Ecological distribution of the prawn Nematopalaemon schmitii (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea) in three bays on the southeastern coat of Brazil

The relationships between the spatial and temporal variations in the abundance of the shrimp Nematopalaemon schmitti and water temperature, salinity, and texture and organic-matter content of the sediment, were analysed in Ubatumirim, Ubatuba and Mar Virado bays on the northern coast of São Paulo, Brazil. Sampling was carried out monthly, from January 1998 through December 1999, from a shrimp boat equipped with double-rig nets, along six transects in each bay. In total, 2 116 specimens of N. schmitti were caught. Their distribution differed among bays, transects and seasons (ANOVA, p < 0.05). Highest total abundance was found in areas of high organicmatter content, in substrate composed mainly of very fine sand and silt and clay, and during winter and autumn. Although multiple regression analysis showed no significant relationship (p > 0.05), observations suggest that water tempera ture, sediment texture, organic-matter content, and the presence of biodetritus and plant fragments, provided favourable environmental conditions for the establishment of N. schmitti in the region.

Growth and mortality parameters of Paranchurus brasiliensis (Scianidae) captured as bycatch in southeastern of Brazil

The present work provides preliminary informations on the growth and mortality of Paralonchurus brasiliensis captured as a bycatch in the inner shelf of São Paulo Southeastern Brazil. The samplings were carried out using a shrimp fishery trawl. After trawling, the specimens were separated from the other organisms and the fish size and numbers of individuals captured were recorded. A total of 5,943 specimens ranging from 3.6 to 19.9 cm in standard length were sampled.

Diurnal evolution of the hourly diffuse solar radiation incident on tilted surfaces in Southeast of Brazil

Evaluation has been made on the monthly and annual average diurnal evolution of the hourly diffuse radiation as well as its radiometric fractions on surfaces inclined at 12.85, 22.85 and 32.85° to face North, in climate conditions of Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil (22.85° S and 48.43° W). Measurements were made between 04/1998 to 08/2001 for 22.85°; 09/2001 to 02/2003 for 12.85° and 01/2004 to 12/2007 for 32.85°, with concomitant measures in the horizontal. For all surfaces the diffuse radiation was obtained from different method. Assessment has been performed as well on the radiometric fractions obtained from the ratio of diffuse radiation and global radiation (KDH and KDβ) and between radiation and diffuse radiation at the top of the atmosphere (KʹDH and KʹDβ) for the horizontal and tilted surfaces in hourly partition. The diffuse radiation levels were dependent on variations in precipitation and cloudiness. There was an increase in the differences between the diffuse radiation and the radiometric fractions with the increment of the angle, and in horizontally, which affected higher levels of diffuse radiation in spring and summer. The values of KDH and KDβ present in an inverse behavior were compared to diffuse radiation and theydecreased in the southern passage due to the increase of the direct component in the total of incident radiation.

Growth and flowering of five mango cultivar under subtropics conditions of Brazil

The evaluation of the new cultivars adaptation and yield potential of Mangifera indica L. provides tools to assist and improve the mango production in different climates conditions. This study aimed to evaluate the phenological and reproductive development of five mango cultivars (Bourbon, Haden, Palmer, Parwin and Tommy Atkins), on climate conditions in dry land and four production cycles (from 08/2007 to 01/2011), at São Manuel, São Paulo state, Brazil. The variables were total plant height, trunk height, stem diameter and the first insertion diameter, fruits physical characteristics, yield and harvest period, flowering seasonality and morphological characterization of the inflorescences. It was found that the four-year-old plants of Haden cv. reach 4.0 m high and 0.20 m of trunk diameter. Bourbon cultivar had the highest flowering period, from April to October. Tommy Atkins cv. had productivities of 14779.07 kg∙ha−1 in the fourth cycle and the productivity of Bourbon, Haden and Palmer cultivars was alternated.

Variation of soil and water volumes in riparian jungle soils of Brazil

The objective of this work is to study the relation between humidity, density, porosity and shrinkage of the floodplain soil and riparian vegetation and their ability to store water. For this purpose, two locations for every type of soils were evaluated. Both were placed at the Agronomy University (Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas) in São Manuel, State of São Paulo, Brazil. The floodplain soil was vegetated with Southern Cattail (Typha domingensis). In both places, soil samples were collected from several depths: 0, 30, 60 and 100 cm. Results show that lower soil density values (0.15 g/cm3) with organic texture and high porosities values (up to 86.2%) were found in samples with the highest organic material content in the floodplain soil. For this field experiment, flood plains soils (characterised as basin gley soils) presented high volumetric instability with a retratibility of 67.49% and higher water storage capacities compared to riparian stands soils (characterised as fluvic neosoils).

BOOK REVIEW of Oceans of Kansas: A Natural History of the Western Interior Sea by Michael J. Everhart

Just as there are seashells on Mt. Everest, there is an exceptional wealth of fossil remains of marine organisms preserved in the chalk of western Kansas. This Cretaceous-aged rock, and the fossils therein, were deposited at a time when a great sea cut northward across the interior of the continent around 85 million years ago, inspiring the provocative title of Everhart's book. The title is true to its subject: documentation of the Cretaceous fossils of western Kansas, their geographic and stratigraphic occurrences, and the inferences that paleontologists can make about how the organisms represented by these fossils may have once lived and interacted with one another.

