Markedly Divergent Tree Assemblage Responses to Tropical Forest Loss and Fragmentation across a Strong Seasonality Gradient

We examine the effects of forest fragmentation on the structure and composition of tree assemblages within three seasonal and aseasonal forest types of southern Brazil, including evergreen, Araucaria, and deciduous forests. We sampled three southernmost Atlantic Forest landscapes, including the largest continuous forest protected areas within each forest type. Tree assemblages in each forest type were sampled within 10 plots of 0.1 ha in both continuous forests and 10 adjacent forest fragments. All trees within each plot were assigned to trait categories describing their regeneration strategy, vertical stratification, seed-dispersal mode, seed size, and wood density. We detected differences among both forest types and landscape contexts in terms of overall tree species richness, and the density and species richness of different functional groups in terms of regeneration strategy, seed dispersal mode and woody density. Overall, evergreen forest fragments exhibited the largest deviations from continuous forest plots in assemblage structure. Evergreen, Araucaria and deciduous forests diverge in the functional composition of tree floras, particularly in relation to regeneration strategy and stress tolerance. By supporting a more diversified light-demanding and stress-tolerant flora with reduced richness and abundance of shade-tolerant, old-growth species, both deciduous and Araucaria forest tree assemblages are more intrinsically resilient to contemporary human-disturbances, including fragmentation-induced edge effects, in terms of species erosion and functional shifts. We suggest that these intrinsic differences in the direction and magnitude of responses to changes in landscape structure between forest types should guide a wide range of conservation strategies in restoring fragmented tropical forest landscapes worldwide

Identification of sources of resistance of Passiflora rootstocks to fusariosis in areas with disease outbreaks in Mato Grosso state, Brazil.

The aim of the study was to identify sources of resistance of Passiflora rootstocks to Fusarium sp. in two experimental areas with histories of disease foci in Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The experiment was carried out from June 2012 to December 2015 and was of randomized block design with eight treatments in which susceptible cultivar P. edulis was grafted onto hybrids CPAC MJ-H-87, CPAC MJ-H-76, CPAC MJ-H-86 and CPAC MJ-H-88, the commercial cultivar and native P. edulis, P. nitida and P. alata. Mortality rates of grafted plants were evaluated up to 640 days after transplantation. All Fusarium sp. isolates were identified as F. oxysporum f. sp. passiflorae. Plant mortality occurred earlier in the clay area than in the area with sandy clay loam. Grafted plants involving P. edulis as rootstocks were highly susceptible to Fusarium sp. with overall mortality rates above 56.25% considering both soil types, while plants with CPAC MJ-H-76 or native P. nitida rootstocks were more resistant with mortality rates below 12.5%. Grafted plants with CPAC MJ-H86 as rootstock were highly resistant in clay soil but highly susceptible in soil with high proportion of sand. Only grafted plants involving CPAC MJ-H-76 as rootstock showed moderate resistance

Identification of sources of resistance of Passiflora rootstocks to fusariosis in areas with disease outbreaks in Mato Grosso state, Brazil.

The aim of the study was to identify sources of resistance of Passiflora rootstocks to Fusarium sp. in two experimental areas with histories of disease foci in Mato Grosso state, Brazil. The experiment was carried out from June 2012 to December 2015 and was of randomized block design with eight treatments in which susceptible cultivar P. edulis was grafted onto hybrids CPAC MJ-H-87, CPAC MJ-H-76, CPAC MJ-H-86 and CPAC MJ-H-88, the commercial cultivar and native P. edulis, P. nitida and P. alata. Mortality rates of grafted plants were evaluated up to 640 days after transplantation. All Fusarium sp. isolates were identified as F. oxysporum f. sp. passiflorae. Plant mortality occurred earlier in the clay area than in the area with sandy clay loam. Grafted plants involving P. edulis as rootstocks were highly susceptible to Fusarium sp. with overall mortality rates above 56.25% considering both soil types, while plants with CPAC MJ-H-76 or native P. nitida rootstocks were more resistant with mortality rates below 12.5%. Grafted plants with CPAC MJ-H86 as rootstock were highly resistant in clay soil but highly susceptible in soil with high proportion of sand. Only grafted plants involving CPAC MJ-H-76 as rootstock showed moderate resistance

