23736 research outputs found
Sort by
Scanning electron microscopy and geometric contour morphometry for identifying eggs of three Amazonian species of Mansonia (Diptera: Culicidae)
No full textBird assemblages on Amazonian river islands: Patterns of species diversity and composition
No full textThe principles of island biogeography are rarely applied to the animal assemblages of Amazonian river islands. Here, we compare bird assemblages of Amazonian river islands with a variety of mainland habitats. We also examine how bird species diversity and composition are related to island physical attributes. Birds were sampled with mist nets and qualitative censuses on 11 river islands and 24 mainland sites on the lower reaches of the Rio Negro in the Brazilian Amazon. Island bird assemblages were characterized by lower species richness and a higher abundance of a few dominant species. Additionally, the species composition of the islands was distinct from that of the mainland, including the nearby floodplain habitats. The number of bird species increased with island size and habitat diversity, and decreased with degree of isolation. In addition, small islands tended to harbor an impoverished subset of the species present on larger ones. Bird species diversity and composition on Amazonian river islands are likely influenced by the ecological succession and historical events affecting island formation. Considering their small total area across the Amazon basin, these insular fluvial communities could be disproportionately threatened by river channel disturbances related to climate change or hydroelectric dam development. Abstract in Portughese is available with online material. © 2019 The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservatio
Type revision of two species of Crinipellis pat. (marasmiaceae, basidiomycota) from the amazon forest
No full textTwo species of Crinpellis originally described from the Neotropics are re-examined here, based on the type material, C. galeropsidoides (also including fresh collections) and C. metu-loidophora. In literature, both species were found in need of complementary information since their protologues are deficient in morphological and ecological data. This is particularly due for C. metu-loidophora with a poor description consisting of very few Latin words in a footnote. This species is considered relevant for being the type and only one species of Crinipellis sect. Metuloidophorae. This study provides detailed morphological description of both taxa followed by photographs, line-drawing illustrations and taxonomic comments. A key of the sections and subsections of Crinipellis is also provided. © 2019 J. Cramer in Gebrüder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany
Ecoethos da Amazônia: um recurso didático para simulação de dilemas socioambientais na educação ambiental
Get PDF“Amazonian Ecoethos” was created to meet the needs of more efficient and effective educational resources for Environmental Education in school and non-school contexts with the young public. “Amazonian Ecoethos” is a simulation game that involves the participants in an interactive, exciting and playful journey through socioenvironmental dilemmas confrontation and cooperative search for solutions. This study describes the game and includes the perception of teachers who accompanied the experience of the game that their students had. We used semi-structured interviews with 15 teachers of the 6th to the 9th grade of elementary public schools in Manaus (Amazon state) to verify the potentialities of the game using the theoretical and methodological assumptions of User Experience (UX). The results obtained from the content analysis pointed out that in the teachers’ perception, Ecoethos achieves the educational objectives that were proposed, such as the understanding and application of knowledge through situations that simulate socioenvironmental reality. Learning centered on cooperative decision making, interactivity and playfulness was central to experiences that allowed the participants to immerse themselves in the educational task and to reflect on their daily behavior. These results indicate the Ecoethos as a valuable educational tool to the teaching-learning process and to the development of youths’ socio-environmental responsibility. © 2019 Universidade Federal do Parana. All rights reserved
Primeiro registro de Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus no Estado do Amapá, Brasil
Get PDFWe report the first record of Aedes albopictus (DipteraCulicidae) in the state of Amapá, northern Brazil. Two female specimens were collected from a Shannon trap in the locality of Ilha de Santana, municipality of Santana, Amapá. The occurrence of the species was confirmed with the installation of ten ovitraps. Aedes albopictus is a species of epidemiological importance for the transmission of arboviruses. Amapá was one of two Brazilian states without any record of this species.Relatamos o primeiro registro de Aedes albopictus (Diptera: Culicidae) no Estado do Amapá, no norte do Brasil. Dois espécimes foram coletados em uma armadilha de Shannon na localidade de "Ilha de Santana", município de Santana, no Amapá. O registro foi confirmado com a instalação de dez ovitrampas. Aedes albopictus é uma espécie com importância epidemiológica na transmissão de arboviroses. O Amapá era um de dois estados brasileiros sem registro dessa espécie
Hematologic profile of Amazon river dolphins Inia geoffrensis and its variation during acute capture stress
Get PDFHematological values are of primary importance when investigating the health and physiological status of populations as they reflect the biological equilibrium of aquatic ecosystems. The objectives of this study are to produce baseline values for hematological parameters of the Amazon River dolphin (Inia geoffrensis), as well as to investigate significant variations according to sex, age, reproductive status and stress level. One-hundred-and-ten dolphins from Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve (3°3'S, 64°51'W), Central Amazon, Brazil, were live captured and sampled in November 2004 and 2005. Further, the means, standard deviations, minimum and maximum values and reference values (90% CI) were calculated. Correlations were performed to assess the relationships among blood values and cardiac rate (CR), respiratory frequency (RF), handling time and level of stress. No significant differences were found between sexes. Also, no differences occurred among pregnant and non-pregnant females, pregnant females and adult males or non-pregnant females and adult males. Calves had a higher white blood cell (WBC) count, and the neutrophil and lymphocyte absolute counts were significantly higher in calves than adults. The level of stress determined by empirical observation positively correlated with the WBC, neutrophil, lymphocyte and monocyte absolute counts and CR and RF. It was found that less stressed animals tend to present lower platelet counts and lower CR. The handling time of the dolphins was positively correlated with hematocrit (Hct), red blood cells (RBC) and Hb level. The hematological and physiological parameters varied according to time of handling and proved to be a good bioindicator of acute stress in Amazon River dolphins. The data provided here can complement long-term monitoring and identify the early warning indicators of health problems at the population level. © 2019 Mello, da Silva. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Protected areas: A focus on Brazilian freshwater biodiversity
