Stream fish, water and habitat quality in a pasture dominated basin, southeastern Brazil

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

Habitat associations of small mammals in southern Brazil and use of regurgitated pellets of birds of prey for inventorying a local fauna

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

Questioning the implementation of habitat corridors: a case study in interior São Paulo using ants as bioindicators

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

Habitat use by two species of Hypostomus (Pisces, Loricariidae) in southeastern brazilian streams

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

Abundance, habitat use and diet of Callicebus nigrifrons Spix (Primates, Pitheciidae) in Cantareira State Park, São Paulo, Brazil

Entre abril de 2005 e maio de 2006, através de censos seguindo os pressupostos da metodologia de transecção linear, foram estimadas a densidade populacional e abundância de Callicebus nigrifrons Spix, 1823 (Pitheciidae) no Parque Estadual da Cantareira, Estado de São Paulo, Sudeste do Brasil (23°23'42S, 46°35'27W). Com um esforço amostral de 275,8 km de censos, os sauás foram a segunda espécie de primata mais abundante, apresentando um índice de abundância de 1,4 grupos para cada 10 km percorridos e uma estimativa de densidade de 12,21 ind./km² (variando de 8,45 a 17,63 ind./km²). A coleta de dados auxiliares durante os censos possibilitou a verificação da dieta e uso do hábitat pelos grupos de Callicebus, e os resultados evidenciaram uma relativa adaptabilidade à ambientes perturbados.

Intoxicação por veneno de sapo em um canino

O sapo do gênero Bufo possui nas suas glândulas paratóides uma secreção mucóide contendo toxinas como bufaginas e Bufotoxinas, que são esteróides cardiogênicos. Os cães podem atacar os sapos, entrando em contato com o veneno por meio das mucosas. Um canino, da raça Bulldog Francês, foi encaminhado ao Setor de Patologia Veterinária da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) para a necropsia com histórico de provável intoxicação por veneno de sapo. Na necropsia o canino apresentava pulmões aumentados de volume, avermelhados e com edema, e rins de coloração vermelho-escura. As alterações microscópicas indicaram congestão, hemorragia e edema pulmonar. Nos rins, no baço e nos linfonodos foi observada congestão. As análises toxicológicas para os venenos de rotina foram negativas. Porém, a investigação do veneno de sapo a partir de cromatografia por camada delgada e gasosa demonstrou resultado positivo, revelando ser esta a causa da morte do canino.

Soil loss risk and habitat quality in streams of a meso-scale river basin

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

A study of habitat fragmentation in Southeastern Brazil using remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS)

The purpose of this work was to study fragmentation of forest formations (mesophytic forest, riparian woodland and savannah vegetation (cerrado)) in a 15,774-ha study area located in the Municipal District of Botucatu in Southeastern Brazil (São Paulo State). A land use and land cover map was made from a color composition of a Landsat-5 thematic mapper (TM) image. The edge effect caused by habitat fragmentation was assessed by overlaying, on a geographic information system (GIS), the land use and land cover data with the spectral ratio. The degree of habitat fragmentation was analyzed by deriving: 1. mean patch area and perimeter; 2. patch number and density; 3. perimeter-area ratio, fractal dimension (D), and shape diversity index (SI); and 4. distance between patches and dispersion index (R). In addition, the following relationships were modeled: 1. distribution of natural vegetation patch sizes; 2. perimeter-area relationship and the number and area of natural vegetation patches; 3. edge effect caused by habitat fragmentation, the values of R indicated that savannah patches (R = 0.86) were aggregated while patches of natural vegetation as a whole (R = 1.02) were randomly dispersed in the landscape. There was a high frequency of small patches in the landscape whereas large patches were rare. In the perimeter-area relationship, there was no sign of scale distinction in the patch shapes, In the patch number-landscape area relationship, D, though apparently scale-dependent, tends to be constant as area increases. This phenomenon was correlated with the tendency to reach a constant density as the working scale was increased, on the edge effect analysis, the edge-center distance was properly estimated by a model in which the edge-center distance was considered a function of the to;al patch area and the SI. (C) 1997 Elsevier B.V. B.V.

