Recovery of degraded areas using topsoil in the Amazon rainforest

This study is aimed at evaluating the effect of placing the top soil cover areas, such as tailings degraded by tin mining, in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. The evaluations of the planting sites occurred in areas where tin mining was carried out, basically planting native trees over a period of seven years. This work did not come from a pre-decreed methodology of experimental design, and data was collected only seven years after planting. Thus, it was not possible to identify all variables that contributed to a better recovery of the areas. Sampling was done about seven years after placing the top soil and is determined: pH, organic matter content, P, K, Ca, Mg, Al, cation exchange capacity (T), base saturation (V%), B, Fe, Zn, Cu and Mn. The native forest species existing at the site were evaluated in relation to height (in meters) and diameter of the base. For all sites where the surface layer of soil was applied, there were significant differences in the growth of native species. A fundamental aspect in the rehabilitation of areas degraded by mining, in general, is the knowledge about the soil where that recovery must be conducted. The specific procedures in the rehabilitation of those areas depend essentially on the physical, chemical, biological and mineralogical properties of the soil, which must present conditions for the adequate development of the plants. The initial idea of implanting a project of recovery of soils degraded by mining in the Amazon Forest emerged from a first visit to the field, carried out in 1998. The conditions of the already mined areas, in comparison to the exuberant forest of the surroundings caught our attention. The mining company that acts in the area had already been trying for some time to implant a plan of recovery of these mining areas, however without reaching any significant positive results. The loss of organic matter is one of the main problems of degraded areas in Brazil. The storage and reuse of a blanket of soil (topsoil) produce excellent results, but most of the miners consider this technique expensive and difficult because of operational costs and the sharp topographical condition of the mine site. Therefore, a research project was elaborated prioritizing the recovery of the soil degraded by the tin mining as a prior step to the recovery activities with native forest species. The formation of a superficial pseudo-horizon that supported the vegetation and the time that it would take for its establishment became the main objective of this research. The objective of this work is to verify the levels of elements and their traces in areas where top soils were applied for the remediation of degraded areas with local re-vegetation. © 2011 WIT Press.

Evaluation of metals in water and sediments of micro-basins in the city of Americana, São Paulo state, Brazil

Water pollution found in major rivers in Brazil has its origin from urban sewage discharges and industrial effluent, carried out by small streams and rivers crossing cities. Therefore, studies related to hydrographic micro-basins offer the opportunity to establish environmental management strategies for restoring water resources, based on diagnosis of the water quality. Despite this understanding, few studies in urban and rural areas have been performed in a systematic manner in Brazilian micro-basins. The main goal of this research was to diagnose the water resources in micro-basins in the region of the district of Americana, São Paulo state, Brazil, through the quantification of metals in water and sediment. The methodology was based on the investigation of metals (Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn), in four micro-basins, determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The most significant result showed high concentration levels of chromium (969 μg L-1), downstream of the discharge of sewage from the city of Nova Odessa. This concentration in the river was above the allowed limit of Brazilian regulation agency (50 μg L-1 for Cr). Also high levels of Cr were found in the sediment (98.9 μg g-1) collected at the same monitored site. These results are important indicators of environmental performance and anthropogenic activities to help the government establish environmental management strategies aimed at the reduction of water pollution. © 2013 WIT Press.

Structure and dynamics of the community of periphytic algae in a subtropical reservoir (state of São Paulo, Brazil)

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Genetic structure of Aedes aegypti populations determined using pairwise comparisons

The biological characteristics of Aedes aegypti (Diptera, Culicidae), which is a vector of dengue and yellow fever, make this organism a good model for studying population structure and the events that may influence it under the effect of human activity. We assessed the genetic variability of five A. aegypti populations using RAPD-PCR technique and six primers. Four populations were from Brazil and one was from the USA. A total of 165 polymorphic DNA loci were generated. Considering the six primers and the five populations, the mean value of inter-population genetic diversity (Gst) was 0.277, which is considered high according to the Wright classification. However, pairwise comparisons of the populations gave variable Gst values ranging from 0.044 to 0.289. This variation followed the population's geographic distance to some extent but was also influenced by human activity. The lowest Gst values were obtained in the comparison of populations from cities with intensive commercial and medical contacts. These mosquito populations were previously classified as insecticide resistant, susceptible, or with decreased susceptibility; this parameter apparently had an effect on the Gst values obtained in the pairwise comparisons. ©FUNPEC-RP.