Agronomic Characteristics, Chemical Composition and In vitro Gas Production of Sugarcane Cultivars (Saccharum spp.) for Feeding Ruminants.

solids content (BRIX), NDF/BRIX ratio and tons of sucrose/ha, total digestible nutrients, digestible energy, metabolizable energy, net energy and in vitro digestibility of organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent, of digestion and In vitro gas production of nonfibrous carbohydrates, latency time, digestion rate and gas production of fibrous carbohydrates, and in vitro digestibility of organic matter. There was a significant difference between the cultivars regarding the neutral detergent fiber content, in vitro digestibility of organic matter, total digestible nutrients, digestible energy, net energy, degradation rates of fibrous and non-fibrous carbohydrates and latency period. There was a negative correlation between stem percentage and NDF/BRIX and positive correlation between in vitro digestibility of organic matter and total digestible nutrients. The results were submitted to analysis of variance and mean test by Scott-Knott and Pearson's correlation analysis. The statistical program used was SAEG 2000. The RB835486 variety was superior to the other cultivars, as it presented 93.28% of stem, 57.5% of in vitro digestibility of organic matter, NDF / BRIX ratio of 2.68, 43.78% NDF, latency period 2.86h and fibrous carbohydrate degradation rate of 2.26% per hour. Therefore, this cultivar was better indicated for animal feeding between May and July in the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil

Soil Characteristics under Three Management Systems in an Agricultural Property at the Cerrado-Brazil.

The present work aimed to characterize the chemical, physical and organic matter attributes on three land use systems (No Tillage System-NTS, Livestock Forestry Integration-LFI and Native Forest-NF), adopted in an agricultural property. Soil deformed samples were collected for texture and chemical analysis. For density, particle density and soil density analysis, undisturbed samples were collected at different depths. As for texture, the NTS was characterized as clayey and the LFI and NF systems as sandy. For the Particle Density (Pd), the systems did not differ statistically at the depth of 0-5 cm, and the other depths differed significantly only between NTS and NF. As for the Soil Density Sd, the LFI and NF systems did not differ from each other and showed the highest value. In macroporosity, at depths of 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm, there was a significant difference only between NF and LFI systems. In NTS the microporosity, the levels of Ca, Mg, P and K and O.M (0-10cm) were higher. For the O.M the NTS and NF presented similar values. The evaluated characteristics were influenced by the soil texture and not by the adopted system. The producer makes use of that information to implement the appropriate system

Crop-Livestock Systems: the potential of fertilized mixed pastures in the off-season.

The livestock systems are mostly forage-based and the off-season is the most challenging period of the year in Brazil. Mixed pastures established after cropping soybean can greatly enhance the herbage accumulation in crop-livestock systems. Besides, fertilization is not a common practice during the off-season, although, in the Amazon Biome, there is no temperature or photoperiod restrictions. Our objective was to evaluate the fertilization effect on the mixed of Sorghum bicolor (L). Moench cv. BRS 810 with Urochloa ruziziensis during the off-season in Sinop, MT, Brazil. The experiment was planted after soybean harvest, on 10 Mar. 2020, at the Embrapa Agrossilvipastoril, Sinop, MT, Brazil. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with three fertilizations inputs and three replicates. The thee treatments were 0 (control), 25, and 50 kg/ha of N and K in the form of urea + ammonium sulphate and potassium chloride, which were applied on 2 April. Herbage mass was harvested using three quadrats (0.5 m2) per plot, at 20-cm stubble height, to calculate herbage accumulation (HA). The plots were harvest on 20 Apr. (when the sorghum canopy height was higher than 120 cm), 18 May and 15 June. The fertilization rate did not affect Urochloa ruziziensis HA (3505 kg DM/ha). The Sorghum bicolor HA was the greatest under 25 kg/ha of fertilizer (4870 kg DM/ha), and the control was the least (3435 kg DM/ha). The input of 50 kg/ha of fertilizer was similar to both, averaging 4240 kg DM/ha. The mixed HA (Urochloa ruziziensis + Sorghum bicolor) was similar regardless of the fertilizer input (on average, 7690 kg DM/ha). We concluded that 25 kg/ha of fertilizer increased Sorghum bicolor HA improving the forage budget during the off-season