A Land-Use and Water-Quality History of White Rock Lake Reservoir, Dallas, Texas, Based on Paleolimnological Analyses

White Rock Lake reservoir in Dallas, Texas contains a 150-cm sediment record of silty clay that documents land-use changes since its construction in 1912. Pollen analysis corroborates historical evidence that between 1912 and 1950 the watershed was primarily agricultural. Land disturbance by plowing coupled with strong and variable spring precipitation caused large amounts of sediment to enter the lake during this period. Diatoms were not preserved at this time probably because of low productivity compared to diatom dissolution by warm, alkaline water prior to burial in the sediments. After 1956, the watershed became progressively urbanized. Erosion decreased, land stabilized, and pollen of riparian trees increased as the lake water became somewhat less turbid. By 1986 the sediment record indicates that diatom productivity had increased beyond rates of diatom destruction. Neither increased nutrients nor reduced pesticides can account for increased diatom productivity, but grain size studies imply that before 1986 diatoms were light limited by high levels of turbidity. This study documents how reservoirs may relate to land-use practices and how watershed management could extend reservoir life and improve water quality.

The History of the German-Russian Colony in Lincoln

Standing at the corner of Tenth and O streets in the city of Lincoln, Nebraska, any week-day morning between 7:30 and 8 o'clock, you may see pass by you from ten to twenty women with little black woolen shawls on their heads. Ask any citizen who they are, and ninety-nine times in one hundred he will tell you they are "Russians" who live down on the bottoms, that they are going out into the offices and homes to wash and scrub and clean house, and that their husbands are street laborers or work for the railroad. He may then grow confidential and tell you that he "has no use for these people", that "they are only half human", and that he "would just as soon see the Chinese come here as those people". As a matter of fact the greater part of his information is incorrect, partly through race prejudice but chiefly through ignorance of their history. These people, of whom there are about 4,000 in the city (Including "beet fielders"), are Germans, not Russians: they are Teutons, not Slavs; they are Lutheran and Reformed, not Greek Catholics. To be sure they and their ancestors lived in Russia for over one hundred years and they came here directly from the realm of the Czar whoso bona fide citizens they were—but they never spoke the Russian language, never embraced the Greek religion, never intermarried with the Russians, and many of their children never saw a Russian until they left their native village for the new home in America. They despise being called "Russians" just as an Italian resents "Dago"; a Jew, "Sheeny"; and a German, "Dutchman". Ask them where they came from and most of the children and not a few of the grown people will say, "Germany". If you pursue your questioning as to what part of Germany, they will tell you "Saratov" or "Samara" - two governments in the eastern part of Russia on the lower course of the Volga river. The misconceptions concerning the desirability of these German-Russians as citizens arise from their unprogressiveness as compared with those Germans who come to us directly from the mother country. During their century's sojourn in Russia they have been out of the main current of civilization, a mere eddy in the stream of progress. They present a concrete example of arrested development, The characteristics which differentiate them from other Germans are not due to an inherent lack of capacity but to different environment. Notwithstanding this, the German- Russians have some admirable qualities. They bring us large stores of physical energy and an almost unlimited capacity for work. The majority of them are literate although the amount of their education is limited. They are thrifty and independent, almost never applying for public aid. They are law abiding, their chief offenses being those which are traceable to their communal life in Russia. They are extremely religious, all their social as well as spiritual life being bound up in the church which they support right royally. To be sure, the saloon gets their vote (the prohibition vote among them is increasing); but "was not the first miracle that Christ performed the turning of water into wine? If they would shut up the shows (theaters), they wouldn't need to shut up the saloons". The object of this paper is to give the historical setting in which the German-Russians have lived as one means to a better understanding and appreciation of them by our own citizens.

A history of wildlife damage management: twelve lessons for today

The history of wildlife damage management in the United States, beginning with the roots of the federal Biological Survey, is examined. Selected lessons are drawn from history and applied to today's situation, in the hope that they will be useful to those who guide this profession in the 21st Century.

Teaching the History of Civil Rights at A Predominantly White Institution

Building on a 2003 pilgrimage to a dozen sites important in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 1960's, and conversations with movement leaders of then and now, the authors created an initiative at their 93% white campus to educate today's students about the heritage the civil rights struggle

Electric consumption in SHSs in rural communities of brazil and Peru and recommendations for sizing

The lack of data records of electric power consumption of smallphotovoltaic home systems, independently of the method used for sizing them, drives to consider the demand as a constant. However, the existing data reveal the variability of the consumption due to the influences of some social, cultural and psychosocial aspects of the human groups. This paper presents records of consumption data obtainedfrom several solar home systems (SHSs) in Brazil and Peru, and it discusses about the Gamma distribution function that can express to a great extent the behaviour of the demand. By this analysis it was verified that `a lot of people consume little and few people consume a lot`. In that sense, a few recommendations for sizing procedures that can be useful in the implantation of extensive programmes of rural electrification by SHSs are presented. Copyright (c) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Temporal, diel and spatial variability of decapod larvae from St Paul`s Rocks, an equatorial oceanic island of Brazil

