Monitoring fish communities through environmental DNA metabarcoding in the fish pass system of the second largest hydropower plant in the world

The Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant is the second largest in the world in power generation. The artificial barrier created by its dam imposes an obstacle for fish migration. Thus, in 2002, a fish pass system, named Piracema Channel, was built to allow fish to access areas upstream of the reservoir. We tested the potential of environmental DNA metabarcoding to monitor the impact of both the dam and associated fish pass system in the Paraná River fish communities and to compare it with traditional monitoring methods. Using a fragment of the 12S gene, we characterized richness and community composition based on amplicon sequence variants, operational taxonomic units, and zero-radius OTUs. We combined GenBank and in-house data for taxonomic assignment. We found that different bioinformatics approaches showed similar results. Also, we found a decrease in fish diversity from 2019 to 2020 probably due to the recent extreme drought experienced in southeastern Brazil. The highest alpha diversity was recorded in the mouth of the fish pass system, located in a protected valley with the highest environmental heterogeneity. Despite the clear indication that the reference databases need to be continuously improved, our results demonstrate the analytical efficiency of the metabarcoding to monitor fish species

Association of Social Data

According to the ILO International Labour Organisation about 218 million children between 5 and 17 years working in the world of which 50 have jobs at risk On the basis of this information arising questions on how to understand and find the factors that comprise the ratings of child labour and which properties are important to analyze these cases With the use of data mining techniques to find valid patterns on Brazilian social databases were evaluated data of child labour in the State of Tocantins located north of Brazil with a territory of 277 thousand and composed of 139 cities This work aims to identify factors that are deterministic to the practice of child labour and their relationships with financial indicators educational social and regional generating information that are not explicit in the Government database thus enabling a better monitoring and updating policies to that en

Filhote - ferramenta de suporte à análise e interpretação de dados biológicos

This work presents a proposal to structure the data of fishes collected in the region of hydroelectric plant Luís Eduardo Magalhães (or hydroelectric plant of Lajeado), during the 1999-2012 period and also a tool development, called Filhote, for the administration of these data. The main purpose is to provide an efficient way to manipulate and store the obtained data, enabling the construction of time series aggregating results from future collections. To this intent, it was developed a data model for the structured storage of this set, aiming to provide the basis for studies on the monitoring of fish fauna in environments with and without reservoir. Taking this model as the basis, the Filhote tool has been integrated into the application of Data Mining WEKA in order to provide the researcher a means of data analysis through the generation of association rules. The data model and the developed tool are viable to treatment of existing data and they are presented as a good alternative for projects that collect data in this same direction, enabling the expansion of the storage modules, as well as the inclusion of new data mining algorithms.Este trabalho apresenta uma proposta para a estruturação dos dados de peixes coletados na região da Usina Hidrelétrica Luís Eduardo Magalhães (ou Usina de Lajeado), no período de 1999 a 2012, e o desenvolvimento de uma ferramenta, chamada Filhote, para a administração destes dados. O principal objetivo é oferecer um meio de manipulação e armazenamento eficiente aos dados obtidos possibilitando a construção de séries históricas com a agregação de resultados de futuras coletas. Para isto, foi desenvolvido um modelo de dados para o armazenamento estruturado desta série, visando servir de alicerce aos estudos de monitoramento da fauna de peixes em ambientes com e sem reservatório. Tomando este modelo como base, a ferramenta Filhote foi integrada à aplicação de Mineração de Dados WEKA com o intuito de prover ao pesquisador um meio de análise de dados através da geração de regras de associação. O modelo de dados e a ferramenta desenvolvida são viáveis para o tratamento dos dados existentes e se apresentam como uma boa alternativa para projetos que coletam dados neste mesmo sentido, possibilitando a expansão dos módulos de armazenamento, bem como com a inclusão de novos algoritmos de mineração de dados

