Developing a desertification indicator system for a small Mediterranean catchment: a case study from the Serra de Rodes, Alt Empordà, Catalunya, NE Spain

La desertificació és un problema de degradació de sòls de gran importància en regions àrides, semi-àrides i sub-humides, amb serioses conseqüències ambientals, socials i econòmiques com a resultat de l'impacte d'activitats humanes en combinació amb condicions físiques i medi ambientals desfavorables (UNEP, 1994). L'objectiu principal d'aquesta tesi va ser el desenvolupament d'una metodologia simple per tal de poder avaluar de forma precisa l'estat i l'evolució de la desertificació a escala local, a través de la creació d'un model anomenat sistema d'indicators de desertificació (DIS). En aquest mateix context, un dels dos objectius específics d'aquesta recerca es va centrar en l'estudi dels factors més importants de degradació de sòls a escala de parcel.la, comportant un extens treball de camp, analisi de laboratori i la corresponent interpretació i discussió dels resultats obtinguts. El segon objectiu específic es va basar en el desenvolupament i aplicació del DIS. L'àrea d'estudi seleccionada va ser la conca de la Serra de Rodes, un ambient típic Mediterràni inclòs en el Parc Natural del Cap de Creus, NE Espanya, el qual ha estat progressivament abandonat pels agricultors durant el segle passat. Actualment, els incendis forestals així com el canvi d'ús del sòl i especialment l'abandonament de terres són considerats els problemes ambientals més importants a l'àrea d'estudi (Dunjó et al., 2003). En primer lloc, es va realitzar l'estudi dels processos i causes de la degradació dels sòls a l'àrea d'interés. En base a aquest coneixement, es va dur a terme la identificació i selecció dels indicadors de desertificació més rellevants. Finalment, els indicadors de desertificació seleccionats a escala de conca, incloent l'erosió del sòl i l'escolament superficial, es van integrar en un model espaial de procés. Ja que el sòl és considerat el principal indicador dels processos d'erosió, segons la FAO/UNEP/UNESCO (1979), tant el paisatge original així com els dos escenaris d'ús del sòl desenvolupats, un centrat en el cas hipotétic del pas d'un incendi forestal, i l'altre un paisatge completament cultivat, poden ser ambients classificats sota baixa o moderada degradació. En comparació amb l'escenari original, els dos escenaris creats van revelar uns valors més elevats d'erosió i escolament superficial, i en particular l'escenari cultivat. Per tant, aquests dos hipotètic escenaris no semblen ser una alternativa sostenible vàlida als processos de degradació que es donen a l'àrea d'estudi. No obstant, un ampli ventall d'escenaris alternatius poden ser desenvolupats amb el DIS, tinguent en compte les polítiques d'especial interés per la regió de manera que puguin contribuir a determinar les conseqüències potencials de desertificació derivades d'aquestes polítiques aplicades en aquest escenari tan complexe espaialment. En conclusió, el model desenvolupat sembla ser un sistema força acurat per la identificació de riscs presents i futurs, així com per programar efectivament mesures per combatre la desertificació a escala de conca. No obstant, aquesta primera versió del model presenta varies limitacions i la necessitat de realitzar més recerca en cas de voler desenvolupar una versió futura i millor del DIS.

Extrativismo em área de reserva da biosfera da Mata Atlântica no Rio Grande do Sul : um estudo etnobiológico em Maquiné

As frondes de Rumohra adiantiformis (G.Forest.) Ching, conhecida como “leatherleaf”, “seven-weeks-fern” ou samambaia-preta, são usadas mundialmente em arranjos florais. Na África do Sul e Brasil o comércio da espécie é baseado no extrativismo. No Brasil a coleta é realizada em áreas de Mata Atlântica, sendo que 50% da produção provém das áreas de capoeira das encostas da Serra Geral no Rio Grande do Sul (RS). Atualmente, cerca de 2.000 famílias de agricultores familiares vivem nestas áreas, tendo no extrativismo sua principal fonte de renda. No entanto no RS a coleta, o comércio e o transporte de plantas ornamentais nativas são proibidos, já que nesta zona de transição da Reserva da Biosfera da Mata Atlântica (Maquiné, RS) há grandes restrições quanto à exploração dos recursos naturais. O êxodo rural e o próprio extrativismo estabelecido a partir da década de 70, permitiram a regeneração da Floresta Ombrófila Densa. Como a espécie é característica de estágios sucessionais iniciais, a regeneração florestal está levando à diminuição dos estoques naturais. Este trabalho se propôs a identificar alternativas econômicas para diversificação da economia de famílias de extrativistas, no intuito de minimizar a tensão associada à diminuição dos estoques naturais de samambaia-preta, às dificuldades no manejo da terra e à legislação ambiental. Junto à comunidade extrativista do distrito de Solidão (Maquiné) foram coletados dados etnobiológicos sobre plantas medicinais e plantas relacionadas ao artesanato. As principais espécies identificadas foram: Bambusa tuldoides (taquareira, colmo), Clytostoma sciuripabulum (cipó-branco, caule), Cyperus prolixus (tiririca, partes aéreas), Musa acuminata (bananeira, palha), Scirpus californicus (junco, partes aéreas), Typha dominguensis (taboa, partes aéreas), sendo que Macfadyena dentata (cipó-unha-de-gato, caule), Roupala brasiliensis (carvalho-brasileiro, folhas) e Tillandsia usneoides (barbade- pau, planta inteira) são as espécies prioritárias para a avaliação da sustentabilidade do extrativismo. Os dados etnobiológicos e ecológicos mostram que é possível estabelecer o manejo sustentável da R. adiantiformis. Os maiores entraves para o estabelecimento do manejo sustentado para as espécies identificadas incluem: a) estabelecer as bases de manejo sustentável destas espécies; b) compatibilizar esta atividade extrativista com o atual Código Florestal Estadual. Plantas medicinais não parecem ser uma alternativa viável a curto prazo, enquanto o artesanato requer a adequação da atividade artesanal no meio rural com os direitos à aposentadoria rural.

