Rural property size drives patterns of upland and riparian forest retention in a tropical deforestation frontier

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

Adenopygus: a new genus and two new species of Luzarinae cricket of Brazilian Atlantic Forest (Orthoptera: Grylloidea)

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

A Fast Large Scale Iris Database Classification with Optimum-Path Forest Technique: A Case Study

Majority of biometric researchers focus on the accuracy of matching using biometrics databases, including iris databases, while the scalability and speed issues have been neglected. In the applications such as identification in airports and borders, it is critical for the identification system to have low-time response. In this paper, a graph-based framework for pattern recognition, called Optimum-Path Forest (OPF), is utilized as a classifier in a pre-developed iris recognition system. The aim of this paper is to verify the effectiveness of OPF in the field of iris recognition, and its performance for various scale iris databases. This paper investigates several classifiers, which are widely used in iris recognition papers, and the response time along with accuracy. The existing Gauss-Laguerre Wavelet based iris coding scheme, which shows perfect discrimination with rotary Hamming distance classifier, is used for iris coding. The performance of classifiers is compared using small, medium, and large scale databases. Such comparison shows that OPF has faster response for large scale database, thus performing better than more accurate but slower Bayesian classifier.

Hunting and use of terrestrial fauna used by Caicaras from the Atlantic Forest coast (Brazil)

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

Distribution and habitat preference of Carabidae and Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) in an orange orchard and a forest fragment

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

Estimation of water transit time in soils under Amazon forest cover using variations in sigma18O values.

In an attempt to estimate the soil-water transit time using the variation in 18O values, a statistical model was used. This model is based on linear regression analysis applied to the values observed for soil water and rain water. The time obtained from these correlations represents the mean time necessary for the water to run from one collecting point to the next.-from Authors

Solar energy budgets in central Amazonian ecosystems: a comparison between natural forest and bare soil areas

In order to estimate the deforestation consequences on the actual solar energy budget of the Central Amazon Region, two ecosystems of different characteristics were compared. The present conditions of the region were represented by a typical 'terra firme' forest cover located at INPA's Ducke Forest Reserve, where the measurements necessary to evaluate its solar energy balance were carried out. The second ecosystem, simulating a deforested area, was represented by an area about 1.0 ha without natural vegetation and situated in the same Reserve. In this area lysimeters were placed, two of them filled with yellow latosol and two others with quartzose sand soil. Both soils are representative soils in the region. Their water balances were taken into account as well as the other parameters necessary to compute the solar energy balances. The results showed that water loss by evaporation was about 41.8% of the total precipitation in the yellow latosol lysimeters and about 26.4% for the quartzose sand ones. For the forest cover it was estimated an evapotranspiration of 67.9% of the rainfall amount. In relation to solar energy balance calculated for the forest cover, it was found that 83.1% of the total energy incoming to this ecosystem was used by the evapotranspiration process, while the remaining of 16.9% can be taken as sensible heat. For bare soils, 55.1% and 31.8% of the total energy were used as latent heat by yellow latosol and quartzose sand soils, respectively. So, the remaining amounts of 44.9% and 68.2% were related to sensible heat and available to atmospheric air heating of these ecosystems. Such results suggest that a large deforestation of the Amazon Region would have direct consequences on their water and solar radiation balances, with an expected change on the actual climatic conditions of the region. © 1993.

New species of Hylodes from the Atlantic forest of Brazil (Amphibia: Leptodactylidae)

A new species of leptodactylid frog is described from Eldorado, state of Sao Paulo, southeastern Brazil. The new species is a member of the Hylodes lateristrigatus group and is characterized by its large size, slightly rugose to rugose dorsal skin texture, robust body, and high number of notes per call. Descriptions of the advertisement call and information on natural history are provided.

Ecology and conservation of the jacutinga Pipile jacutinga in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil

The jacutinga Pipile jacutinga was formerly one of the most abundant game bird cracids in the Atlantic forest of Brazil. Nowadays this species is vulnerable to extinction due to hunting and habitat loss. The ecology of the jacutinga was studied at Parque Estadual Intervales, Sao Paulo, Brazil from October 1993 to December 1995 and in adjacent areas. Jacutingas were observed to feed mainly on the sugar-rich fruit of 41 species. We recorded a low index of abundance for the jacutinga (0.018) or c.1.7 birds/km2 at Intervales, one of the best protected areas within their range. Surveys carried out in the Atlantic forest of Sao Paulo found jacutinga populations in 14 localities. Probably < 1500 birds survive in the best protected areas. The species' stronghold in southeastern Brazil is in the mountains of Serra de Paranapiacaba, an area protected by several parks suffering from hunting and palm heart harvesting and threatened by a hydroelectric project.

