferate images of a time of abundance, of fishing and of the fertile land that they were cultivating on the edge of the river. They describe the old village, with wealth of details, their achievements in the fishing and in the challenge of the mysteries of the forest and of the ferocity of the wild animals. They talk about the daily life of the ancient village like a community in which they were near and supportive. In the current narratives the protest and the revolt remain against the construction of the hydroelectric power station that took away the river and the rich riverside life, placing them at a place that they find sterile and devitalized.

Tree species community spatial structure in a terra firme Amazon forest, Brazil

All trees with diameter at breast height dbh >= 10.0 cm were stem-mapped in a "terra firme" tropical rainforest in the Brazilian Amazon, at the EMBRAPA Experimental Site, Manaus, Brazil. Specifically, the relationships of tree species with soil properties were determined by using canonical correspondence analyses based on nine soil variables and 68 tree species. From the canonical correspondence analyses, the species were grouped into two groups: one where species occur mainly in sandy sites, presenting low organic matter content; and another one where species occur mainly in dry and clayey sites. Hence, we used Ripley's K function to analyze the distribution of species in 32 plots ranging from 2,500 m(2) to 20,000 m(2) to determine whether each group presents some spatial aggregation as a soil variations result. Significant spatial aggregation for the two groups was found only at over 10,000 m(2) sampling units, particularly for those species found in clayey soils and drier environments, where the sampling units investigated seemed to meet the species requirements. Soil variables, mediated by topographic positions had influenced species spatial aggregation, mainly in an intermediate to large distances varied range (>= 20 m). Based on our findings, we conclude that environmental heterogeneity and 10,000 m(2) minimum sample unit sizes should be considered in forest dynamic studies in order to understand the spatial processes structuring the "terra firme" tropical rainforest in Brazilian Amazon.