Nitrogen fluxes from treefrogs to tank epiphytic bromeliads: an isotopic and physiological approach

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

Testing the ecomorphological hypothesis in a headwater riffles fish assemblage of the rio São Francisco, southeastern Brazil

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

Medidas da transpiração em porta-enxertos de citros

Estudou-se a variação diurna da transpiração de quatro porta -enxertos de citros, durante 12 horas, em intervalos de 60 minutos, pelo método das pesagens. Verificou-se que não ocorreu diferenças estatísticas na marcha diária da transpiração, entre Poncirus trifoliata, Citrus aurantium (laranja Azeda), Citrus sinensis (laranja Caipira) e Citrus limonia (limão Cravo). O limoeiro Cravo mostrou, nas condições estudadas, área foliar superior à Poncirus, laranja Azeda e laranja Caipira. Observou-se ainda uma correlação positiva entre a área foliar e a transpiração dos quatro porta-enxertos de citros.

Food partitioning between breeding White-tailed Kites (Elanus leucurus; Aves; Accipitridae) and Barn Owls (Tyto alba; Aves; Tytonidae) in southern Brazil

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

Crab spiders (Araneae: Thomisidae) in flowering plants in a Brazilian Cerrado ecosystem

Ainda que aranhas Thomisidae sejam comumente encontradas em flores, as associações desses aracnídeos a espécies de plantas e às suas características florais foram pouco registradas na região neotropical. Observações do hábito das plantas, visitantes florais, e também das características florais, tais como antese, odor, forma, cor e recursos da flor, foram assinaladas para espécies floridas de uma área de cerrado presentes em uma trilha de 2 km de extensão. Misumenops argenteus e Misumenops pallens representaram 62,86% das aranhas habitantes de 22 espécies de plantas floridas. As plantas Senna rugosa (Fabaceae), Styrax ferrugineus (Styracaceae) e Banisteriopsis campestris (Malpighiaceae) abrigaram, individualmente, cerca de 10 a 17% do total das aranhas e, nestas plantas, a antese diurna; flores de coloração atrativa a abelhas, como amarela (S. rugosa), branca (S. ferrugineus) e rosa (B. campestris) e as anteras poricidas, bem como a visita das flores por abelhas reforçou a evidência de síndrome de polinização para melitofilia. Este é o primeiro levantamento de espécies de aranhas Thomisidae associadas a plantas do cerrado brasileiro.

The night and day of dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) in the Serra do Japi, Brazil: elytra colour related to daily activity

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Repertório vocal de Hylodes phyllodes (Amphibia, Anura, Hylodidae)

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

Ecologia da polinização de Ipomoea asarifolia (Ders.) Roem. & Schult. (Convolvulaceae) na região semi-árida de Pernambuco

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Locomotor and metabolic activities of Gymnostreptus olivaceus (Diplopoda, Spirostreptida) at different photoperiod conditions

In the present investigation the locomotor and the metabolic activity of Gymnostreptus olivaceus were studied, using 24-hr cycles at different photoperiods and constant temperature and RH. Locomotor activity was studied by the actography method and was reported as coefficients of nocturnalism [CN (N/N + D). 100]. The results showed a nocturnalism coefficient of 98,71% under normal photoperiod conditions and of 29,58% under inverted photoperiod conditions. In constant illumination, the CN of G. olivaceus was 88,22%, and in constant darkness, its rhythm was close to that of the normal photoperiod (CN = 94,92%). The metabolic activity was studied by manometric Warburg respirometry and lit was reported as mu l O-2 . g(-1). h(-1). The respiratory rate of G. olivaceus under normal photoperiod condition was higher at night than during the day (52,52 x 28,76), coinciding with the pattern of nocturnal locomotor activity of the animal. However, under conditions of inverted photoperiod, the millipede maintained its tendency toward a more intense nocturnal respiratory rate (50,35 x 39,14). Similar behaviours were observed under constant illumination and constant darkness, in which G. olivaceus again presented higher nocturnal respiratory rates than diurnal ones(85,84 x 53,48 and 73,18 x 57,0, respectively). The present experimental data suggests the persistence of an endogenous rhythm where the light may not be an important exogenous synchronizer of the activity of G. olivaceus, because it was insufficient to block the start of the biological clock and the natural tendency of higher nocturnal activities of millipedes, principally when the tests were performed in constant illumination or darkness (free-running tests).