Avaliação ambiental de manguezais adjacentes aos campos petrolíferos de Macau e Serra (RN), como subsídio às medidas mitigadoras ao processo erosivo

Among the various effects caused by the climate change and human intervention, the mangrove ecosystem changes through of the years has been worth mentioning, which hasn t known which are the pros and cons for the adjacent coastal and estuarine environments yet. It happens due to the present dynamism in these areas, besides of the difficult understanding of the processes associated with evolution. This study aimed to environmentally evaluate adjacent mangroves from the Macau and Serra oil fields, located on Rio Grande do Norte northern coast, to support the mitigating actions related to the containment of the erosive process, as well as, according to the principles of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), to assess the amount of atmospheric carbon sequestered by the studied ecosystem. An inventory was conducted through mangrouve mapping which has supplied this research, especially regarding to the structural characterization of mangrove areas. To understand the local mangrove behavior in a greater level detail, techniques of remote sensing, GIS and GPS were used to make an analogy between the current and past states of the mangrove studied, allowing to make anticipated projections for the future impacts or changes in that region. This study combined data from multispectral LANDSAT 5 TM, Landsat 7 ETM+ with radar microwave data from SAR RADARSAT-1, which increased the interpretation capacity of the data from optical sensor systems. The interpretations have been supported by the data field, representing a better and innovative methodology for the environmental and taxonomic characterization of mangrove forests considered. The results reveal that mangroves of the Ponta do Tubarão Sustainable Development Reserve are biologically representative areas and providing a variety of benefits, especially for local communities, constituting the priority sites for actions development aimed at conservation. They also have been showing the necessity to make mitigating measures in order to recover degraded areas through reforestation or creating new areas of mangrove, as currently 7.1% of the mangrove forests studied are dead or in an advanced state of decomposition. The amount of atmospheric carbon sequestered proved very significant when analyzed for the whole area, which is able to sequester atmospheric 4,294,458 Ton CO2 per year

Vascular flora of Serra do Japi Biological Reserve, Jundiaí, southeastern Brazil

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

Uma área de relevante interesse biológico, porém pouco conhecida: a Reserva Florestal do Morro Grande

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

Estratégias e modos reprodutivos de anuros (Amphibia) em uma poça permanente na Serra de Paranapiacaba, Sudeste do Brasil

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

Functionalized silica synthesized by sol-gel process

This work considers some aspects of the chemistry involved in the preparation and description of silicon oxide functionalized by sol-gel process. In this work we studied the synthesis and measured the properties of silicon oxide functionalized with 3-chloropropyl, through a sol-gel process. Thermogravimetic analysis, infrared spectra, and elemental analyses were measured. The samples were prepared in the following proportions of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS): 3-chloropropyl trimethoxisilane molar ratio: 1:0, 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 and 4:1. The thermogravimetric data for the resulting materials established the 'minimum formulae' 2:0, 3:1, 4.1, 7:1 and 11:1, respectively. As expected, the relative amount of water is inversely proportional to the presence of propyl groups. Infrared data show Si-C and -CH2-vibration modes at 1250 to 1280 and 2920 to 2940 cm(-1), respectively. Thermogravimetric data and infrared spectra showed that inorganic polymers contained organic polymers. (C) 1999 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Synthesis of hybrid silicates containing porphyrins incorporated by a sol-gel process and their properties

