Attraction of ambrosia beetles (Coleoptera : Scolytidae) to different tropical pine species in Brazil

Ambrosia beetles are the predominant Scolytidae in Brazil. Little is known about the attractiveness of exotic conifer tree volatiles to native scolytids. Objectives were to compare the attractiveness of logs with and without bark of Pinus oocarpa Schiede, P. caribaea variety bahamensis Barrett & Golfari, P, car. variety caribaea Barrett & Golfari and P. car. variety hondurensis Barrett & Golfari over time to native scolytids in different pine stands, to compare the relative attractiveness of logs relative to ethanol traps, to determine how long it takes for logs to become attractive to ambrosia beetles and when attraction peaks occur, and to determine if volatiles released by live standing trees would mask volatiles released by logs of the same species. In young stands, Hypothenemus was the predominant insect genus, whereas in older stands Xyleborus predominated. Debarked logs trapped more beetles than logs with bark. Pine log species attractiveness was not influenced by volatiles present in the stand. Beetles were divided into the following 3 groups, based on response to log volatiles and ethanol: (1) species attracted to ethanol and not responding to pine terpenes Ambrosiodmus hagedorni (Iglesia), A. retusus (Eichhoff), X. spinulosus Blandford, Corthylus schaufussi Schiede, Cryptocarenus heveae (Hagedorn), H. obscurus (F.), (2) species attracted to ethanol but responding to pine terpenes Xyleborinus gracilis (Eichhoff), X. affinis Eichhoff, H. eruditus Westwood, Premnobius cavipennis Eichhoff, and (3) species more attracted to pine terpenes and less responsive to ethanol, A. obliquus (Le Conte), X. ferrugineus F,, X. catulus Blandford. Pinus car. ;variety bahamensis was the least attractive pine, P. oocarpa the most attractive. The attraction peak varied according to the season; logs were not attractive to beetles 10 wk after cutting.

Impact des coupes partielles sur l’activité de coléoptères phloeophages et xylophages en forêt boréale

Ce projet de recherche évalue la réponse à court terme de coléoptères phloeophages et xylophages (Cerambycidae et Scolytinae) à différentes intensités de coupes partielles (0, 25 et 40% de la surface terrière prélevée) afin de déterminer la viabilité de cette méthode sylvicole en forêt boréale. Disposant de 12 parcelles expérimentales (4 répétitions pour chaque intensité de coupe) dans une sapinière à bouleau blanc située au sud de la forêt boréale (Québec, Canada), nous avons évalué l’abondance, la diversité ainsi que l’établissement (taux d’attaque) de ces deux groupes d’insectes, et ce dès la première année suivant la coupe. L’échantillonnage a été réalisé à l’aide de pièges à interception multidirectionnelle et de l’écorçage de sections de 3 espèces d’arbres exposées dans l’ensemble des parcelles. Nos résultats montrent une plus grande activité/abondance des deux taxons (abondance 5 à 6 fois plus élevée) ainsi qu’une composition en espèces différente et plus diversifiée dans les peuplements partiellement coupés (25 et 40%). De plus, la présence et la distribution d’espèces colonisant habituellement des hôtes affaiblis (e.g., Trypodendron lineatum, Rhagium inquisitor) – et pouvant donc réduire la valeur économique d’arbres résiduels – a été recensée et semble être favorisée entres autres par l’ouverture de la canopée et des blessures physiques faites aux arbres pendant les opérations sylvicoles. Par ailleurs, l’approche combinant différentes techniques d’échantillonnage a permis une meilleure compréhension des mécanismes de localisation/sélection d’hôte (variant en fonction de l’espèce), un aspect important de la dynamique des insectes pour l’évaluation des risques suite aux coupes forestières. Sur la base de cette étude à court terme, il ne semblerait pas y avoir de différence significative sur les risques pour le milieu quant à l’augmentation d’activité des Cerambycidae et Scolytinae entre les deux traitements de coupe appliqués. Il reste cependant indispensable de vérifier la validité de ces résultats sur une plus longue période afin d’établir des plans d’aménagement forestier durables pour la forêt boréale.

