Density and population size of mammals introduced on a land-bridge island in southeastern Brazil

The introduction of alien species is one of the main threats to the conservation of native species, especially in island ecosystems. Here, we report on the population growth of 15 species of mammals introduced in 1983 on the island of Anchieta, an 828 ha land-bridge island in southeastern Brazil. We estimated the density of mammals through 296 km of line transect census. Five species introduced became extinct (coypu, brocket deer, six-banded armadillo, nine-banded armadillo, maned three-toed sloth); six became over-abundant (marmoset, coati, agouti, seven-banded armadillo, and capybara); one has a stable population (capuchin monkey). Anchieta Island has the highest density of mammals in the entire Atlantic forest (486.77 ind/km(2)), especially nest predators (232.83 ind/km(2)) and herbivores (253.58 ind/km(2)). Agoutis (Dasyprocta spp.) and marmosets (Callithrix penicillata) were, by far, the species with the highest population growth. The high density of mammals in this island may have strong consequences for plant recruitment and bird diversity.

Semantic categories in the indigenous languages of Brazil

This article investigates which semantic categories, as defined in Functional Discourse Grammar, formally manifest themselves in a sample of native languages of Brazil, and the extent to which the distribution of these manifestations across categories can be described systematically in terms of implicational hierarchies. The areas subjected to investigation are basic interrogative words, basic demonstrative words, and nominalization strategies.

An Innovative Crop-Forage Intercrop System: Early Cycle Soybean Cultivars and Palisadegrass

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

Fidelity of molluscan assemblages from the touro passo formation (pleistocene-holocene), southern brazil: taphonomy as a tool for discovering natural baselines for freshwater communities

This study is the first assessment of mollusk fossil assemblages relative to the compositional fidelity of modern mollusk living and death assemblages. It also shows that the sedimentary record can provide information on the original, non-human-impacted, freshwater malacofauna biodiversity, based on Late Pleistocene shells. The fossil mollusk assemblage from the Touro Passo Formation (Pleistocene-Holocene) was compared to living and death assemblages of the Touro Passo River, southern Brazil, revealing little resemblance between fossil and live-dead species composition. Although the living and death assemblages agree closely in richness, species composition, and species relative abundances (both proportional and rank), the fossil assemblage differs significantly from both modern assemblages in most of these measures. The fossil assemblage is dominated by the native endemic corbiculid bivalve Cyanocyclas limosa and the gastropod Heleobia aff. bertoniana. These are absent in the living assemblages, and both living and death assemblages are dominated by the alien Asiatic corbiculid C. fluminea, which is absent in the fossil assemblage. The fossil assemblage also contains, overall, a higher proportional abundance of relatively thick-shelled species, suggesting a genuine bias against the thinner- and smaller-shelled species. Our results suggest that contemporary environmental changes, such as the introduction of some alien freshwater mollusk species, together with post-burial taphonomic processes, are the main factors leading to the poor fidelity of the fossil assemblage studied. Hence, the taxonomic composition of the Late Pleistocene mollusks from the Touro Passo Formation probably would show greater similarity to present-day assemblages wherever the mollusk biodiversity is not disturbed by human activities.

Hunting and use of terrestrial fauna used by Caicaras from the Atlantic Forest coast (Brazil)

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

Assessment of Cerdocyon thous distribution in an agricultural mosaic, southeastern Brazil

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

Acute renal failure in renal allograft recipients and patients with native kidneys

In order to evaluate the role of underlying disease in the high mortality observed in acute renal failure (ARF) and risk factors related to the development of oliguric ARF in renal allograft recipients, two groups were selected: 34 patients with native kidneys, aged 16 and 57 years, and presenting ischemic ARF caused by cardiovascular collapse, with no signs of infection at the time of diagnosis; and 34 renal allograft recipients who developed ARF immediately after transplantation, without rejection. ARF was defined either as 30% increase of basal plasmatic creatinine in patients with native kidneys or non-normalization of plasmatic creatinine at day 5 after transplantation in renal allograft recipients; oliguria as diuresis ≤ 400 mL/24 h. There were no differences in age, male frequency, oliguria presence and duration, need for dialysis, and infection episodes for renal allograft recipients and patients with native kidneys. The development of sepsis (3% and 41%) and death rate (3% and 44%) were higher in patients with native kidneys (p < 0.01). The renal allograft recipients with both oliguric (n = 18) and nonoliguric (n = 16) ARF were evaluated and no difference was observed in the recipient's age, donor's age, cold ischemia time, time elapsed until plasmatic creatinine normalization, donor's plasmatic creatinine or urea, and mean arterial pressure. No differences were observed between the groups regarding frequency of infection episodes during ARF and frequency of death. In conclusion, renal allograft recipients presented a lower death rate and were less susceptible to sepsis. Cold ischemia time, age, and hemodynamic characteristics of the donor did not affect the development of oliguria.