Anatomy of Brazilian Eriocaulaceae: correlation with taxonomy and habitat using multivariate analyses

In this study we present a survey on vegetative anatomy in species of Actinocephalus, Blastocaulon, Eriocaulon, Leiothrix, Paepalanthus, Philodice, Syngonanthus, and Tonina (Eriocaulaceae). Multivariate analyses were used to correlate anatomical characters to taxa and the habitats where the species occur. Root and stem anatomical characters seem to be more affected by environmental factors where these species occur, and seem of little value for delimiting major taxonomic groups within the family. Other characters in the leaves, such as epidermis with thickened wall cells, compartmented substomatal chambers, mesophyll with hypodermis, compact chlorenchyma, collenchymatous bundle sheath extensions, and numerous vascular bundles, were shown to be important for defining species clusters in Leiothrix, Syngonanthus, and Paepalanthus subg. Platycaulon. Similarly, loosely aggregated chlorenchyma caused Blastocaulon, Eriocaulon, Philodice, Syngonanthus sect. Carpocephalus, S. sect. Syngonanthus, and Tonina, genera from humid environments, to cluster. Scape characters appear to be more informative in discriminating groups. This situation probably reflects lower selection pressures determining anatomical characters of this organ.

Species diversity and seasonality of free-living ticks (Acari : Ixodidae) in the natural habitat of wild Marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) in Southeastern Brazil

This study evaluated the presence and seasonal activity of free-living ticks in remaining marsh areas by the Parana river, in Brazil. Eight field trips (once per season) for collection of ticks were performed during 2 years. Using CO2 traps, dragging, and visual inspection of vegetation, five free-living tick species were collected, in the following order of abundance: Amblyomma cajennense, Amblyom\ma dubitatum, Amblyomma triste, Amblyomma coelebs, and Amblyomma nodosum. The seasonal pattern of A. cajennense was characterized by the highest peaks for adult ticks in the summer/spring months, for nymphs in the winter and for larvae in the autumn and winter. A. dubitatum and A. triste presented similar seasonal patterns characterized by peaks of adult ticks in the autumn. Nymphs of A. dubitatum peaked in the winter of the first year and in the winter/spring of the second year. A. triste was the only species to be collected in significantly higher numbers in the marsh than in surrounding drier areas such as forest patches. Among domestic animals living close the marsh areas, horses were infested by Anocentor nitens, A. cajennense, and Boophilus microplus, bovines were infested solely by B. microplus, and dogs were infested by Rhipicephalus sanguineus. Adults of A. triste showed to be well adapted to the marsh environment. This result, at least partially, explains local previous observations on the association of A. triste with marsh deer, as this vertebrate host inhabits mainly the marsh area. (c) 2006 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Kinetic parameters of polymer degradation by SAPO-37

High density poly(ethylene) has been submitted to thermal degradation alone, and in the presence of silicoaluminophosphate SAPO-37. The processes were carried out in a reactor connected on line to a gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer in order to analyze the evolved products. Polymer degradation was also evaluated by thermogravimetry, from room temperature until 800 degreesC, under nitrogen dynamic atmosphere, with multiple heating rates. From TG curves, the activation energy related to degradation process was calculated using the Flynn and Wall multiple heating rate kinetic model for pure polymer (PE) and for polymer in the presence of catalyst (PE/S37). SAPO-37 showed good selectivity for low molecular mass hydrocarbons in PE catalytic degradation.

Population biology and habitat utilization of the stone crab Menippe nodifrons in the Ubatuba region, São Paulo, Brazil

The aim of the current study was to evaluate a population of Menippe nodiffons in a reef of sabellariid worms, Phragmatopoma lapidosa, with regard to recruitment, population structure and sex ratio. Sampling was carried out each other month from September 1994 up to and including July 1995, on the rocky shores of the Tenorio beach, São Paulo, Brazil. It resulted in 183 individuals, whose average carapace width in this biotope was 9.1 +/- 5.6 m. The animals were grouped in nine size classes and the frequency distribution showed that 80% occupied the three first classes. This means that the polychaete worm colonies are of great importance for the establishment of individuals in the first juvenile stages.

Habitat patch size modulates terrestrial mammal activity patterns in Amazonian forest fragments

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Distribution and habitat preference of Carabidae and Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) in an orange orchard and a forest fragment

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