Ascomycetous Yeasts Associated with Naturally Occurring Fruits in a Tropical Rain Forest

Fruits from twenty different species of angiosperms were collected during the period from November, 1991 to January, 1992. Two hundred and two strains of yeasts and yeast-like fungi were isolated, of which 74 % showed ascomycetic affinity. Candida was the predominant genus, followed by (in descending order of occurrence): Cryptococcus, Klœckera, Sporobolomyces, Pichia, Hanseniaspora and Bullera. Black yeasts and other strains showing basidiomycetic affinity were also isolated. The genus Candida represented the highest number of identified species and the greatest variety of associated substrates. Among the ascomycetes and their anamorphs, 38 species were identified, with Klœckera apiculata being the most frequent among the isolates and the one which occurred in the largest variety of substrates. Some of the biotypes designated as Candida sp. A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and Pichia sp. did not correspond to the standard species description found in the literature, and may represent new species. The strains of yeasts isolated in this study were characterized and incorporated into the Tropical Culture Collection of the Fundação Tropical de Pesquisas e Tecnologia André Tosello, Campinas, São Paulo.

Search for Antifungal and Anticancer Compounds from Native Plant Species of Cerrado and Atlantic Forest

Bioactivity-guided fractionation of several bioactive extracts obtained from Cerrado and Atlantic Forest plant species led to the isolation of potent DNA-damaging piperidine 1-5 and guanidine alkaloids 6-9 from Cassia leptophylla and Pterogyne nitens respectively, two common Leguminosae from Atlantic Forest. By means of biotechnological approach on Maytenus aquifolium, a species from Cerrado, moderate DNA-damaging sesquiterpene pyridine alkaloid 10-11 was isolated. Bioassay-guided fractionation on Casearia sylvestris, a medicinal plant species found in Cerrado and Atlantic Forest, led to the isolation of clerodane diterpenes 12-13 which showed effect on DNA. In addition, we have reported several interesting potent antifungal iridoids: 1β-hydroxy-dihydrocornin (14), 1α-hydroxy-dihydrocornin (15), α-gardiol (16), β-gardiol (17), plumericin (18), isoplumericin (19), 11-O-trans-caffeoylteucrein (20); ester derivative: 2-methyl-4-hydroxy-butyl-caffeoate (21), amide N-[7-(3'.4'-methylenedioxyphenyl)-2Z, 4Z-heptadienoyl] pyrrolidine (22) and triterpene viburgenin (23).

A new species of Proceratophrys (Anura: Leptodactylidae) from the Amazon rain forest

A new Proceratophrys from Rondonia, Brazil, is described based on adults and tadpoles. The new form represents a species with eyelids bordered by large, irregularly arranged, warts; postocular swellings absent; snout obtuse with flaring lip in profile; tympanum defined as a depression in the skin; and dorsal surfaces of body and leg bearing high elevated warts. The new species extends the known distribution of the genus to the northwest and represents the first described species of Proceratophrys from the Amazon rain forest. We discuss the species group arrangement in Proceratophrys based on morphology, geographic distribution, and habitat.

New species of Eleutherodactylus (Amphibia: Leptodactylidae) from Guaraquecaba, Atlantic Forest of Brazil

A new species of the leptodactylid frog genus Eleutherodactylus is described from Guaraquecaba, State of Parana, southern Brazil. The new species is characterized by its large size, slightly rugose to rugose dorsal skin texture, robust body, and low number of pulses per call. Descriptions of the advertisement calls of the new species and of E. manezinho, a close related species, are provided, as well as information on natural history.

Introduction: The Brazilian atlantic forest

The year 2000 marks 500 years of massive destruction for the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, as a consequence of the European colonization of Brazil. Today, the Atlantic Forest is restricted to ca 98,800 km2 of remnants, or 7.6 percent of its original extension. The Atlantic Forest continues to suffer under severe anthropogenic pressure, risking imminent extinction of the remaining species. Our current knowledge indicates that this complex biome contains a species diversity higher than most of the Amazon forests, and also has high levels of endemism. The 13 selected articles in this special issue present data on the natural history, ecology, sustainable management, and conservation of the Atlantic Forest. These articles represent a sample of the research conducted to date in the region and suggest avenues of future research, particularly with regard to conservation alternatives for the remaining portions of the Atlantic Forest. This special issue represents one of the first general references pertaining to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

Hypogaeic anti epigaeic ant (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) assemblages of atlantic costal rainforest and dry mature and secondary amazon forest in Brazil: Continuums or communities

Meat, flour and sugar baits were used on the soil surface and buried to examine species composition of the ant fauna in three separate tropical forests in Brazil, and to control for the effect of the regional faunal pool. Compositional mosaic diversities were comparable among areas, bait types and foraging strata. Mosaic diversity was independent of mean assemblage size. The number of unique species per sampling unit was correlated with mean assemblage size. Canonical correspondence analysis ordered species first by foraging substrate, second by geographic location, and third by diet. The first axis was significantly correlated with mean similarity and affinity. Mean Mahanalobis distances between centroids of groups based upon foraging strata were significantly larger than between localities, indicating local ecological pressures stronger than regional species pool constraints. As most. species foraged in only one stratum in one geographical position and were not omnivorous, the response of species to environmental gradients (continuums) showed a lower coherency with these patterns than did communities, structured around guilds based upon foraging strata and diet.