Simulating land use changes, sediment yields, and pesticide use in the Upper Paraguay River Basin: Implications for conservation of the Pantanal wetland

As a consequence of accelerated and excessive use of pesticides in tropical regions, wilderness areas are under threat; this includes the Pantanal wetlands in the Upper Paraguay River Basin (UPRB). Using a Land Cover Land Use Change (LCLUC) modelling approach, we estimated the expected pesticide load in the Pantanal and the surrounding highlands region for 2050 under three potential scenarios: i) business as usual (BAU), ii) acceleration of anthropogenic changes (ACC), and iii) use of buffer zones around protected areas (BPA). The quantity of pesticides used in the UPRB is predicted to vary depending on the scenario, from an overall increase by as much as 7.4% in the UPRB in the BAU scenario (increasing by 38.5% in the floodplain and 6.6% in the highlands), to an increase of 11.2% in the UPRB (over current use) under the AAC scenario (increasing by 53.8% in the floodplain and 7.5% in the highlands). Much higher usage of pesticides is predicted in sub-basins with greater agricultural areas within major hydrographic basins. Changing the current trajectory of land management in the UPRB is a complex challenge. It will require a substantial shift from current practices, and will involve the implementation of a number of strategies, ranging from the development of new technologies to achieve changes in land use policies, to increasing dialogue between farmers, ranchers, the scientific community, and local or traditional communities through participatory learning processes and outreach

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

Indicadores antropométricos de obesidade em portadores da síndrome de Down entre 15 e 44 anos

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity, the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and indices: waist hip ratio (WHR) and waist circumference (CC) and to compare between genders, the relationship between the indices in patients of Down syndrome (DS) aged 15 to 44 years. The sample consisted of 33 individuals of DS residents in the cities of Itaperuna - RJ and Bom Jesus Itabapoana - RJ, being 15 females aged between 14 and 38 years (mean ± SD, 23.8 ± 7.4 years, BMI = 29.67 ± 5.64 kg/m²) and 18 males aged between 14 and 44 years (mean ± SD, 26.4 ± 8.4 years, BMI = 27.68 ± 5.97 kg/m²). The anthropometric measures of body mass, height, waist and hip, were used to obtain the BMI, the WHR and WC. The level of association between variables was obtained by Spearman and Pearson tests. The highest correlation coefficients between the variables BMI and WC in male groups (r = 0.926, p = 0.000), female (r = 0.874, p = 0.000) and overall (r = 0.892, p = 0.000). Thus, the strongest associations between BMI and anthropometric indicators suggest that these CC integrated indicators are good predictors of general and central obesity, in patients with DS.O objetivo do presente estudo foi verificar a prevalência de sobrepeso e obesidade, a correlação entre o Índice de massa corporal (IMC) e os índices: Razão cintura quadril (RCQ) e Circunferência de cintura (CC) e comparar, entre os gêneros, a relação entre os índices em portadores da síndrome de Down (SD) com idades entre 15 e 44 anos. A amostra foi constituída por 33 portadores da SD residentes nos municípios de Itaperuna - RJ e Bom Jesus do Itabapoana - RJ, de ambos os gêneros, sendo 15 do sexo feminino com idade entre 14 e 38 anos (média ± DP; 23,8 ± 7,4 anos; IMC = 29,67 ± 5,64 kg/m²) e 18 do sexo masculino com idade entre 14 e 44 anos (média ± DP; 26,4 ± 8,4 anos; IMC = 27,68 ± 5,97 kg/m²). As medidas antropométricas de massa corporal, estatura, cintura e quadril, foram utilizadas para obtenção do IMC, da RCQ e da CC. Os níveis de associação foram verificados através do teste de Spearman e de Pearson quando apropriados e apresentaram os coeficientes de correlação mais elevados entre as variáveis IMC e CC nos grupos masculino (r = 0,926; p = 0,000), feminino (r = 0,874; p = 0,000) e também no geral (r = 0,892; p = 0,000). Assim, as associações mais fortes entre os indicadores antropométricos IMC e CC sugerem que estes indicadores integrados são bons preditores da obesidade generalizada e central, também em portadores de SD

Occurrence of macaúba in Minas Gerais, Brazil: relationship with climatic, pedological and vegetation attributes

O objetivo deste trabalho foi relacionar a ocorrência da macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd. ex Martius) no Estado de Minas Gerais a atributos climáticos, pedológicos e vegetacionais. O Estado possui três grandes regiões de ocorrência de macaúba: Alto Paranaíba, Zona Metalúrgica e Montes Claros. A região de Montes Claros é relativamente mais quente e mais seca do que as outras duas, porém as diferenças macroclimáticas regionais não chegam a representar um fator limitante à ocorrência da macaúba. Dentro de cada região, foram selecionadas e amostradas nove seqüências de solos na paisagem, totalizando 27 perfis de solo, registrando-se, inclusive, a vegetação primitiva. O uso de atributos químicos e físicos do solo permitiu separar de forma eficiente os conjuntos de segmentos da paisagem (sítios) com e sem macaúba, mediante a análise de componentes principais, dos quais as correlações com os atributos químicos são os mais relevantes. A ocorrência de macaúba acompanhou áreas de solos com fertilidade natural mais elevada e vegetação primitiva de fisionomia florestal, o que mostra que a espécie avança como pioneira, evitando extremos de deficiência de nutrientes e de água. Os resultados evidenciam que, nos casos estudados, a ocorrência da macaúba só se verificou quando a vegetação primitiva é de floresta subcaducifólia.The objective of this work was to relate the occurrence of macaúba (Acrocomia aculeata (Jacq.) Lodd. ex Martius) in Minas Gerais State, Brazil, to climatic, pedological and vegetation attributes. The State has three huge regions where macaúba occurs: Alto Paranaíba, Zona Metalúrgica, and Montes Claros. The Montes Claros region is relatively warmer and drier than the two others, although these regional macroclimatic differences do not limit the macaúba occurrence. Within those regions, nine soil sequences were selected and sampled in the landscape, totalizing 27 soil profiles, being also registered the primitive vegetation in each case. The use of soil chemical and physical attributes allowed to discriminate the sets of landscape segments (sites) with and without macaúba through the principal components analysis; the correlations with the chemical attributes were the most relevant. The macaúba occurrence followed soil areas where the natural fertility was higher and where the primitive vegetation was forest, showing that the species advances as pioneer, avoiding extreme conditions of deficiencies of nutrients and water. The surveyed data evidence that in all cases the macaúba occurrence only happened when the primitive vegetation is semideciduous forest