Temporal, spatial and diel variation in the distribution and abundance of organisms is an inherent property of ecological systems. The present study describes these variations and the composition of decapod larvae from the surface waters of St Paul`s Rocks. The expeditions to the archipelago were carried out in April, August and November 2003, March 2004 and May 2005. Surface plankton samples were collected during the morning and dusk periods, inside the inlet and in increasing distances around the archipelago (similar to 150, 700 and 1500 m). The identification resulted in 51 taxa. Seven species, six genera and larvae of the families Pandalidae and Portunidae were identified for the first time in the area. The mean larval density varied from zero to 150.2 +/- 69.6 individuals 100 m(-3) in the waters surrounding the archipelago and from 1.7 +/- 3.0 to 12,827 +/- 15,073 individuals 100 m(-3) inside the inlet. Significant differences on larval density were verified between months and period of the day, but not among the three sites around the archipelago. Cluster and non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis indicated that the decapod larvae community was divided into benthic and pelagic assemblages. Indicator species analysis (ISA) showed that six Brachyura taxa were good indicators for the inlet, while three sergestids were the main species from the waters around the archipelago. These results suggest that St Paul`s Rocks can be divided into two habitats, based on larval composition, density and diversity values: the inlet and the waters surrounding the archipelago.

LIVER DAMAGES AND NUCLEAR ABNORMALITIES IN ERYTHROCYTES OF Atherinella brasiliensis (ACTYNOPTERIGII, ATHERINOPSIDADE) FROM TWO BEACHES IN SOUTHEAST OF BRAZIL

There are few environmental studies using biomarkers for the species Atherinella brasiliensis in Brazil. In the present work, the presence of hepatic histopathological lesions and nuclear abnormalities in erythrocytes were investigated in A. brasiliensis from Lamberto, a beach under influence of domestic wastes and marine activities. For comparison, fish were also sampled in Puruba, a non-polluted beach, located in the northeastern of Sao Paulo State. The frequency of lesions found in liver was in higher numbers in individuals from Lamberto than Puruba beach. The most critical injuries observed in A. brasiliensis were the presence of necrotic areas, leucocytes infiltration and piknotic nucleus. A high occurrence of cells with vacuolization was also observed. The hepatic lesion index of the fish from Lamberto beach showed significant high values (I(org)=13) when compared with fish from Puruba beach (I(org)=7) suggesting the influence of the several human activities in the studied site. Notched and blebed nucleous were observed in this study, and significant differences were found between the studied sites. However, these differences did not reflect the total nuclear alterations.

Evidence for genetic differentiation of Octopus vulgaris (Mollusca, Cephalopoda) fishery populations from the southern coast of Brazil as revealed by microsatellites

Octopus vulgaris is a cephalopod species in several oceans and commonly caught by artisanal and industrial fisheries. In Brazil, O. vulgaris populations are mainly distributed along the southern coast and have been subjected to intensive fishing during recent years. Despite the importance of this marine resource, no genetic study has been carried out to examine genetic differences among populations along the coast of Brazil. In this study, 343 individuals collected by commercial vessels were genotyped at six microsatellite loci to investigate the genetic differences in O. vulgaris populations along the southern coast of Brazil. Genetic structure and levels of differentiation among sampling sites were estimated via a genotype assignment test and F-statistics. Our results indicate that the O. vulgaris stock consists of four genetic populations with an overall significant analogous F(ST). (phi(CT) = 0.10710, P<0.05) value. The genetic diversity was high with an observed heterozygosity of Ho = 0.987. The negative values of F(IS) found for most of the loci examined suggested a possible bottleneck process. These findings are important for further steps toward more sustainable octopus fisheries, so that this marine resource can be preserved for long-term utilization. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chemical evaluation and thermal behavior of Brazil nut oil obtained by different extraction processes

Brazil nut richness has been widely studied aiming at finding transformation models that increase its yield, keep its quality, reduce costs, and increase its productivity. The objective of this study is to evaluate the spectroscopic profile and the chemical and thermal behavior of Brazil nut oil obtained by different extraction processes. Lipid soxhlet extractions with petroleum ether and hexane, and using hydraulic pressing and supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) were performed. The physicochemical analyses showed an acidity index with significant differences between the samples obtained by hydraulic pressing and supercritical CO2. The peroxide index presented significant difference for the oil obtained by hydraulic pressing compared to that obtained by the other extraction processes. The fatty acid profiles showed a relevant presence of the omega series (w-3, w-6, and w-9) with significant differences for the extraction processes evaluated. The results of the thermogravimetric and differential analyses did not indicate changes in mass loss and presented predominantly exothermic behavior. The spectroscopic profiles indicate that the extraction processes do not change the spectral profile of the oils. (c) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.