The first cytogenetic report of fireflies (Coleoptera, Lampyridae) from Brazilian fauna

The first cytogenetic analysis of fireflies from Brazilian fauna was carried out in this work. The investigation of two species of the subfamily Lampyrinae, Aspisoma maculatum and Photinus sp. (aff. pyralis), showed the diploid number 2n = 19 and an X0 sex determination system in males. These observations are similar to those already described for all the Lampyrinae species previously studied. In contrast, Bicellonycha lividipennis (Photurinae) revealed the karyotype 2n = 16 + neoXY, which has not yet been registered for any firefly species. The neoXY sex determination system encountered in this species probably arose through fusion between an ancestral X sex chromosome, belonging to the X0 system, and an autosomal element. This event also reduced the diploid number from 2n = 19, which is more frequent in the family Lampyridae, to 2n = 18 in B. lividipennis. The analysis of meiotic cells showed that the neoXY sexual bivalent of B. lividipennis exhibited a prominent terminal chiasma, indicating that the sex chromosomes are not wholly differentiated and still retain a region of homology. A review of the cytogenetic data known for the family Lampyridae was also documented in this work, as well as a discussion on the main trends of chromosomal evolution that seem to have occurred in this group.

Sleep-wake patterns of student workers and non-workers

Adolescents usually exhibit late sleep phase and irregular sleep patterns. As a result, they do not get enough sleep and report daytime sleepiness. This condition could be aggravated in working students who have a more limited time for sleep. In this survey, we investigated the impact of evening classes and employment on the sleep patterns of adolescents. We compared female (n = 17) and male (n = 14) non-worker students to female (n = 28) and male (n = 20) worker students who attended the same high school. The volunteers (aged 17.4 years +/- 11 months) answered a sleep log during a 16-day period. Worker students slept and woke up earlier, had a shorter nocturnal sleep length and a shorter daily (nocturnal plus diurnal) sleep length compared to non-working pupils. The four groups of students delayed sleep onset time on weekends, but only worker students delayed wake-up time on Sundays. The wake-up time was similar among groups on Sundays. While student workers tended to increase the sleep length in the weekends, non-working students increased it on Mondays and/or Tuesdays. The results showed that sleep schedules and sleep length were different according to the work status. Going to bed later on Saturday by the four groups of students suggests the influence of social activities, while a later wake-up time on Sundays could result from a shorter sleep length on workdays.

Visual and acoustic communication in the Brazilian torrent frog, Hylodes asper (Anura : Leptodactylidae)

We studied the signaling, territorial, and courtship behaviors of the diurnal frog Hylodes asper. Visual and acoustic communication were used during intraspecific interactions involving males, females. and subadults. Hylodes aspcr has a complex visual communication system, of which foot-flagging is the most distinctive display observed in the repertoire of visual signals. The splash zone produced by the waterfalls and torrents creates a high, nearly constant, humidity near the streams, reducing the risk of desiccation which enables the diurnal activity of H. asper. Although the ambient sound pressure levels (SPL), measured at the calling sites, are similar to the SPL of the advertisement calls, the high-pitched calls of H, asper, are spectrally different from the noise produced by the water current. Thus. The ambient noise produced by the water current may not interfere significantly with the acoustic communication of this species. The noise and the nearly constant and high humidity produced by the torrents and waterfalls, along with the availability of Light, probably favored the evolution of contrasting colors and visual communication in H. asper: Males of H, aspcr excavate underwater chambers that are probably used to shelter the eggs and to prevent the clutch from being drifted downstream.

Visual communication in Brazilian species of anurans from the Atlantic forest

Visual communication is widespread among several anuran families, but seems to be more common than currently thought. We investigated and compared visual communication in six species of an anuran community in the Brazilian Atlantic forest. Four are nocturnal species: Hyalinobatrachium uranoscopum (Centrolenidae), Hyla albomarginata, Hyla sp. (aff. ehrhardti), and Scinax eurydice (Hylidae), and two are diurnal species: Hylodes phyllodes and Hylodes asper ( Leptodactylidae). For H. uranoscopum, H. albomarginata, S. eurydice, and H. phyllodes, this is the first record of visual communication. Observations were made at Nucleo Picinguaba, Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, in the Municipality of Ubatuba, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Descriptions of behaviour were based on individuals observed in the field, using sequence sampling with continuous tape recording for behavioural observations. Eight new behaviours are described: body wiping, face wiping, jump display, leg kicking, limb lifting, mouth opening, toe flagging, and vocal sac display. of the 42 anuran species known from Nucleo Picinguaba, at least six ( approximately 14%) display visual communication. The evolution of visual signals in these species may be related to the availability of ambient light, the structural complexity of the habitat, and/or the ambient noise. They may also have evolved to aid in the location of the individual, to avoid physical combat, and/or may be a by-product of seismic communication.

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

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Use of levoglucosan, potassium, and water-soluble organic carbon to characterize the origins of biomass-burning aerosols

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