Longitudinal distribution and seasonality of macroalgae in a subtropical stream impacted by organic pollution

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A new method to quantify macroalgae and a practical sampler for experimentation in lotic habitats

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Quality of TEC Estimated with Mod Ion Using GPS and GLONASS Data

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Praça: lugar de lazer: relações entre características ambientais e comportamentais na Praça Kalina Maia Natal RN

Nowadays, the urban chaos brings some problems to the citizens such as mental fatigue, irritability and lack of attention, emphasizing the need for open urban spaces, capable to contribute to the restoration of physical and mental balance of people. By the variety of alternative uses available, many of them related to the stimulus of entertainment activities, the squares have been identified as restorative environments, especially by its potential as a place of leisure. In this context, the objective of this dissertation is to understand the use of the square as leisure environment, by a square in Natal RN, establishing the relationship between environmental and behavioral characteristics. More specifically, I attempt to identify the major activities that happen there, the people that develop them and the spatial and temporal configurations of this occupation. Among the 290 squares available in the city, the Kalina Maia Square was selected, which is located in the district of Lagoa Nova. The case study chosen was based on criteria relating to scale, shape, location on the urban environment, variability of uses and conservation status. In the study were used behavioral mapping place-centered and people-centered, behavior trace analysis and 14 interviews. The results show that the square is used by people from different ages and social classes, subdivided into groups with specific days and times. These users are usually engaged in activities related to various types of leisure, with sports predominance. The relationship between spatial configuration and behavior shows that there is a sectorization of uses, being possible to identify the environmental characteristics that most favor observed activities, especially in relation to shading and presence of furniture and equipment. Moreover, throughout the day it appears that the affordances inherent to the various fixed objects on the square are decoded differently by various categories of users, by giving them insights that help the development of leisure activities that characterize each group

Quantitative comparisons and models of time-averaging in bivalve and brachiopod shell accumulations

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

Zooplankton composition, dominance and abundance as indicators of environmental compartmentalization in Jurumirim Reservoir (Paranapanema River), São Paulo, Brazil

Spatial and temporal patterns in the distribution of the zooplankton in a large tropical reservoir were investigated for a year. The zooplankton was sampled at 10 limnetic stations. Rotifera were richest in number of species and individuals, especially in transitional river-lake zones. They were dominant during the summer in nine sampling stations, and decreased in spring. The main species were Polyarthra vulgaris, Keratella americana, K. cochlearis and Conochilus unicornis. Polyarthra vulgaris was widely distributed. Keratella was more abundant at upstream stations, and a dense population of C. unicornis was observed in a lateral, sheltered compartment. Among copepods, Calanoida were more abundant in spring and Cyclopoida in autumn. Longitudinal gradients in the Calanoida/Cyclopoida relation were observed, with the predominance of Cyclopoida at upstream sampling stations and Calanoida in more lacustrine zones towards the dam. Notodiaptomus iheringi, Thermocyclops minutus and T. decipiens were the main species. Diaphanosoma birgei, the most abundant cladoceran, mainly occurred in lacustrine zones, while Moina minuta was more abundant at riverine sampling stations, generally in association with Bosminopsis deitersi. Peaks of tintinnid protozoans were observed in upstream zones during summer and spring.

Spatial and seasonal distributions of Callinectes danae (Decapoda, Portunidae) in Ubatuba Bay, São Paulo, Brazil

The spatial and seasonal distributions of Callinectes danae Smith, 1869, in Ubatuba Bay, São Paulo, Brazil, were investigated as a part of a broad study on the general biology of portunids along the northern coast of São Paulo State, Brazil. Swimming crabs were collected during one year, from September 1995 to August 1996, along eight transects determined according to local physiographic features. Three replicate trawls were performed monthly at each transect. Depth. salinity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, organic matter content, and texture of the sediment were measured. Callinectes danae individuals were concentrated in shallow water close to the discharge of estuaries where the bottom is composed of fine and very fine sand. The species was more abundant in the warmer months. During the study period, C. danae exhibited continuous reproduction with a peak of reproductive intensity in June. Within this area, some sites are particularly favorable for C. danae establishment due to a combination of factors and prevailing local conditions.

