Intergroup interactions in Tibetan macaques at Mt. Emei, China

Data on intergroup-interactions (I-I) were collected in 5 seasonally provisioned groups (A, B, D, D-1, and E) of Tibetan macaques (Macaca Thibetana) at Mt. Emei in three 70-day periods between 1991 April-June (P1), September-November (P2), December-1992 February (P3). The I-I were categorized as forewarning made by high-ranking males (including Branch Shaking and/or Loud Calls), long-distance interactions in space (specified by changes in their foraging movements), and close encounters (with Affinitive Behavior, Male's Herding Female, Sexual Interaction, Severe Conflict, Adult Male-male Conflict, Opportunistic Advance and Retreat, etc. performed by different age-sex classes). From periods Fl to P3, the I-I rate decreased with reduction in population density as a positive correlate of food clumpedness or the number of potential feeders along a pedestrian trail. On the other hand, from the birth season (BS, represented by P1 and P3) to the mating season (MS, represented by P2) the dominance relation between groups, which produced a winner and a loser in the encounters, became obscure; the proportion of close encounters in the I-I increased; the asymmetry (local groups over intruders) of forewarning signals disappeared; the rate of branch shaking decreased; and sometimes intergroup cohesion appeared. Considering that sexual interactions also occurred between the encountering groups, above changes in intergroup behaviors may be explained with a model of the way in which the competition for food (exclusion) and the sexual attractiveness between opposite sexes were in a dynamic equilibrium among the groups, with the former outweighing the latter in the BS, and conversely in the MS. Females made 93% of severe conflicts, which occurred in 18% of close encounters. Groups fissioned in the recent past shared the same home range, and showed the highest hostility to each other by females. In conspicuous contrast with females' great interest in intergroup food/range competition, adult male-male conflicts that were normally without body contact occurred in 66% bf close encounters; high-ranking male herding of females, which is typical in baboons, appeared in 83% of close encounters, and showed no changes with season and sexual weight-dimorphism; peripheral juvenile and subadult males were the main performers of the affinitive behaviors, opportunistic advance and retreat, and guarding at the border. In brief, all males appeared to "sit on the fence" at the border, likely holding out hope of gaining the favor of females both within and outside the group. Thus, females and males attempted to maximize reproductive values in different ways, just as expected by Darwin-Trivers' theory of sexual selection. In addition, group fission was observed in the largest and highest-ranking group for two times (both in the MS) when its size increased to a certain level, and the mother group kept their dominant position in size and rank among the groups that might encounter, suggesting that fission takes a way of discarding the "superfluous part" in order to balance the cost of competition for food and mates within a group, and the benefit of cooperation to access the resources for animals in the mother group. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Responses to seasonal changes in nutrient quality and patchiness of food in a multigroup community of Tibetan macaques at Mt. Emei

Provisioning along pedestrian trails by tourists much increased the nutrient quality and patchiness of food (NqPF)for Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Mt Emei in spring and summer. In the habitat at a temperate-subtropical transition zone, the mncaque's NqPF could be ordered in a decreasing rank from spring summer to autumn to winter With the aid of a radio-tracking system, I collected ranging data on a multigroup community in three 70-day periods representing the different seasons in 1991-92, Rank-order correlation on the data show that with the decline of NqPF; the groups tended to increase days away from the trail, their effective range size (ERS) their exclusive area (EA) and the number of days spent in the EA, and reduced their group/community density and the ratio of the overlapped range to the seasonal range (ROR). In icy/snowy winter; the macaques searched for mature leaves slowly and carefully in the largest seasonal range with a considerable portion that was nor used in other seasons. Of the responses, the ROR decreased with the reduction in group/community density; and the ERS was the function of both group size (+) and intergroup rank (-) when favorite food was highly clumped. All above responses were clearly bound to maximize foraging effectiveness and minimize energy expenditure, and their integration in term of changes in time and space leads to better understanding macaque ecological adaptability. Based on this study and previous work on behavioral and physiological factors, I suggest a unifying theory of intergroup interactions. Ir! addition, as the rate of behavioral interactions,was also related to the group density, I Waser's (1976) gas model probably applies to behavioral, as well as spatial, data on intergroup interactions.

Sleeping sites of Rhinopithecus bieti at Mt. Fuhe, Yunnan

Data on sleeping site selection were collected for a group of black-and-white snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus bieti; around 80) at Mt. Fuhe, Yunnan, China (99degrees20'E, 26degrees25'N, about 3,000 m asl) from November 2000 to January 2002. At the site mainly three vegetation types were present in an elevation-ascending order: deciduous broad leaf forest, mixed coniferous and broad leaf forest, and dark coniferous forest. In addition, bamboo forest presented in areas burned in 1958. Sleeping sites (n = 10) were located in the coniferous forest, where trees were the tallest, bottommost branches were the highest, the diameter of crowns was the second largest, and the gradient of the ground was the steepest. Monkeys usually kept quiet during entering and staying at a sleeping site. The site choice and the quietness may be tactics to avoid potential predators. In the coniferous forest, however, monkeys did not sleep in the valley bottom where trees were the largest, but frequently slept in the middle of the slope towards the east/southeast, in the shadow of ridges in three other directions, to avoid strong wind and to access sunshine; in winter-spring, they ranged in a more southern and lower area than in summer-autumn. These may be behavioral strategies to minimize energy stress in the cold habitat. Monkeys often slept in the same sleeping site on consecutive nights, which reflected a reduced pressure of predation probably due to either the effectiveness of anti-predation through sleeping site selection, or the population decline of predators with increasing human activities in the habitat. The group's behavioral responses to interactive and sometimes conflicting traits of the habitat are site-specific and conform to expectations for a temperate zone primate.