Pollution-induced metabolic responses in hypoxia-tolerant freshwater turtles

The physiological control to support the absence of O2 for long periods of diving, and oxidative damage impact caused by the whole process of hypoxia/reperfusion in freshwater turtles is well known. However, effects of contaminants may act as co-varying stressors and cause biological damage, disrupting the hypoxia/reperfusion oxidative damage control. In order to investigate the action of environmental stressors present in domestic or industrial wastewater effluent, we performed a biochemical analysis of biotransformation enzymes, oxidative stress, as well as neuromuscular, physiological and morphological parameters in Phrynops geoffroanus, an hypoxic-tolerant freshwater turtle endemic of South America, using animals sampled in urban area, contaminated by sewage and industrial effluents and animals sampled in control area. Here we demonstrate the physiological and biochemical impact caused by pollution, and the effect that these changes cause in antioxidant activity. Animals from the urban area exhibited higher EROD (ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase, CYP1A1), GST (glutathione S-transferase), G6PDH (glucose-6-phosphate deshydrogenase), AChE (acetilcholinesterase) activities and also TEAC (trolox-equivalent antioxidant capacity) and TBARS (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) values. We examined whether two morphometric indices (K - condition factor and HIS - hepatosomatic index) which help in assessing the general condition and possible liver disease, respectively, were modified. The K of the urban animals was significantly decreased compared to the control animals, but the HIS value was increased in animals from the urban area, supporting the idea of an impact in physiology and life quality in the urban freshwater turtles. We propose that this freshwater turtle specie have the ability to enhance its antioxidants defenses in order to protect from tissue damage caused by hypoxia and reperfusion, but also that caused by environmental contamination and that the oxidative damage control in hypoxic conditions has resulted in an adaptive condition in hypoxic-tolerant freshwater turtle species, in order to better tolerate the release of contaminated effluents resulting from human activity. © 2013 Elsevier Inc.

Análises moleculares das formigas lava-pés (Solenopsis spp.) (Hymenoptera : Formicidae) e da presença da endobactéria Wolbachia

Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Biologia Celular e Molecular) - IBRC

Adsorção de cádmio e disponibilidade de cádmio e bário em latossolos sob mata nativa e cultivados

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Variabilidade espacial de propriedades físicas e químicas da camada orgânica superficial do solo em um ecótono cerrado-pastagem na microbacia do Rio Pântano (Selviria-MS)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Gestão da informação na cadeia produtiva do jornalismo impresso

Pós-graduação em Comunicação - FAAC

Formação de professores em orientação sexual: a sexualidade que está sendo ensinada nas nossas escolas

Pós-graduação em Educação para a Ciência - FC

A categoria de atividade e o desenvolvimento do pensamento segundo a abordagem histórico-cultural

Pós-graduação em Educação - FFC

Estudo da variabilidade genética de populações de Aedes aegypti (Diptera,Culicidae), resistente e suscetíveis a inseticidas

Pós-graduação em Genética - IBILCE

Proposta para priorização de atividades de remediação no município de São Paulo através da técnica de tomada de decisão multicriterial

Pós-graduação em Geociências e Meio Ambiente - IGCE

Uso de água residuária com diferentes sistemas de irrigação no desenvolvimento e na qualidade microbiológica do meloeiro

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Diagnóstico e avaliação do saneamento básico da zona leste da cidade de Teresina - PI

Pós-graduação em Geografia - IGCE