Genetic diversity in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides from Stylosanthes spp. at Centers of origin and utilization

Using molecular markers, this work compares the genetic diversity in Colletotrichum gloeosporioides infecting species of the tropical forage legume Stylosanthes at the center of origin in Brazil and Colombia with that of Australia, China, and India, where Srylosanthes spp. have been introduced for commercial use. There was extensive diversity in the pathogen population from Brazil, Colombia, China, and India. The Australian pathogen population was least diverse probably due to its geographical isolation and effective quarantine. The extensive diversity in China and India means that threats from exotic pathogen races to Stylosanthes pastures can potentially come from countries outside the South American center of origin. In Brazil and India, both with native Stylosanthes populations, a high level of genetic differentiation in the pathogen population was associated with sites where native or naturalized host population was widely distributed. There was limited genetic diversity at germplasm evaluation sites, with a large proportion of isolates having identical haplotypes. This contrasts recent pathogenicity results for 78 of the Brazilian isolates that show hot spots of complex races are more common around research stations where host germplasm are tested, but few are found at sites containing wild host populations. For a pathogen in which the same races arise convergently from different genetic backgrounds, this study highlights the importance of using both virulence and selectively neutral markers to understand pathogen population structure.

Spatial pattern of parasitism in Diatraea saccharalis Fab. (Lep., Crambidae) populations at two different spatial scales in sugarcane fields in Brazil

The biological control of Diatraea saccharalis is regarded as one of the best examples of successful classical biological control in Brazil. Since the introduction of the exotic parasitoid, Cotesia flavipes, the decrease in D. saccharalis infestation in sugarcane fields has been attributed to the effectiveness of this agent. Native Tachinidae fly parasitoids (Lydella minense and Paratheresia claripalpis) have also been implicated in the success. Quantitative data confirming the actual contribution of these agents to the control of D. saccharalis are, however, rather scant. The purpose of this study was to investigate the spatial pattern of parasitism of these parasitoids in D. saccharalis populations at two large spatial scales (fields and zones). To investigate this subject, a large data set comprising information collected from a sugarcane mill located in the state of São Paulo, Brazil (São João sugarcane mill) was analysed. When regressions between the proportion parasitism against host density were computed, the percentage of significant regressions with either a positive or a negative slope was very small at both spatial scales for both parasitoid species. Regressing the densities of tachinid-parasitized hosts against host densities per field showed that these parasitoids presented a 'moderate aggregative' response to host densities, as 53.33% of the regressions were positively significant. Cotesia flavipes was 'weakly aggregated' on host densities at the field level, because only 33.33% of the regressions were positively significant. At the zone level, neither aggregative nor spatial proportion parasitism responses were evident for either parasitoid species due to the small percentage of significant regressions computed.

Composition of coriander essential oil from Brazil

Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is an annual and herbaceous plant, belonging to the Apiaceae family. Native of southern Europe and western Mediterranean region, this herb is cultivated world widely. This species, rich in linalool, has potential using as source of essential oil and as a medicinal plant. It has been used as analgesic, carminative, digestive, depurative, anti-rheumatic and antispasmodic agent. Its fruits (commonly called seeds) are used for flavoring candies, in cookery, perfumery, beverage and in tobacco industry. The aim of this study was to analyze the chemical composition of the seed essential oil of this species grown in Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. The experiment was carried out in Lageado Experimental Farm, Department of Plant Production, Agronomical Sciences College, São Paulo State University. The fruits were harvest 108 days after sowing. The essential oils were extracted by hydro distillation, in Clevenger apparatus. 50 g of fruits were used in each extraction. Three extractions were performed during three hours. The essential oils were analyzed in Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometer (CG-MS, Shimadzu, QP-5000), equipped with DB-5 capillary column (30 m × 0,25 mm × 0,25 mm), split 1/20, injector for 240 C°, detector for 230 C°, dragged by gas He (1,7 mL/min), with programmed temperature for 40 C° (5 min)-150 C°, 4 C°/min; 150 C°-280 C°, 8 C°/min. The identification of the compounds was made by comparison of their spectra of masses with data from CG-MS (Nist 62 lib), literature references and retention index of Kovats. The 18 most important components were identified and quantified. The main components of the oil were linalool (77.48 %), γ-terpinene (4.64 %), α-pinene (3.97 %), limonene (1.28 %), geraniol (0.64 %) and 2-decenal (0.16 %).

Ant fauna (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Magnoliophyta native to the Atlantic forest

The aim of the study was to analyze the preferences of ant species visiting the trunks of eight species of Magnoliophyta, belonging to the families Fabaceae, Arecaceae, Myrtaceae, Melastomataceae and Euphorbiaceae, located in a fragment of the Atlantic Forest in southeastern Brazil. A total of 101 ant species, belonging to eight subfamilies and 32 genera, were sampled during the 12-month collection period. Close to 30% of the ant species can be considered arboreal, and the others are species that nest in the ground and use trees only for foraging, which can be occasional, as in the case of the Ecitoninae sampled in Arecaceae and Euphorbiaceae. Pachycondyla mesonotalis was the only species collected on all the Magnoliophyta, whereas Camponotus rufipes, Acromyrmex niger and Crematogaster spp., were found on 87.5% of the trees analyzed. No strong similarities were found, using the Jaccard Index, among plant species in the same family of Magnoliophyta based on the visiting ants, except for the Euphorbiaceae species. This result is probably related to the presence of extra-floral nectar, which is very attractive to ants and characteristic of this family.