Porphyrin was incorporated in a silicate network, via a covalent bond, by grafting a functional group with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, using a sol-gel process. We have carried out the synthesis and measured the absorption spectra, nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, infrared (IR) spectra, luminescence spectra and lifetime of these hybrid silicates, porphyrinosilicas. These samples contained the following free-base porphyrins: meso-tetrakis-p-chlorobenzoylporphyrin, meso-tetrakis-2,6-dichloro-3-chlorosulfonylphenylporphyrin. The obtained porphyrinosilicas have similar absorption and luminescence spectra to the free base porphyrins in solution. IR spectra confirm the formation of monomeric species. Lifetime measurement for porphyrinosilica reveals that 32% +/- 2% of porphyrin is covalently bonded to the silica network. (C) 1999 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Polymeric organic-inorganic hybrid material containing iron(III) porphyrin using sol-gel process

Here we describe the preparation of iron(II) porphyrinosilica in a simple one-pot reaction, where the -SO2Cl groups present in the phenyl rings of FeTDCSPP+ react with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and tetraethoxysilane in the presence of a nitrogenous base, leading to iron(III) porphyrinosilica. In this same procedure, molecular cavities containing regularly spaced functional groups are created through the molecular imprinting technique, in which the nitrogenous base coordinated to the iron(III) porphyrin serves as a template. The removal of such template in a Soxhlet extractor leads to a cavity with the same shape and size as the nitrogenous base, enabling the construction of shape-selective catalysts mimicking cytochrome P-450. Five different imprinting molecules have been used: imidazole, 1-methylimidazole, 2-methylbenzimidazole, 4-phenylimidazole and miconazole and ultra-violet/visible absorption spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and electron paramagnetic resonance carried out. (C) 1999 Elsevier B.V. B.V. All rights reserved.

Study of the annealing temperature effect on the structural and luminescent properties of SrWO4:Eu phosphors prepared by a non-hydrolytic sol-gel process

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

Synthesis of manganese porphyrinosilica imprinted with templates using the sol-gel process

The optimized conditions for the preparation of a new manganese porphyrinosilica-template material are reported. The manganese porphyrinosilica-template was prepared by the sol-gel process, by the reaction of -SO2Cl groups present in the phenyl rings of MnTDC(SO2Cl)PPCl with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. The reaction produces a precursor porphyrinopropylsilyl species, which were then polymerized with tetraethoxysilane. The presence of manganese porphyrin on xerogel is confirmed by ultraviolet visible absorption spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The prepared materials have surface areas between 19 and 674 m2 g-1. Electron spectroscopy imaging of the materials show that manganese distribution in the xerogel is uniform. Both manganese(III) porphyrinosilica-template and a similar iron(III) porphyrinosilica-template can catalyze the epoxidation of cyclooctene using iodozylbenzene as oxygen donor. The metalloporphyrinosilica-template presents catalytic activity similar to that of metaloporphyrin in solution. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Ecologia populacional de Talitroides topitotum (Crustacea: Amphipoda) em uma reserva de floresta atlântica

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Lixo: problemática socioespacial e gerenciamento integrado : a experiência de Serra Azul (SP)

Pós-graduação em Geografia - IGCE

Geologia do alvo e da mina Sol Nascente, município de Rio Crespo, Rondônia

Eight Mesoproterozoic granite suites are recognized in the Rondônia Tin Province, called Serra da Providência Intrusive Suite (1606-1532 Ma), Rio Crespo Intrusive Suite (1500 Ma), St. Anthony Intrusive Suite (1406 Ma), Teotonio Intrusive Suite (1387 Ma ), Santa Clara Intrusive Suite (1082-1074 Ma) and Younger Granites of Rondônia Intrusive Suite (998-974 Ma), represent successive magmatic type A (anorogenic) and the intra-plate basement rocks intruded in the metamorphic complex named Jamari separated into two distinct lithologic associations, a ortogneiss (U-Pb from 1.76 to 1.73 Ga) and a paragneiss (1675 + / - 12 Ma). Tin mineralization are widely found in the Tin Province and are associated with granitic intrusions known Mesoproterozoic more closely with the last two magmatic events, represented by the Santa Clara and Younger Granites of Rondônia. The tin mineralization are of primary and secondary, with the primary form deposits of different structural styles and is presented in the form of endo-or exogreisens, veins, stockworks and pegmatites. The secondary mineralization are related to natural processes of weathering and erosion of primary rocks, leading to placer deposits classified as colluvial, eluvial and colluvial-alluvial. The Target Alvo Sol Nascente is located in the central-eastern Rondônia Tin Province and has basement rocks of the metamorphic-magmatic region represented by Jamari Complex intrusive suites and Sierra Providence and Rio Crespo. The last tectonic event spa in the area was responsible for the intrusion of Younger Granites of Rondônia (São Carlos and Caripuanã Massifis). The anomalous levels of tin, sufficient to operate (Mina Rising Sun), indicate that there was possibly mineralization event, evidenced by pegmatite veins well defined, easily found relatively close to mine. Plaque deposits associated with Quaternary sedimentary sequences can also be observed