Phytoplankton composition, dominance and abundance as indicators of environmental compartmentalization in Jurumirim Reservoir (Paranapanema River), São Paulo, Brazil

Patterns in the spatial and temporal composition, dominance and abundance of the phytoplankton community of the Jurumirim Reservoir (Brazil) were studied during one year at ten different sampling stations. The main phytoplankton associations were characterized by diatoms and blue-green algae, in distinctive patterns of dominance. The main species were Microcystis aeruginosa Kuetz, Anabaena circinalis Rabenhorst, A. spiroides Kleb., A. solitaria Kleb., Aulacoseira cf. italica Grunow and A. granulata (Ehr.) Simon. A high growth of Aulacoseira was observed in the upstream zones of the reservoir in spring, at the beginning of the seasonal rainy period. This growth was a response to increased flow rates and input of fresh nutrients by the main feeder rivers. A high concentration of blue-green algae, especially Anabaena circinalis and A. spiroides, was observed in winter (dry season) in the lacustrine part of the reservoir, towards the dam. These algae benefitted from the longer water retention times and greater internal circulation of nutrients in the absence of a thermocline at this time of the year. Among the Cyanophyceae, there was an alternation between M. aeruginosa, more abundant in summer, and Anabaena, dominant in autumn and winter. A conspicuous growth of Anabaena occurred in a diverticle of the reservoir, sheltered from the main advective processes that predominate in the central channel. Higher phytoplankton diversity was associated with the contact zone between riverine and lacustrine systems.

Diversidade e distribuição espaço-temporal de anuros em região com pronunciada estação seca no sudeste do Brasil

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

Variação espaço-temporal de Rotifera em um reservatório eutrofizado no sul do Brasil

A variação espacial e temporal de rotíferos foi analisada em um reservatório pequeno, raso e eutrófico, com intensas florações de algas Cyanobacteria, em sete pontos de amostragem durante 17 meses (março/2002 a julho/2003). Foram identificados 52 táxons em 16 famílias, sendo Brachionidade, Conochilidae, Synchaetidae, Lecanidae, Collothecidae, Trichocercidae e Gastropodidae as mais frequentes. Collotheca sp. foi abundante no inverno (período seco), enquanto Conochilus coenobasis Skorikov, 1914 e Keratella cochlearis Gosse, 1851 apresentaram baixas abundâncias. Brachionus mirus var. reductus (Koste, 1972), Filinia longiseta (Ehrenberg, 1834) e Keratella lenzi (Hauer, 1953) apresentaram picos de abundância no verão (período chuvoso), e Kellicottia bostonensis (Rousselet, 1908), Ploesoma truncatum (Levander, 1894), Polyarthra remata (Skorikov, 1896), Polyarthra vulgaris Carlin, 1943 e Ptygura sp. no inverno, entretanto, relacionados a chuvas atípicas. Diferenças significativas do número de táxons e da abundância total dos rotíferos ocorreram entre os meses amostrados. A análise de correspondência canônica explicou 46% da relação da abundância dos rotíferos e variáveis ambientais, correlacionados com a pluviosidade, nitrito, temperatura da água, nitrogênio orgânico, nitrato e temperatura do ar. Houve flutuações na abundância dos rotíferos um mês após oscilações na abundância do fitoplâncton. A maior parte das correlações entre as abundâncias de espécies de rotíferos e do fitoplâncton foi positiva. Alguns táxons como Filinia longiseta, Keratella lenzi e K. cochlearis apresentaram variação temporal definida e semelhante a outros reservatórios eutróficos. A ausência de padrões claros de distribuição em algumas espécies foi atribuída a hidrodinâmica do reservatório, o qual foi construído recentemente, e as condições climáticas adversas durante o período de estudo, como as chuvas intensas no inverno.

Variação espacial e temporal da produtividade primária pelo fitoplâncton na represa de Jurumirim (Rio Paranapanema, SP)

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

Coexisting spatio-temporal scales in neuroscience

In this study I propose an epistemological discussion of multiple spatio-temporal scales in neuroscience. Are such scales merely convenient levels of description of structure and function, or do they correspond to irreducible levels of brain organization? What criteria should we employ in order to reduce one level to another, or to identify levels that are not reducible to others? Should we think of these criteria as based on empirical and/or theoretical reasons? Beginning with an empirical criterion - the necessity of different experimental methodologies for the measurement of different phenomena in the same system - I summarize spatial and temporal scales currently used in neuroscience and discuss the possibility of a more general theoretical criterion. I conclude that multiscaling should be recognized as a central concept in the epistemology of neuroscience.

Population structure and genetic variability in the Murrah dairy breed of water buffalo in Brazil accessed via pedigree analysis

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)