Socio-climatic hotspots in Brazil

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Thermoregulation and Respiratory Metabolism in two Brazilian Stingless Bee Subspecies of Different Climatic Distribution, Tetragonisca angustula fiebrigi and T a angustula (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponinae)

The thermoregulatory capacity of colonies of the stingless bee subspecies Tetragonisca angustula fiebrigi Schwarz 1938, and Tetragonisca angustula angustula Latreille 1807, was investigated during winter and summer. The temperatures [T] inside and outside the nests were measured for 48 hh every 2 hh. In the brood area, the mean T observed for T a fiebrigi are 28.1° and 29.5° C, respectively, during winter and summer, whereas for T a angustula they are 28.6° and 31.6° C The ambient T in the same period range from 10.5° - 24.4° C (winter) and 20.1 - 36.3° C (summer). In workers, the respiratory rates [RR] increase with a rise in T, however, the differences between workers of the subspecies are not significant in contrast to the RR measured within subspecies in winter and summer. The Q10 values indicate an optimal T range from 15 - 25° C in winter, and from 20 - 30° C in summer for T a fiebrigi. For T a angustula the corresponding values were 25 - 35° C and 30 - 40° C, respectively.

How optimal are the extremes?: Latin American exchange rate policies during the Asian crisis

Includes bibliography

Climatic variables and altitude as predictors of anuran species richness and number of reproductive modes in Brazil

Because anuran species are highly dependent on environmental variables, we hypothesized that anuran species richness and the number of reproductive modes from different Brazilian localities vary according to climatic and altitudinal variables. Published data were compiled from 36 Brazilian localities and climatic and altitudinal data were extracted from an available database. A partial redundancy analysis (pRDA) showed that 23.5% of the data set's variation was explained by climatic and altitudinal data, while the remaining 76.5% remained unexplained. This analysis suggests that other factors not analysed herein may also be important for predicting anuran species richness and the number of reproductive modes in Brazil. Altitude and total annual rainfall were positively correlated with anuran species richness and the number of reproductive modes, and total annual rainfall was strongly associated with these two biotic variables in the triplot of pRDA. The positive association of total annual rainfall and the negative association of the concentration of annual rainfall were already expected based on physiological and reproductive requirements of anurans. On the other hand, temperature was not associated with richness or the number of reproductive modes. Copyright © 2010 Cambridge University Press.

How optimal are the extremes?: Latin American exchange rate policies during the Asian crisis

Includes bibliography

Los posibles cambios climáticos en América Latina y el Caribe y sus consecuencias = Possible climatic changes in Latin America and the Caribbean and their consequences

Incluye Bibliografía

Eventos pluviais extremos e estiagens na região das Missões, RS: a percepção dos moradores do município de Santo Antônio das Missões

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

An assessment of the economic and social impacts of climate change on the health sector in the Caribbean

Climate change affects the fundamental bases of good human health, which are clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food, and secure shelter. Climate change is known to impact health through three climate dimensions: extreme heat, natural disasters, and infections and diseases. The temporal and spatial climatic changes that will affect the biology and ecology of vectors and intermediate hosts are likely to increase the risks of disease transmission. The greatest effect of climate change on disease transmission is likely to be observed at the extremes of the range of temperatures at which transmission typically occurs. Caribbean countries are marked by unique geographical and geological features. When combined with their physical, infrastructural development, these features make them relatively more prone to negative impacts from changes in climatic conditions. The increased variability of climate associated with slow-moving tropical depressions has implications for water quality through flooding as well as hurricanes. Caribbean countries often have problems with water and sanitation. These problems are exacerbated whenever there is excess rainfall, or no rainfall. The current report aims to prepare the Caribbean to respond better to the anticipated impact of climate change on the health sector, while fostering a subregional Caribbean approach to reducing carbon emissions by 2050. It provides a major advance on the analytical and contextual issues surrounding the impact of climate change on health in the Caribbean by focusing on the vector-borne and waterborne diseases that are anticipated to be impacted directly by climate change. The ultimate goal is to quantify both the direct and indirect costs associated with each disease, and to present adaptation strategies that can address these health concerns effectively to benefit the populations of the Caribbean.