Estância Hidromineral de Águas de São Pedro (SP) e a construção de um espaço voltado ao termalismo

Este trabalho discorre sobre como o município de Águas de São Pedro, situado no centro do Estado de São Paulo, constituído na década de 1930 como um espaço voltado à atividade turística, destaca-se pelo potencial termal. Até hoje a estância hidromineral tem no turismo a principal atividade econômica; entretanto, nossa pesquisa busca compreender se o atrativo primordial do Município está atrelado às águas medicinais, ou se outras características singulares da pequena cidade, como tranquilidade, beleza paisagística e segurança, o tornam um lugar propício ao passeio. Buscamos entender por que, dentre tantas opções de cidades interioranas disponíveis em São Paulo, Águas de São Pedro é escolhida como local de residência fixa, lugar de estabelecimento de casas de veraneio, sendo palco de um grande crescimento imobiliário; assim, desvendamos quais fatores da estância são responsáveis por atrair os turistas e veranistas/turistas de segunda residência. Os dados da pesquisa foram obtidos por meio de pesquisa bibliográfica, observação direta, conversas informais, aplicação de questionários e entrevistas com vários atores socioeconômicos, tais como moradores, turistas, veranistas, rede hoteleira, comércios, imobiliárias e gestores municipais. Os resultados apontam que o município já passou por vários ciclos turísticos e, apesar de a estância hidromineral de Águas de São Pedro ser uma referência regional e até nacional de águas termais, e do poder público estar investindo para apresentar à sociedade um lugar cheio de qualidade de vida, símbolo de bem-estar, grande parcela dos turistas procura a cidade pelo passeio, gastronomia e compras, caracterizando um turismo excursionista, sem pernoite. Este é o motivo pelo qual a cidade vem passando por grande reestruturação paisagística, orquestrada pelo poder público e porque recebe incrementos do poder privado no que se refere à variedade de produtos e serviços ofertados. Percebemos que a maior parcela de moradores e turistas não têm o hábito de utilizar as águas medicinais, mesmo sabendo que a água sulfurosa, também chamada de \"Fonte da Juventude\", utilizada para ingestão e banhos terapêuticos, é a segunda melhor do mundo, superada apenas pela fonte de Pergoli, em Tabiano, na Itália (CAMARGO, 1990), porém o reconhecimento da Cidade como cidade das águas, cidade termal, cidade saúde, é resiliente.

Les pratiques d'attraction et de rétention de la génération Y dans les PME

Les dirigeants-propriétaires des petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) sont de plus en plus intéressés par la gestion des ressources humaines (GRH); certains y voient un avantage concurrentiel face à la pénurie de main-d’œuvre actuelle. Considérant que la compatibilité entre les caractéristiques des travailleurs et celles de l’organisation peut générer des résultats positifs (Kristof-Brown et Guay, 2011), notre étude s’intéresse aux pratiques de GRH associées aux valeurs au travail de la génération Y ainsi que leur effet sur la capacité des PME à attirer et retenir cette cohorte. Cette étude qualitative s’est réalisée grâce à des données primaires colligées à la suite d’entrevues avec des dirigeants de quatre PME du secteur de la construction et seize employés appartenant à la génération Y œuvrant au sein de ces entreprises. Par nos résultats, nous avons relevé que la qualité des relations, autant avec les collègues que les superviseurs, demeure généralement la principale source d’attraction et de rétention des Y dans les PME. Nos résultats soutiennent aussi que leur attraction et rétention peut être très fortement favorisée grâce à des pratiques de communication bidirectionnelle et illimitée, une communication stratégique et une liberté dans la gestion du temps et des méthodes de travail. La conciliation travail et vie personnelle, les défis variés, les possibilités d’avancement, la gestion des ressources humaines socialement responsable, la reconnaissance des compétences ainsi que la gestion participative sont aussi des pratiques pouvant être fortement liées à l’attraction et la rétention de cette génération. Nos résultats montrent aussi que l’attraction et la rétention des Y dans les PME sont modérément favorisées par le travail d’équipe, les conditions de travail équitables et objectives et la rémunération globale concurrentielle. À l’inverse, la présence de technologies de l’information et des communications et la formation continue sont des sources plus faibles d’attraction et de rétention en comparaison aux autres pratiques abordées dans cette étude. En somme, cette étude contribue à la littérature sur la GRH dans les PME, puisque les spécificités relatives à ces entreprises ont été peu considérées jusqu’à aujourd’hui. Elle permet aussi la recommandation de pratiques utiles aux dirigeants-propriétaires et professionnels en ressources humaines œuvrant avec le défi d’attraction et de rétention de la génération Y au sein de leur entreprise.

Attraction of the cutaneous leishmaniasis vector Nyssomyia neivai (Diptera: Psychodidae) to host odour components in a wind tunnel