Ecology and Conservation of Freshwater Fishes Biodiversity

Freshwater fishes are the most diverse vertebrate group, with almost 36,000 species described so far, and more species are being discovered all the time, evenly distributed between marine and freshwater habitats. Freshwater ecosystems serve as a habitat for more than 18,000 fish species, occupying less than 1% of the Earth’s surface. Among all ecosystems, inland waters are one of the most affected. Wetlands are disappearing three times faster than forests, and freshwater populations decrease faster than terrestrial biodiversity. Nowadays, freshwater fishes may be considered the most threatened vertebrate group. Understanding the ecological subjects, environmental necessities, and pressures of freshwater fishes remains a key concern of their conservation biology. This reprint explores the relationships between environmental issues, freshwater fish biodiversity, and human impacts from different perspectives, but always focuses on the conservation biology of species and ecosystems.A change in mindset is needed to protect biodiversity in the upcoming years. Conservation plans have failed because our current knowledge is deficient and needs to be improved. We need countries to commit to protecting biodiversity and develop realistic targets that can be met while compromising with conflicting needs and interests. The articles included in this reprint emphasize the necessity of having more knowledge to develop conservation strategies. Future conservation targets may be advanced in part based on the knowledge provided by these papers and similar studies to ensure the long-term protection of freshwater fish and other life forms

Tropical deltas and coastal zones: food production, communities and environment at the land-water interface

Aquaculture / Fisheries / Rice / Coastal area / Cropping systems / Salinity / Food production / Food security / South East Asia / Vietnam / Philippines / Bangladesh / Thailand / India / Indonesia / Sri Lanka / West Africa / Brazil

2010/2011 Annual Report

Report year ends June 3

Impacts of climate change on fisheries and aquaculture

The 2015 Paris Climate Agreement recognizes the need for effective and progressive responses to the urgent threat of climate change, through mitigation and adaptation measures, while taking into account the particular vulnerabilities of food production systems. The inclusion of adaptation measures in the fisheries and aquaculture sector is currently hampered by a widespread lack of targeted analyses of the sector's vulnerabilities to climate change and associated risks, as well as the opportunities and responses available. This report provides the most up-to-date information on the disaggregated impacts of climate change for marine and inland fisheries, and aquaculture, in the context of poverty alleviation and the differential dependency of countries on fish and fishery resources. The work is based on model projections, data analyses, as well as national, regional and basin-scale expert assessments. The results indicate that climate change will lead to significant changes in the availability and trade of fish products, with potentially important geopolitical and economic consequences, especially for those countries most dependent on the sector

Deliverable 1.1 review document on the management of marine areas with particular regard on concepts, objectives, frameworks and tools to implement, monitor, and evaluate spatially managed areas

The main objectives if this document were to review the existing information on spatial management of marine areas, identifying the relevant policy objectives, to identify parameters linked to the success or failure of the various Spatially Managed marine Areas (SMAs) regimes, to report on methods and tools used in monitoring and evaluation of the state of SMAs, and to identify gaps and weaknesses in the existing frameworks in relation to the implementation, monitoring, evaluation and management of SMAs. The document is naturally divided in two sections: Section 1 reviews the concepts, objectives, drivers, policy and management framework, and extraneous factors related to the design, implementation and evaluation of SMAs; Section 2 reviews the tools and methods to monitor and evaluate seabed habitats and marine populations.peer-reviewe

Integrating Ecohydraulics in River Restoration: Advances in Science and Applications

Rivers have been intensively degraded due to increasing anthropogenic impacts from a growing population in a continuously developing world. Accordingly, most rivers suffer from pressures as a result of increasing dam and weir construction, habitat degradation, flow regulation, water pollution/abstraction, and the spread of invasive species. Science-based knowledge regarding solutions to counteract the effects of river degradation, and melding principles of aquatic ecology and engineering hydraulics, is thus urgently needed to guide present and future river restoration actions. This Special Issue gathers a coherent set of studies from different geographic contexts, on fundamental and applied research regarding the integration of ecohydraulics in river restoration, ranging from field studies to laboratory experiments that can be applied to real-world challenges. It contains 13 original papers covering ecohydraulic issues such as river restoration technologies, sustainable hydropower, fish passage designs and operational criteria, and habitat modeling. All papers were reviewed by international experts in ecology, hydraulics, aquatic biology, engineering, geomorphology, and hydrology. The papers herein well represent the wide applicability of ecohydraulics in river restoration and serve as a basis to improve current knowledge and management and to reduce arguments between different interests and opinions