Get PDFBrazil has a variety of aquatic ecosystems and rich freshwater biodiversity, but these components have been constantly damaged by the expansion of unsustainable activities. An array of different conservation strategies is needed, especially the creation of protected areas (PAs, hereafter). However, Brazil's PAs are biased towards terrestrial ecosystems and we argue that current PAs have limited efficacy in the protection of freshwater biodiversity. New PAs should better consider aquatic environments, covering entire basins, rivers and other freshwater habitats. We recommend ways to implement these PAs and provide guidance to avoid social impacts. Freshwater systems in Brazil provide essential goods and services but these ecosystems are being rapidly degraded and will be lost if not adequately protected. © 2018 The Authors. Diversity and Distributions Published by John Wiley & Sons Lt
Genetic diversity and population structure show different patterns of diffusion for bitter and sweet manioc in Brazil
No full textAlthough many important crops originated in Amazonia, the general patterns of their evolutionary histories are still obscure. Currently a major global food crop, manioc originated in southwestern Amazonia and was dispersed throughout the lowland Neotropics before the European conquest. However, little is known about the origin of the bitter and sweet landraces, nor the routes by which these were dispersed in Brazil and beyond. We used a non-systematic Brazil-wide sample of 494 manioc landraces from 11 geographic regions, and ten nuclear microsatellite markers to analyze the genetic diversity of sweet and bitter manioc. Bayesian simulations highlighted the bitter–sweet divergence and also suggested the existence of two groups of sweet manioc (circum-Cerrado and general Brazil) and two groups of bitter manioc (upper Negro River and general Brazil), while the relationships among geographic regions were depicted with clustering analysis. Overall we suggest that: (1) manioc was initially domesticated to be sweet, was then dispersed from southwestern Amazonia into both the Amazon basin and the Cerrado; (2) that bitter manioc arose from the general Brazilian sweet manioc landraces, almost certainly in Amazonia, where bitter manioc became most important and was dispersed both throughout Amazonia and along the Brazilian coast, but especially to the upper Negro River, where it became most diverse. Our study adds insights to the knowledge about how native Amazonian crops have been managed across their history of domestication. © 2019, Springer Nature B.V
Desempenho zootécnico e avaliação hematológica de juvenis de Tambaqui (Colossoma macropomum) alimentados com diferentes níveis da casca do tucumã (astrocaryum aculeatum)
Get PDFTo evaluate the effect of different levels of tucumã peel on the zootechnical performance, biochemical and hematological parameters of tambaqui fish. We used 225 fishes from a farm located on Manuel Urbano road (AM-070), with an average weight of 23.29 ± 15.02 g. The fishes were transported in plastic bags containing water and oxygen to the Federal University of Amazonas-UFAM, where the experiment was carried out. They were distributed in fifteen aquariums with 310 liters of capacity, and were fed until apparent satiety twice a day, with the following percentages of tucumã peel: T1: no tucumã peel, T2: 3% tucumã peel, T3: 6% tucumã peel, T4: 9% tucumã peel, T5: 12% tucumã peel. The research lasted 45 days and during this experimental period, due to its flow and aeration characteristics, an artesian aquifer provided the water, whose quality was monitored constantly. The tests carried out were: (1) standard biometry every 15 days for the analysis of zootechnical performance parameters, and (2) in a final analysis for hematological and biochemical indicators, blood was extracted by a puncture in caudal vein with a syringe of 3 ml. containing anticoagulant, so the fish were anesthetized with 0.5 mg/L of benzocaine diluted in water, and remained without feeding for a period of 12 h. The results obtained were: no differences in zootechnical performance or hematological parameters were observed. In the biochemical analyzes, there were no significant differences for proteins and glucose, while for cholesterol and triglycerides there was a decrease with the increasing levels of tucumã peel.Com o objetivo avaliar o efeito de diferentes níveis da casca do tucumã no desempenho zootécnico, parâmetros bioquímicos, hematológicos de tambaqui. Foram utilizados 225 peixes provenientes da fazenda de piscicultura localizada na estrada Manuel Urbano (AM-070), com peso médio de 23,29±15,02g. Os peixes foram transportados em sacos plásticos, contendo água e oxigênio até a Universidade Federal do Amazonas-UFAM, local de execução do experimento, foram distribuídos em quinze caixas d’água com capacidade de 310L e alimentados até a saciedade aparente duas vezes ao dia com rações contendo os seguintes níveis da casca do tucumã: T1: ração sem adição da casca do tucumã, T2: ração com 3% de casca de tucumã, T3: ração com 6% de casca de tucumã, T4 ração com 9% de casca de tucumã, T5 ração com 12% de casca de tucumã. O trabalho foi realizado em 45 dias, durante o período experimental foi monitorado a qualidade da água, onde a aeração foi constante e fluxo de água proveniente de poço artesiano. As analises realizadas durante o período experimental foram: biometria padrão no inicio e quinzenalmente, para analise dos parâmetros de desempenho zootécnico e para analise dos indicadores hematológicos e bioquímicos foi coletado sangue por punção da veia caudal ao final com seringa de 3ml contendo anticoagulante, para realização das coletas de dados os peixes foram anestesiados com benzocaína diluída em água a uma concentração de 0,5mg/L e permaneceram em jejum por um período de 12h. Nos resultados obtidos não foi observado diferença para desempenho zootécnico, hematológicos. Nos bioquímicos não houve diferença significativa para proteínas e glicose, já para o colesterol e triglicerídeos houve diminuição com aumento dos níveis de casca de tucumã