Boas práticas agrícolas para as áreas de nascentes do rio Araguaia-GO/MT: controle de processos erosivos e aplicação otimizada de defensivos agrícolas.

O trabalho oferece instruções para a adoção de práticas de conservação do solo e da água, objetivando o controle de processos erosivos); e aplicação otimizada de defensivos agrícolas visando o controle de plantas daninhas, insetos e doenças, com proteção do aplicador e disposição correta das embalagens.

Estudo expedito de solos do trecho Cuiabá-Aripuanã, MT, para fins de correlação e classificação.

Exame dos solos e amostragens; Roteiro da excursão; Sequencia e discussão sucinta dos estudos realizados: percurso: Cuiabá-Jangada-Barra do Bugres-Nova Olimpia-Tangará da Serra-Fazenda Itamarati-Campo Novo do Parecis; percurso: Juina-Castanheira-Juruena-Aripuanã; percurso: Aripuanã-Juina-Vilhena; Percurso: Vilhena-Cuiabá.

Manejo do solo no Município de Querência, MT (2000).

O trabalho foi realizado no Municipio de Querencia, localizado a Nordeste do Estado do Mato Grosso, numa extensa zona de transicao onde a vegetacao de Cerrado e gradualmente substituida pela vegetacao da Floresta Amazonica. O objetivo foi identificar e caracterizar o manejo dos solos de algumas propriedades agricolas e sugerir tecnologias, geradas pela pesquisa que poderao ser validadas na regiao. Com base no cadastro de propriedades elaborado pela EMPAER local, foi feito um levantamento das principais atividades agricolas e do manejo dos solos, por meio de entrevistas, observacoes de campo, abertura de trincheiras, coleta e analise de amostras. O solo mais cultivado no municipio, devido a sua predominancia, e o Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo de textura media a argilosa. A baixa fertilidade natural desse solo, aliada a alta saturacao de aluminio, limita o desenvolvimento das plantas cultivadas. A adicao das cinzas resultante da queima da vegetacao natural, para a producao de graos, reduz a acidez potencial, eleva o pH e adiciona nutrientes a camada superficial. Com o preparo intensivo do solo para o cultivo, realizado com a grade aradora e grade niveladora a quinze centimetros de profundidade, ha formacao de uma camada compactada na subsuperficie. Por outro lado, o calcario utilizado para correcao do solo, e incorporado na camada superficial por meio da grade aradora. Nessas condicoes, as raizes das culturas concentram-se na camada superficial, explorando, consequentemente, pequeno volume de solo. Esses problemas, aliado a baixa capacidade de retencao de agua desses solos, podem causar decrescimos na produtividade das culturas, principalmente nessa regiao onde e frequente a ocorrencia de veranicos. O manejo adequado desse solo, usando a descompactacao e correcao da acidez e fertilidade da camada subsuperficial, associado ao plantio direto de culturas em rotacao, sao alternativas que podem melhorar sua produtividade.

Avaliação de genótipos de girassol (helianthus annuus l.) em Campo Novo Do Parecis - MT.

RESUMO: O presente trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar genótipos de girassol semeados em segunda safra no ano de 2014 em Campo Novo do Parecis ? MT, no campo experimental do Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia de Mato Grosso. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o de blocos casualizados, com 16 tratamentos (16 genótipos) e quatro repetições. As parcelas experimentais foram constituídas de 4 linhas com 6,5 m de comprimento, com espaçamento entrelinhas de 0,45 m, contendo área de 11,7 m², totalizando uma área de 748m². Foi utilizada a população de 45000 plantas por hectare. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de variância e ao teste Scott-Knott, a 5% de probabilidade. Para a massa de mil aquênios, os genótipos que se destacaram foram BRS 323, MG 360 e M734 enquanto que as os mais produtivos foram os genótipos MG 360, AGUARÁ 06, MG 305, AGUARÁ 04, CF 101, SYN 045, GNZ NEON, HELIO 251 e SYN 3950HO. ABSTRACT: This study aimed to evaluate genotypes of sunflower seeded second harvest in the year 2014 in Campus Campo Novo do Parecis, in the experimental field of the Instituto Federal de Educação Ciência e Tecnologia de Mato Grosso. The experimental design was a randomized block design with treatments 16 (16 genotypes) and four replications. The experimental plots consisted of four rows 6.5 m long with row spacing of 0.45 m, containing area of 11.7 m², totaling an area of 748 m². The population of 45000 plants per hectare is used. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and the Scott - Knott test at 5 % probability. For the mass of thousand achenes, genotypes that stood out were BRS 323, MG 360 and M734 while the most productive genotypes were the MG 360, AGUARÁ 06, MG 305, AGUARÁ 04, CF 101, SYN 045, GNZ NEON, HELIO 251 and SYN 3950HO.

The role of areas MT+/V5 and SPOC in spatial and temporal control of manual interception: an rTMS study

Manual interception, such as catching or hitting an approaching ball, requires the hand to contact a moving object at the right location and at the right time. Many studies have examined the neural mechanisms underlying the spatial aspects of goal-directed reaching, but the neural basis of the spatial and temporal aspects of manual interception are largely unknown. Here, we used repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to investigate the role of the human middle temporal visual motion area (MT+/V5) and superior parieto-occipital cortex (SPOC) in the spatial and temporal control of manual interception. Participants were required to reach-to-intercept a downward moving visual target that followed an unpredictably curved trajectory, presented on a screen in the vertical plane. We found that rTMS to MT+/V5 influenced interceptive timing and positioning, whereas rTMS to SPOC only tended to increase the spatial variance in reach end points for selected target trajectories. These findings are consistent with theories arguing that distinct neural mechanisms contribute to spatial, temporal, and spatiotemporal control of manual interception.