A laboratory study on feeding plasticity of the shredder Sericostoma vittatum Rambur (Sericostomatidae)

Since litter input and availability of leaves in many streams is highly seasonal in Portugal, we investigated whether Sericostoma vittatum, a typical shredder, was able to grow using alternative food sources. To test this hypothesis we fed S. vittatum with Alnus glutinosa (alder, CPOM, coarse particulate organic matter), leaf powder from A. glutinosa and Acacia dealbata and FPOM (fine particulate organic matter) from a 5th and a > 6th order river, the macrophyte Myriophyllum aquaticum and biofilm. Growth in S. vittatum was significantly influenced by the food item given (ANOVA, P = 0.0082). The food item promoting the highest growth was A. glutinosa, in the form of FPOM (6.48% day(-1)) and CPOM (4.24% day(-1)); all other forms of FPOM and biofilm provided relatively low growth rates (0.77-1.77% day(-1)). The macrophyte M. aquaticum was also used as food source by S. vittatum and promoted intermediate growth (1.96% day(-1)). Neither nitrogen, phosphorus nor caloric content was correlated with growth. However, since higher growth was achieved with alder, in the form of CPOM and FPOM, we concluded that the chemical content of food was more important for S. vittatum than the physical form of such food. This may partially explain why shredders are able to survive when leaves are scarce in streams.

Influência de fragmentos de cerrado na distribuição de ácaros em seringal

Este estudo teve como objetivo verificar se fragmentos de cerrado influenciam na composição da acarofauna de seringais. Foram estabelecidos cinco transectos, distantes 50 m entre si, em duas áreas de cultivo no sul do Mato Grosso, sendo o primeiro na borda com o limite das áreas nativas e o último a 200 m no interior do seringal. em cada transecto foram marcadas cinco plantas, sendo coletadas sete folhas de cada planta. Durante um ano foram realizadas 25 coletas quantitativas em dois cultivos de seringueiras. O menor número de fitófagos foi registrado no transecto próximo da vegetação nativa e o maior no mais distante. A maior diversidade também foi observada no transecto mais próximo da vegetação nativa. Dez espécies de ácaros predadores também foram registradas nas áreas nativas vizinhas. Os dados sugerem o deslocamento dos ácaros predadores das áreas naturais para o monocultivo. Essas áreas naturais podem fornecer alimento alternativo e hábitat para inimigos naturais de fitófagos no período de escassez de alimento no seringal. A presença de áreas nativas próximo a áreas de cultivo deve ser considerada na elaboração de programas de manejo ecológico de pragas.

Chemical composition and apparent digestibility of the ostrich offal meal for Nile tilapia

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Triguilho na alimentação da tilápia do nilo (Oreochromis niloticus L.): digestibilidade e desempenho

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Fruiting phenology of palms and trees in an Atlantic rainforest land-bridge island

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

Resídue de polpas de frutas desidratadas na alimentação de leitões em fase de creche

It was evaluated chemically and biologically the powdered fruits pulp residue, used in human food industry. In the digestibility study it was used 12 commercial hybrids barrows piglets, with initial weight 12.2 ± 1,6 kg, allotted in individual cages. The treatments were a basal and a test diet. In the test diet the fruits pulp residue replaced 30% of the basal dry matter. The following values were obtained: dry matter 89,54%, starch 71,1%, glucose 5.4%, fructose 2,2%, crude protein 5,33%, gross energy 3771 kcal/kg, apparent digestible dry matter 96,01%, digestible energy 3448 kcal/kg, metabolizable energy 3389 kcal/kg. By bromatologic results and metabolism study, the powdered fruits pulp residue was characterized as an alternative to be evaluated in piglet diets. In the performance assay 90 piglets with initial weight of 6,60 ± 0,76 kg were allotted in a randomized block design, with six replications and three animals per experimental unit. The treatments were levels of powdered fruits pulp residue (0. 25, 50, 75 and 100%) replacing the corn of the control diet. The studied phases were initial-1 (14 days), initial-2 (21 days) and total period. On the performance there was no difference between the studied inclusion levels. For meal diets, the fruits pulp residue can replace the corn.

Interspecific interactions between Coptotermes gestroi and Heterotermes tenuis (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) under laboratory conditions

Coptotermes gestroi and Heterotermes tenuis are termite pests. Both species have cryptic habits, and are known as subterranean termites. The aim of this study was to verify if food availability and alterations in the proportion of soldiers interfere in the interactions between these termites, since the introduced species C. gestroi occupies the same niche as the native species H. tenuis. Different bioassays were conducted in order to evaluate these interspecific interactions. The results showed that C. gestroi presented advantages in the occupation of territory in all bioassays and suggest a higher efficiency of this species in the search for alternative food sources, especially when the number of soldiers was higher than that of H. tenuis. Additionally, it is possible to conclude that food availability and the different proportion of soldiers involved in the interspecific confrontations interfere in the occupation of territory and in the agonistic behavior between these two species of termites.