Background: Laboratory studies of host-seeking olfactory behaviour in sandflies have largely been restricted to the American visceral leishmaniasis vector Lutzomyia longipalpis. In comparison, almost nothing is known about the chemical ecology of related species, which transmit American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL), due in part to difficulties in raising these insects in the laboratory. Understanding how ACL vectors locate their hosts will be essential to developing new vector control strategies to combat this debilitating disease.Methods: This study examined host-odour seeking behaviour of the ACL vector Nyssomyia neivai (Pinto) (=Lutzomyia neivai) using a wind tunnel olfactometer. The primary aim was to determine whether field-collected female N. neivai would respond to host odours in the laboratory, thereby eliminating the need to maintain colonies of these insects for behavioural experiments. Responses to two key host odour components, 1-octen-3-ol and lactic acid, and a commercially-available mosquito lure (BG-Lure (TM)) were assessed and compared relative to an air control. We also tested whether trials could be conducted outside of the normal evening activity period of N. neivai without impacting on fly behaviour, and whether the same flies could be used to assess baseline responses to air without affecting responses to octenol, thereby reducing the number of flies required for experiments.Results: Octenol was found to both activate host-seeking behaviour and attract female N. neivai in the wind tunnel, while lactic acid elicited weaker responses of activation and attractiveness under identical conditions. The BG-Lure did not activate or attract N. neivai under test conditions. Further experiments showed that sandfly behaviour in the wind tunnel was not affected by time of day, such that experiments need not be restricted to nocturnal hours. Moreover, using the same flies to measure both baseline responses to air and attraction to test compounds did not affect odour-seeking behaviour.Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrate that N. neivai taken from the field are suitable for use in laboratory olfactometer experiments. It is hoped this work will facilitate further research into chemical ecology of this species, and other ACL vectors.

Does attraction to frugivores or defense against pathogens shape fruit pulp composition?

Fruit traits evolve in response to an evolutionary triad between plants, seed dispersers, and antagonists that consume fruits but do not disperse seeds. The defense trade-off hypothesis predicts that the composition of nutrients and of secondary compounds in fruit pulp is shaped by a trade-off between defense against antagonists and attraction to seed dispersers. The removal rate model of this hypothesis predicts a negative relationship between nutrients and secondary compounds, whereas the toxin-titration model predicts a positive relationship. To test these alternative models, we evaluated whether the contents of nutrients and secondary compounds can be used to predict fruit removal by mutualists and pathogens in 14 bird-dispersed plants on a subtropical island in São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil. We selected eight to ten individuals of each species and prevented fruit removal by covering four branches with a net and left fruits on four other branches available to both, vertebrate fruit consumers and pathogens. The persistence of ripe fruits was drastically different among species for bagged and open fruits, and all fruit species persisted longer when protected against seed dispersers. We found that those fruits that are quickly removed by vertebrates are nutrient-rich, but although the attack rate of pathogens is also high, these fruits have low contents of quantitative defenses such as tannins and phenols. Thus, we suggest that the fruit removal rate by seed dispersers is the primary factor selecting the levels of fruit defense. Likewise, nutrient-poor fruits have low removal of seed dispersers and low probability of attack by pathogens. These species retain ripe fruits in an intact condition for a prolonged period because they are highly defended by secondary compounds, which reduce overall attractiveness. However, this strategy might be advantageous for plants that depend on rare or unreliable dispersers.

Attraction of the sand fly Nyssomyia neivai (Diptera: Psychodidae) to chemical compounds in a wind tunnel

Background: Similar to other hematophagous insects, male and female sand flies must feed on plants to obtain sugar and, subsequently, energy to complete their life cycles. A large number of compounds emitted by plants may act as volatile signals to these insects. Primary alcohols have been detected in some plants, but in small amounts. In a previous report, the attractiveness of saturated primary alcohols with 7 to 9 carbons was evaluated for Lutzomyia longipalpis, the vector of American visceral leishmaniasis, with positive results.Methods: In the present study, a wide range of primary alcohols, 3 to 10 carbons, were tested to investigate their attractiveness to another sand fly species, Nyssomyia neivai, a putative vector of American cutaneous leishmaniasis. The mixture of compounds that induced the best sand fly response was also evaluated.Results: Of the eight compounds evaluated, hexanol and octanol elicited the best attractive responses for sand fly females.Conclusion: Phytochemicals may be an interesting source of search for new sand fly attractants.

Attraction, recruitment and retention of high performing sales professionals case study: Lindström

The goal of this thesis is to gain more in-depth understanding of employer branding and offer suggestions on how this knowledge could be utilized in the case company. More in detail, the purpose of this research is to provide tools for improving Lindström’s organizational attractiveness and boosting the recruitment and retention of the segment of high-performing sales professionals. A strategy for reaching this particular segment has not been previously drawn and HR-managers believe strongly that it would be very beneficial for the company’s development and growth. The topic of this research is very current for Lindström, but also contributes on general level as companies are competing against each other in attracting, recruiting and retention of skilled workforce in the times of labor shortage. The research is conducted with qualitative methods and the data collection includes primary data through interviews as well as secondary data in the form of analysis on previous research, websites, recruitment material and discussions with Lindström’s HR department. This research provides a good basis for broader examination on the topic and presents development suggestions for the identified challenges. Based on the key findings Lindström’s HR department was advised to increase firm’s visibility, broaden recruitment channels, provide more hands-on knowledge about the sales positions and investigate their possibilities of developing sales reward systems.