Efficiency and soil contamination during underground application of insecticides: control of leaf-cutting ants with thermal foggers

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

Novel Phialophora species from leaf-cutting ants (tribe Attini)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Effect of brushwood transposition on the leaf litter arthropod fauna in a cerrado area

The results of ecological restoration techniques can be monitored through biological indicators of soil quality such as the leaf litter arthropod fauna. This study aimed to determine the immediate effect of brushwood transposition transferred from an area of native vegetation to a disturbed area, on the leaf litter arthropod fauna in a degraded cerrado area. The arthropod fauna of four areas was compared: a degraded area with signal grass, two experimental brushwood transposition areas, with and without castor oil plants, and an area of native cerrado. In total, 7,660 individuals belonging to 23 taxa were sampled. Acari and Collembola were the most abundant taxa in all studied areas, followed by Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, and Symphyla. The brushwood transposition area without castor oil plants had the lowest abundance and dominance and the highest diversity of all areas, providing evidence of changes in the soil community. Conversely, the results showed that the presence of castor oil plants hampered early succession, negatively affecting ecological restoration in this area.

Myrcia bella Leaf Extract Presents Hypoglycemic Activity via PI3k/Akt Insulin Signaling Pathway

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

Do litter manipulations affect leaf functional traits of savanna woody plants?

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Non-destructive equations to estimate the leaf area of Styrax pohlii and Styrax ferrugineus

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

Protein content of leaf-cutting ant queens before the nuptial flight and during the post-claustral phase

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

Effects of UV-B radiation on Lecanicillium spp., biological control agents of the coffee leaf rust pathogen

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

Leaf and inflorescence peduncle anatomy: a contribution to the taxonomy of Rapateaceae

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Leaf-cutting ants: an unexpected microenvironment holding human opportunistic black fungi

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

Yeasts found on an ephemeral reproductive caste of the leaf-cutting ant Atta sexdens rubropilosa

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Hot spots, hot moments, and spatio-temporal controls on soil CO2 efflux in a water-limited ecosystem

Soil CO2 efflux is the primary source of CO2 emissions from terrestrial ecosystems to the atmosphere. The rates of this flux vary in time and space producing hot moments (sudden temporal high fluxes) and hot spots (spatially defined high fluxes), but these high reaction rates are rarely studied in conjunction with each other. We studied temporal and spatial variation of soil CO2 efflux in a water-limited Mediterranean ecosystem in Baja California, Mexico. Soil CO2 efflux increased 522% during a hot moment after rewetting of soils following dry summer months. Monthly precipitation was the primary driver of the seasonal trend of soil CO2 efflux (including the hot moment) and through changes in soil volumetric water content (VWC) it influenced the relationship between CO2 efflux and soil temperature. Geostatistical analyses showed that the spatial dependence of soil CO2 efflux changed between two contrasting seasons (dry and wet). During the dry season high soil VWC was associated with high soil CO2 efflux, and during the wet season the emergence of a hot spot of soil CO2 efflux was associated with higher root biomass and leaf area index. These results suggest that sampling designs should accommodate for changes in spatial dependence of measured variables. The spatio-temporal relationships identified in this study are arguably different from temperate ecosystems where the majority of soil CO2 efflux research has been done. This study provides evidence of the complexity of the mechanisms controlling the spatio-temporal variability of soil CO2 efflux in water-limited ecosystems. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

High-throughput sugarcane leaf analysis using a low cost closed-vessel conductively heated digestion system and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy

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

Diversity of leaf-litter anurans in a fragmented landscape of the Atlantic Plateau of Sao Paulo State, southeastern Brazil

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

Reproductive site selection in the leaf-frog Phyllomedusa azurea Cope, 1862 (Anura: Hylidae) in altered areas of the Brazilian Cerrado

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)