Reproductive phenology and fruit production on a land bridge island in the brazilian atlantic forest

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Parâmetros de produção de Chrysomya megacephala (Fabr., 1794) (Diptera: Calliphoridae) em dietas e densidades larvais, com vistas à alimentação animal

Pós-graduação em Agronomia (Entomologia Agrícola) - FCAV

Alterações microbiológicas e químicas na silagem de cana-de-açúcar (Saccharum officinarum L.) in natura e queimada, inoculadas ou não, com Lactobacillus buchneri

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Casca de soja em programa de restrição alimentar para suínos pesados

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Consumo, digestibilidade, balanço de nitrogênio e composição bromatológica da torta de murumuru (Astrocaryum murumuru var. murumuru Mart.), na alimentação de ruminantes

Foi avaliado a torta de murumuru (Astrocaryum murumuru var. murumuru, Mart.), oriunda do processamento de amêndoas, após a extração do óleo pela indústria cosmética, sobre os efeitos da substituição dos níveis 0%; 10%, 20%, 40% e 60%, na dieta básica da gramínea mombaça (Panicum maximum cv. Mombaça) sobre o consumo e digestibilidade aparente da matéria seca (CDMS); matéria orgânica (CDMO); extrato etéreo (CDEE); proteína bruta (CDPB); fibra em detergente neutro (DAFDN); fibra em detergente ácida (CDFDA); celulose (CDCEL) e hemicelulose (CDHCEL) e balanço de nitrogênio. Foi realizado ensaio metabólico com 20 ovinos castrados, peso vivo médio de 24 kg, distribuídos em cinco tratamentos e quatro repetições, em delineamento inteiramente casualizado. Houve período adaptativo de 21 dias, com cinco dias de coleta de dados da dieta fornecida e sobras, fezes e urina. Os CMS, CMO, CEE, CPB, CFDN, CFDA, CHCEL, CLIG apresentaram efeitos quadráticos em função dos níveis de substituição com torta na dieta. Os CDMS; CDMO e CDPB não apresentaram efeitos significativos. Os CDEE, com nível de substituição ótimo de 56,64% e digestibilidade máxima de 88,62%, CDFDN com nível de substituição ótimo de 42,45% e digestibilidade máxima de 68,25%, CDFDA com nível de substituição ótimo de 31,63% e digestibilidade máxima de 66,80%, CDCEL com nível de substituição ótimo de 27,45% e digestibilidade máxima de 72,21% apresentaram efeito quadrático devido à substituição com torta de murumuru. O balanço de nitrogênio não apresentou efeito significativo no intervalo de inclusão de 0% a 60% de torta. Conclui-se que a torta de murumuru (Astrocaryum murumuru var. murumuru, Mart.), tem como principal limitação o baixo consumo alimentar e digestibilidade, além da impossibilidade de sua utilização como concentrado exclusivo na dieta de ovinos mostrando-se como alternativa alimentar em até 20% de substituição em dietas para ovinos.

Flexible feeding kinematics of a tropical carnivorous anuran tadpole

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Substituição parcial do farelo de soja pela farinha de carne e ossos em dietas para juvenis de tilápia-do-nilo

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

Filiera corta: percorsi di innovazione tecnici, organizzativi e sociali nella gestione strategica delle nicchie. Esperienze in Toscana e in Provenza

There is a widening consensus around the fact that, in many developed countries, food production-consumption patterns are in recent years interested by a process of deep change towards diversification and re-localisation practices, as a counter-tendency to the trend to the increasing disconnection between farming and food, producers and consumers. The relevance of these initiatives doesn't certainly lie on their economic dimension, but rather in their intense diffusion and growth rate, their spontaneous and autonomous nature and, especially, their intrinsic innovative potential. These dynamics involve a wide range of actors around local food patterns, embedding short food supply chains initiatives within a more complex and wider process of rural development, based on principles of sustainability, multifunctionality and valorisation of endogenous resources. In this work we have been analysing these features through a multi-level perspective, with reference to the dynamics between niche and regime and the inherent characteristics of the innovation paths. We apply this approach, through a qualitative methodology, to the analysis of the experience of farmers’ markets and Solidarity-Based Consumers Groups (Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale) ongoing in Tuscany, seeking to highlight the dynamics that are affecting the establishment of this alternative food production-consumption model (and its related innovative potential) from within and from without. To verify if and in which conditions they can constitute a niche, a protected space where radical innovations can develop, we make reference to the three interrelated analytic dimensions of socio-technical systems: the actors (i.e. individuals. social groups, organisations), the rules and institutions system, and the artefacts (i.e. the material and immaterial contexts in which the actors move). Through it, we analyse the innovative potential of niches and the level of their structuration and , then, the mechanisms of system transition, focusing on the new dynamics within the niche and between the niche and the policy regime emerging after the growth of interest by mass-media and public institutions and their direct involvement in the initiatives. Following the development of these significant experiences, we explore more deeply social, economic, cultural, political and organisational factors affecting innovations in face-to-face interactions, underpinning the critical aspects (sharing of alternative values, coherence at individual choices level, frictions on organisational aspects, inclusion/exclusion, attitudes towards integration at territorial level), towards uncovering until to the emergence of tensions and the risks of opportunistic behaviours that might arise from their growth. Finally, a comparison with similar experiences abroad is drawn (specifically with Provence), in order to detect food for thought, potentially useful for leading regional initiativestowards transition path.