Occurrence of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans in patients with chronic periodontitis, aggressive periodontitis, healthy subjects and children with gingivitis in two cities of the state of São Paulo, Brazil

The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of isolation of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) in 100 patients with chronic periodontitis, 14 patients with aggressive periodontitis, 142 pre-school children with gingivitis and 134 periodontally healthy subjects. Samples of subgingival plaque were taken using sterilized paper points introduced into periodontal pockets or gingival crevice for 60 seconds and inoculated on TSBV agar, which was incubated under anaerobiosis at 37°C, for 4 days. Microbial identification was performed through biochemical methods and morphocellular and morphocolonial analysis. Aa was detected in 40.3% of healthy subjects, 68% of patients with chronic periodontitis, 92.86% of patients with aggressive periodontitis and 40.14% of children with gingivitis. The rate of recovery of Aa in the tested human groups proved to be higher than previously reported and in agreement with participation of this facultative anaerobe as a member of native microbiota of the periodontium and its relation with aggressive and chronic periodontitis in Brazil.

Relation between green spaces and bird community structure in an urban area in Southeast Brazil

Increased urbanization typically leads to an increase in abundance of a few species and a reduction in bird species richness. Understanding the structure of biotic communities in urban areas will allow us to propose management techniques and to decrease conflicts between wild species and human beings. The objective of this study was to describe the structure of the bird community in an urban ecosystem. The study was carried out in the city of Taubaté in southeastern Brazil. Point-counts were established in areas with different levels of tree density ranging from urban green spaces to predominantly built-up areas. We looked for a correlation between the richness/abundance of birds and the size of the area surveyed, the number of houses, the number of tree species and the number of individual trees. The results of multiple regression showed that bird richness had a direct relationship with vegetation complexity. The abundance and diversity of tree species were better predictors of bird species than the number of houses and size of the area surveyed. We discuss implications of this study for conservation and management of bird diversity in urban areas, such as the need to increase green areas containing a large diversity of native plant species. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Intercropping time of corn and palisadegrass or guineagrass affecting grain yield and forage production

Intercropping corn (Zea mays L.) with forages, such as palisadegrass {Urochloa brizantha (Hochst. ex A. rich.) r. D. Webster [syn. Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. rich.) Stapf]} or guineagrass [Megathyrsus maximus (Jacq.) B. K. Simon & S. W. L. Jacobs (syn. Panicum maximum Jacq.)], provides large amounts of biomass for use as straw in no-tillage systems or as pasture. However, it is important to evaluate what time these forages have to be sown into corn systems to avoid reductions in both corn and forage production. This study, conducted for three growing seasons at Botucatu, Brazil, evaluated nutrient concentration and yield of corn as affected by time of forage intercropped as well as forage's dry matter production. our data showed that intercropping systems did not reduce leaf nutrient concentrations and grain yield of corn in relation to sole corn. The simultaneous intercropping of corn and guineagrass resulted in the lowest plant population (51, 200 plant ha-1), number of ears per plant (1.0), and, consequently, the lowest corn grain yield (9801 kg ha-1). Guineagrass seeded at the time of corn fertilizer topdressing resulted in the highest plant population (59, 400 plants ha-1), number of ears per plant (1.2), and corn grain yield (12, 077 kg ha-1). Forage production was highest when intercrop was done simultaneously. palisadegrass could be intercropped with corn both simultaneously or at topdressing fertilization stage. In contrast, it is recommended that guineagrass should only be intercropped with corn at topdressingfertilization. © Crop Science Society of America.

Tropical influence in oriental gardens in Brazil

In the contemporary landscaping, among the gardening styles, the Japanese Garden plays very important rule and influence. The Japanese Garden has originated in China-the cradle of gardening culture; and Korea. Their vegetable elements, architectural features and fauna are characteristic, due to use of stones, water, bridges, stoned lamp, bonsai, carps and bamboo (Prunus serrulata, Camellia japonica, Ophiopogon japonicas) and many others. In Brazil, the Japanese Garden has massive influence, the presence of native elements typically tropical is very noticeable. This influence can be observed both in architecture, vegetation and fauna. Thus, this study aimed to identify and analyze the tropical elements in Japanese Gardens in cities such as São Paulo. Japanese Gardens in Brazil were chosen from the following cities: Sao Paulo State, Garça, Jaboticabal and Ribeirão Preto. It was observed, mostly in the presence of different palms species, plants of the Zingiberales order, Alpinia purpurata and styled architectural elements such as lakes. Some elements were able to apply the philosophy of the Japanese Garden, other not.