Experiences From The Brazilian Atlantic Forest: Ecological Findings And Conservation Initiatives.

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest hosts one of the world's most diverse and threatened tropical forest biota. In many ways, its history of degradation describes the fate experienced by tropical forests around the world. After five centuries of human expansion, most Atlantic Forest landscapes are archipelagos of small forest fragments surrounded by open-habitat matrices. This 'natural laboratory' has contributed to a better understanding of the evolutionary history and ecology of tropical forests and to determining the extent to which this irreplaceable biota is susceptible to major human disturbances. We share some of the major findings with respect to the responses of tropical forests to human disturbances across multiple biological levels and spatial scales and discuss some of the conservation initiatives adopted in the past decade. First, we provide a short description of the Atlantic Forest biota and its historical degradation. Secondly, we offer conceptual models describing major shifts experienced by tree assemblages at local scales and discuss landscape ecological processes that can help to maintain this biota at larger scales. We also examine potential plant responses to climate change. Finally, we propose a research agenda to improve the conservation value of human-modified landscapes and safeguard the biological heritage of tropical forests.

Molecular Genetic Variability Of Commercial And Wild Accessions Of Passion Fruit (passiflora Spp.) Targeting Ex Situ Conservation And Breeding.

Passiflora species are distributed throughout Latin America, and Brazil and Colombia serve as the centers of diversity for this genus. We performed cross-species amplification to evaluate 109 microsatellite loci in 14 Passiflora species and estimated the diversity and genetic structure of Passiflora cincinnata, Passiflora setaceae and Passiflora edulis. A total of 127 accessions, including 85 accessions of P. edulis, a commercial species, and 42 accessions of 13 wild species, were examined. The cross-species amplification was effective for obtaining microsatellite loci (average cross-amplification of 70%). The average number of alleles per locus (five) was relatively low, and the average diversity ranged from 0.52 in P. cincinnata to 0.32 in P. setacea. The Bayesian analyses indicated that the P. cincinnata and P. setacea accessions were distributed into two groups, and the P. edulis accessions were distributed into five groups. Private alleles were identified, and suggestions for core collections are presented. Further collections are necessary, and the information generated may be useful for breeding and conservation.

Undulatory Physical Resistance Training Program Increases Maximal Strength In Elderly Type 2 Diabetics.

To investigate the effects of a specific protocol of undulatory physical resistance training on maximal strength gains in elderly type 2 diabetics. The study included 48 subjects, aged between 60 and 85 years, of both genders. They were divided into two groups: Untrained Diabetic Elderly (n=19) with those who were not subjected to physical training and Trained Diabetic Elderly (n=29), with those who were subjected to undulatory physical resistance training. The participants were evaluated with several types of resistance training's equipment before and after training protocol, by test of one maximal repetition. The subjects were trained on undulatory resistance three times per week for a period of 16 weeks. The overload used in undulatory resistance training was equivalent to 50% of one maximal repetition and 70% of one maximal repetition, alternating weekly. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences (p<0.05) between pre-test and post-test over a period of 16 weeks. The average gains in strength were 43.20% (knee extension), 65.00% (knee flexion), 27.80% (supine sitting machine), 31.00% (rowing sitting), 43.90% (biceps pulley), and 21.10% (triceps pulley). Undulatory resistance training used with weekly different overloads was effective to provide significant gains in maximum strength in elderly type 2 diabetic individuals.

Is Misión Milagro an effective program to prevent blindness in Latin America?

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Basquetebol

Universidade Estadual de Campinas. Faculdade de Educação Física