Income inequality in Latin America: Data challenges and availability from a comparative perspective

Includes bibliography

Zinc and lead content and availability in Brazilian soil contaminated with residue of a secondary smelting lead recycling plant

The sequential extraction procedure of Zinc and lead performed in a Brazilian soil showed that it presents high pollution potential once over 90% of total lead is present in fractions where the metals can be easily mobilized. The fraction contents are as follow: F1 = 174 and 15 mg kg-1; F2 = 3155 and 9.7 mg kg -1; F3 = 99 and 1.6 mg kg -1; Residual fraction = 38 and 5.5 mg kg -1 for lead and zinc, respectively. The comparison with non contaminated soil only Pb 2+ concentration is above its intervention reference concentration, 900 mg kg -1.

Unbiased approach to diagnose the nutrient status of red guava (Psidium guajava)

Fertilization of guava relies on soil and tissue testing. The interpretation of tissue test is currently conducted by comparing nutrient concentrations or dual ratios with critical values or ranges. The critical value approach is affected by nutrient interactions. Nutrient interactions can be described by dual ratios where two nutrients are compressed into a single expression or a ternary diagrams where one redundant proportion can be computed by difference between 100% and the sum of the other two. There are D(D-1) possible dual ratios in a D-parts composition and most of them are thus redundant. Nutrients are components of a mixture that convey relative, not absolute information on the composition. There are D-1 balances between components or ingredients in any mixture. Compositional data are intrinsically redundant, scale dependent and non-normally distributed. Based on the principles of equilibrium and orthogonality, the nutrient balance concept projects D-1 isometric log ratio (ilr) coordinates into the Euclidean space. The D-1 balances between groups of nutrients are ordered to reflect knowledge in plant physiology, soil fertility and crop management. Our objective was to evaluate the ilr approach using nutrient data from a guava orchard survey and fertilizer trials across the state of São Paulo, Brazil. Cationic balances varied widely between orchards. We found that the Redfield N/P ratio of 13 was critical for high guava yield. We present guava yield maps in ternary diagrams. Although the ratio between nutrients changing in the same direction with time is often assumed to be stationary, most guava nutrient balances and dual ratios were found to be non-stationary. The ilr model provided an unbiased nutrient diagnosis of guava. © ISHS.

Water availability determines the richness and density of fig trees within Brazilian semideciduous forest landscapes

The success of fig trees in tropical ecosystems is evidenced by the great diversity (+750 species) and wide geographic distribution of the genus. We assessed the contribution of environmental variables on the species richness and density of fig trees in fragments of seasonal semideciduous forest (SSF) in Brazil. We assessed 20 forest fragments in three regions in Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Fig tree richness and density was estimated in rectangular plots, comprising 31.4 ha sampled. Both richness and fig tree density were linearly modeled as function of variables representing (1) fragment metrics, (2) forest structure, and (3) landscape metrics expressing water drainage in the fragments. Model selection was performed by comparing the AIC values (Akaike Information Criterion) and the relative weight of each model (wAIC). Both species richness and fig tree density were better explained by the water availability in the fragment (meter of streams/ha): wAICrichness = 0.45, wAICdensity = 0.96. The remaining variables related to anthropic perturbation and forest structure were of little weight in the models. The rainfall seasonality in SSF seems to select for both establishment strategies and morphological adaptations in the hemiepiphytic fig tree species. In the studied SSF, hemiepiphytes established at lower heights in their host trees than reported for fig trees in evergreen rainforests. Some hemiepiphytic fig species evolved superficial roots extending up to 100 m from their trunks, resulting in hectare-scale root zones that allow them to efficiently forage water and soil nutrients. The community of fig trees was robust to variation in forest structure and conservation level of SSF fragments, making this group of plants an important element for the functioning of seasonal tropical forests. © 2013 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Tolerance of physic nut plants to aluminum activity in nutrient solution

Plants have different levels of tolerance to phytotoxic effects of aluminum and the exploitation of this characteristic is of significant importance to the use of acid soils. This research aimed to evaluate the effect of aluminum activity in nutrient solution on growth of physic nut young plant. After seven days of adaptation, plants were submitted to Al concentrations of 0; 200; 400; 600; 800 and 1,000 μmol L-1, corresponding to Al3+ activity solution, of: 14.5, 21.4; 46.6; 75.6; 108.3 e 144.8 μmol L-1, respectively. The increased activity of Al3+ decreased linearly the number of leaves, plant height, leaf area, shoot dry matter and root length of physic nut plant. Physic nut young plants are sensitive to high aluminum activity in solution. The root length, number of leaves, shoot dry matter and total dry matter were variables more affected by Al activity in solution, and can be used to discriminate the tolerance levels to aluminum in physic nut plants. The accumulation of aluminum increased in a activity-dependent manner; however, its translocation from root to shoot was low.

Simple procedure for nutrient analysis of coffee plant with energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF)

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

Nutrient accumulation in 'Fantasy' net melon cultivated on substrate

Knowledge of the most essential nutrients for plant growth facilitates the efficient handling of its nutrition, especially when they are grown on a substrate supported by fertigation. The objective of this study was to determine the accumulation of nutrients in net melon grown on a substrate and understand the relationship between mineral nutrition and plant growth. The Fantasy hybrid was cultivated in pots containing a substrate consisting of a mixture of sand and peanut shells (ratio, 1:1). Determination of nutrient accumulation was performed in 6 seasons. The substrate was chemically characterized before and after cultivation. Harvesting occurred 78 days after transplantation, resulting in an average yield of 70,120 kg·ha-1. Substrate analysis showed a small increase in nutrient levels by the end of cultivation. The order of nutrient accumulation was as follows: N>Ca>K>P>Mg>S>B> Fe>Mn>Zn>Cu.

Can savannas become forests? A coupled analysis of nutrient stocks and fire thresholds in central Brazil

Aims: The effects of fire ensure that large areas of the seasonal tropics are maintained as savannas. The advance of forests into these areas depends on shifts in species composition and the presence of sufficient nutrients. Predicting such transitions, however, is difficult due to a poor understanding of the nutrient stocks required for different combinations of species to resist and suppress fires. Methods: We compare the amounts of nutrients required by congeneric savanna and forest trees to reach two thresholds of establishment and maintenance: that of fire resistance, after which individual trees are large enough to survive fires, and that of fire suppression, after which the collective tree canopy is dense enough to minimize understory growth, thereby arresting the spread of fire. We further calculate the arboreal and soil nutrient stocks of savannas, to determine if these are sufficient to support the expansion of forests following initial establishment. Results: Forest species require a larger nutrient supply to resist fires than savanna species, which are better able to reach a fire-resistant size under nutrient limitation. However, forest species require a lower nutrient supply to attain closed canopies and suppress fires; therefore, the ingression of forest trees into savannas facilitates the transition to forest. Savannas have sufficient N, K, and Mg, but require additional P and Ca to build high-biomass forests and allow full forest expansion following establishment. Conclusions: Tradeoffs between nutrient requirements and adaptations to fire reinforce savanna and forest as alternate stable states, explaining the long-term persistence of vegetation mosaics in the seasonal tropics. Low-fertility limits the advance of forests into savannas, but the ingression of forest species favors the formation of non-flammable states, increasing fertility and promoting forest expansion. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.

Effect of pectin extracted from citrus pulp on digesta characteristics and nutrient digestibility in broilers chickens

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