Whales, dolphins or fishes? The ethnotaxonomy of cetaceans in São Sebastião, Brazil

The local knowledge of human populations about the natural world has been addressed through ethnobiological studies, especially concerning resources uses and their management. Several criteria, such as morphology, ecology, behavior, utility and salience, have been used by local communities to classify plants and animals. Studies regarding fishers' knowledge on cetaceans in the world, especially in Brazil, began in the last decade. Our objective is to investigate the folk classification by fishers concerning cetaceans, and the contribution of fishers' local knowledge to the conservation of that group. In particular, we aim to record fishers' knowledge in relation to cetaceans, with emphasis on folk taxonomy. The studied area is São Sebastião, located in the southeastern coast of Brazil, where 70 fishers from 14 communities were selected according to their fishing experience and interviewed through questionnaires about classification, nomenclature and ecological aspects of local cetaceans' species. Our results indicated that most fishers classified cetaceans as belonging to the life-form 'fish'. Fishers' citations for the nomenclature of the 11 biological species (10 biological genera), resulted in 14 folk species (3 generic names). Fishers' taxonomy was influenced mostly by the phenotypic and cultural salience of the studied cetaceans. Cultural transmission, vertical and horizontal, was intimately linked to fishers' classification process. The most salient species, therefore well recognized and named, were those most often caught by gillnets, in addition to the biggest ones and those most exposed by media, through TV programs, which were watched and mentioned by fishers. Our results showed that fishers' ecological knowledge could be a valuable contribution to cetaceans' conservation, helping to determine areas and periods for their protection, indicating priority topics for research and participating in alternative management related to the gillnet fisheries

Nonvolant mammal megadiversity and conservation issues in a threatened central amazonian hotspot in Brazil

Amazonia National Park is located in southwestern Pará State in central Amazonia. The 10,707 km2 park is one of the largest protected areas in Brazil and is covered with pristine forests, but the region is threatened by dam construction projects. An incomplete mammal biodiversity inventory was conducted in the area during the late 1970s. Here, we present results of sampling from 7,295 live-trap nights, 6,000 pitfall-trap nights, more than 1,200 km of walking transect censuses, and approximately 3,500 camera-trap days, all conducted between 2012 and 2014. These sampling efforts generated a list of 86 known species of nonvolant mammals, making the park the single most species-rich area for nonvolant mammals both in the Amazon Basin and in the Neotropics as a whole. Amazonia National Park is a megadiverse site, as is indicated by its mammalian richness, which includes 15 threatened mammal species and 5 to 12 new species of small mammals. As such, it merits being a high-conservation priority and should be an important focus of Brazilian authorities’ and the international scientific community’s conservation efforts. A comprehensive conservation plan is urgently needed, especially given the ecological threats posed by dam construction. © The Author(s) 2016

Legacy of Amazonian Dark Earth soils on forest structure and species composition

This is the final version. Available from the publisher via the DOI in this record.Aim: Amazonian forests predominantly grow on highly weathered and nutrient poor soils. Anthropogenically enriched Amazonian Dark Earths (ADE), traditionally known as Terra Preta de Índio, were formed by pre-Columbian populations. ADE soils are characterized by increased fertility and have continued to be exploited following European colonization. Here, we evaluated the legacy of land-use and soil enrichment on the composition and structure in ADE and non-ADE (NDE) forests. Location: Eastern and southern Amazonia. Time period: Pre-Columbia – 2014. Methods: We sampled nine pairs of ADE and adjacent NDE forest plots in eastern and southern Amazonia. In each plot, we collected soil samples at 0–10 and 10–20 cm depth and measured stem diameter, height, and identified all individual woody plants (palms, trees and lianas) with diameter ≥ 10 cm. We compared soil physicochemical properties, vegetation diversity, floristic composition, aboveground biomass, and percentage of useful species. Results: In the nine paired plots, soil fertility was significantly higher in ADE soil. We sampled 4,191 individual woody plants representing 404 species and 65 families. The floristic composition of ADE and NDE forests differed significantly at both local and regional levels. In southern Amazonia, ADE forests had, on average, higher aboveground biomass than other forests of the region, while in eastern Amazonia, biomass was similar to that of NDE forests. Species richness of both forest types did not differ and was within the range of existing regional studies. The differences in composition between large and small diameter tree recruits may indicate long-term recovery and residual effects from historical land-use. Additionally, the proportion of edible species tended to be higher in the ADE forests of eastern and southern Amazonia. Main conclusions: The marked differences in soil fertility, floristic composition and aboveground biomass between ADE and NDE forests are consistent with a small-scale long-term land-use legacy and a regional increase in tree diversity

An Analysis of Existing Housing Stock in Selected Neighbourhoods in Port Harcourt Municipality

The housing stock in Port Harcourt municipality has over the years experienced incremental deterioration from neglect to change of use, paucity of funds and sometimes misappropriation of resources. The study assessed existing housing stock within Port Harcourt municipality with the objective to ascertain the physical condition of the housing stock in some planned and unplanned neighbourhoods in Orije layout-Orominike (D/Line), Port Harcourt Township and Diobu (Mile1 and Mile 2) and some waterfront settlements. Twenty-five (25) communities were identified from the entire study area. Some indicators such as habitable space, physical condition, availability of basic social infrastructure and services and environmental quality of the housing unit were measured. The sample was drawn purposively as 4 distinct neighbourhoods were studied. A multi-stage sampling technique was deployed, Taro Yamane formula was applied to determine the sample size of 156, as the number of questionnaires to be administered and stratified simple random sampling technique was employed to select respondents with household 5 persons per household of which 148 questionnaires were retrieved. Data from the field were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), aimed at comparing the nature of substandard housing found across the neighbourhoods studied. The result indicates that the housing stock in the indigenous enclaves within the Diobu neighbourhood has a high occupancy ratio and lacked basic public utilities and services in addition to houses being constructed with substandard materials. Residents often experience periodic flooding after rainfalls. The study recommends that to further improve the standard of housing conditions in line with the global UN standards, the provision of basic social infrastructural services alongside periodic and consistent urban renewal processes should be constantly carried out to reduce the housing deficit within the municipality.</jats:p

DNA microsatellite markers for "dourada" (Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii, Siluriformes: Pimelodidae), a migratory catfish of utmost importance for fisheries in the Amazon: Development, characterization and inter-specific amplification

The long-distance migratory catfish Brachyplatystoma rousseauxii is among the two most important commercial catfish in the Amazon region. Recent data lists this species as being affected by overfishing. Thirty polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized in 35 individuals. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 22, with an average of 9.87. The observed (HO) and the expected heterozygosity (HE) ranged between 0.143-0.914 (average 0.636) and 0.215-0.929 (average 0.706), respectively. Five loci showed a significant deviation from the Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium and linkage disequilibrium was detected between loci BR68/BR44, BR68/BR48 and BR68/BR61. Cross-amplification in six con-generic species resulted between 12 and 21 polymorphic loci, depending upon the species. These polymorphic microsatellites should be useful for management policies of B. rousseauxii in the Amazon as well as for the others Brachyplatystoma species of commercial value. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009