Simulation of soybean growth and yield under northeastern Amazon climatic conditions

O objetivo deste trabalho foi parametrizar, calibrar e validar uma nova versão do modelo de crescimento e de produtividade da soja desenvolvido por Sinclair, em condições naturais de campo no nordeste da Amazônia. Os dados meteorológicos e os valores de crescimento e de área foliar da soja foram obtidos em um experimento agrometeorológico realizado em Paragominas, PA, de 2006 a 2009. As condições climáticas durante o experimento foram muito distintas, com uma ligeira redução na precipitação em 2007, em virtude do fenômeno El Niño. Houve redução no índice de área foliar (IAF) e na produção de biomassa neste ano, a qual foi reproduzida pelo modelo. A simulação do IAF apresentou raiz do erro quadrado médio (REQM) de 0,55 a 0,82 m2 m‑2, de 2006 a 2009. A simulação da produtividade da soja para os dados independentes apresentou um REQM de 198 kg ha‑1, ou seja, uma superestimativa de 3%. O modelo encontra-se calibrado e validado para as condições climáticas da Amazônia e pode contribuir positivamente para a melhoria das simulações dos impactos da mudança de uso da terra na região amazônica. A versão modificada do modelo de Sinclair simula adequadamente a formação de área foliar, a biomassa total e a produtividade da soja, nas condições climáticas do nordeste da Amazônia.

Variabilidade e tendência climática e a produtividade da soja no estado de São Paulo

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Variação térmica e a distribuição têmporo-espacial da mortalidade por doenças cardiovasculares na cidade de Limeira/SP

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Radio-wave propagation model for UHF band in different climatic conditions with dyadic green’s function

This article proposes a deterministic radio propagation model using dyadic Green's function to predict the value of the electric field. Dyadic is offered as an efficient mathematical tool which has symbolic simplicity and robustness, as well as taking account of the anisotropy of the medium. The proposed model is an important contribution for the UHF band because it considers climatic conditions by changing the constants of the medium. Most models and recommendations that include an approach for climatic conditions, are designed for satellite links, mainly Ku and Ka bands. The results obtained by simulation are compared and validated with data from a Digital Television Station measurement campaigns conducted in the Belém city in Amazon region during two seasons. The proposed model was able to provide satisfactory results by differentiating between the curves for dry and wet soil and these corroborate the measured data, (the RMS errors are between 2-5 dB in the case under study).

Thermographic evaluation of climatic conditions on lambs from different genetic groups

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

The Genetic Architecture of Climatic Adaptation of Tropical Cattle

Adaptation of global food systems to climate change is essential to feed the world. Tropical cattle production, a mainstay of profitability for farmers in the developing world, is dominated by heat, lack of water, poor quality feedstuffs, parasites, and tropical diseases. In these systems European cattle suffer significant stock loss, and the cross breeding of taurine x indicine cattle is unpredictable due to the dilution of adaptation to heat and tropical diseases. We explored the genetic architecture of ten traits of tropical cattle production using genome wide association studies of 4,662 animals varying from 0% to 100% indicine. We show that nine of the ten have genetic architectures that include genes of major effect, and in one case, a single location that accounted for more than 71% of the genetic variation. One genetic region in particular had effects on parasite resistance, yearling weight, body condition score, coat colour and penile sheath score. This region, extending 20 Mb on BTA5, appeared to be under genetic selection possibly through maintenance of haplotypes by breeders. We found that the amount of genetic variation and the genetic correlations between traits did not depend upon the degree of indicine content in the animals. Climate change is expected to expand some conditions of the tropics to more temperate environments, which may impact negatively on global livestock health and production. Our results point to several important genes that have large effects on adaptation that could be introduced into more temperate cattle without detrimental effects on productivity.