Development of Danish version of child oral-health-related quality of life questionnaires (CPQ8–10 and CPQ11–14)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Child Perceptions Questionnaire (CPQ) is a self-reported questionnaire developed to measure oral health-related quality of life in children. The CPQ aims to improve the description of children's oral health, while taking into consideration the importance of psychological aspects in the concept of health. The CPQ exists in two versions: the CPQ_8–10for children aged 8–10 years and the CPQ_11–14for those aged 11–14 years. The aim of this study was to develop a Danish version of the CPQ_8–10and the CPQ_11–14and to evaluate its validity for use among Danish-speaking children.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The instruments were translated from English into Danish in accordance with a recommended translation procedure. Afterwards, they were tested among children aged 8–10 (n = 120) and 11–14 years (n = 225). The validity was expressed by the correlation between overall CPQ scores and i) self-reported assessment of the influence of oral conditions on everyday life (not at all, very little, some, a lot, very much) and ii) the self-reported rating of oral health. Furthermore, groups of children with assumed decreased oral health-related quality of life were compared with children with healthy oral conditions. Finally, we examined the internal consistency.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The correlation between overall CPQ scores and global assessments of the influence of oral conditions on everyday life showed Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.45, <it>P < 0.001 </it>for CPQ_8–10and 0.50, <it>P < 0.001 </it>for CPQ_11–14. The correlation between overall CPQ scores and the self-reported rating of oral health showed Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.45, <it>P < 0.001 </it>for CPQ_8–10and 0.17, P = 0.010 for CPQ_11–14.</p> <p>The median overall CPQ_8–10scores were 7 for individuals with healthy oral conditions, 5 for individuals with cleft lip and palate, and 15 for individuals with rare oral diseases. The median overall CPQ_11–14scores were 9 for individuals with healthy oral conditions, 9 for individuals with cleft lip and palate, 17.0 for individuals with rare oral diseases, and 22.0 for individuals with fixed orthodontic appliances. There were statistically significant differences between the groups of children with healthy oral conditions and each of the subgroups, except for children with cleft lip and palate.</p> <p>Chronbach'α were 0.82 for CPQ_8–10and 0.87 for CPQ_11–14.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results of this study reveal that the Danish CPQ_8–10and CPQ_11–14, seem to be valid instruments for measuring oral health-related quality of life in children although its ability to discriminate between children with cleft lip and palate and healthy children seem to be limited.</p

Equatorial Pacific forcing of western Amazonian precipitation during Heinrich Stadial 1

Abundant hydroclimatic evidence from western Amazonia and the adjacent Andes documents wet conditions during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1, 18–15 ka), a cold period in the high latitudes of the North Atlantic. This precipitation anomaly was attributed to a strengthening of the South American summer monsoon due to a change in the Atlantic interhemispheric sea surface temperature (SST) gradient. However, the physical viability of this mechanism has never been rigorously tested. We address this issue by combining a thorough compilation of tropical South American paleorecords and a set of atmosphere model sensitivity experiments. Our results show that the Atlantic SST variations alone, although leading to dry conditions in northern South America and wet conditions in northeastern Brazil, cannot produce increased precipitation over western Amazonia and the adjacent Andes during HS1. Instead, an eastern equatorial Pacific SST increase (i.e., 0.5–1.5 °C), in response to the slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during HS1, is crucial to generate the wet conditions in these regions. The mechanism works via anomalous low sea level pressure over the eastern equatorial Pacific, which promotes a regional easterly low-level wind anomaly and moisture recycling from central Amazonia towards the Andes