A comparison between faecal sterols and coliform counts in the investigation of sewage contamination in sediments

Em setembro de 2002, foram coletadas nove amostras de sedimento superficial (0-2 cm) na Enseada de Botafogo (sudoeste da Baía de Guanabara/RJ), a fim de comparar o uso de marcadores químicos (coprostanol) e biológicos (E. coli e coliformes totais) na identificação da contaminação fecal da região. Os resultados obtidos (carbono orgânico - 6,0 to 64,8 mg g-1; coprostanol - 1,4 to 105 µg g-1; E. coli - < 30 to 2400 NMP/10g e coliformes totais - 40 to 9300 NMP/10g) foram iguais ou maiores aos observados em outras áreas contaminadas da Baía de Guanabara. Nas estações próximas à linha de costa, as concentrações de coprostanol e as contagens das bactérias confirmaram que o esgoto doméstico se acumulou no sedimento da enseada. As concentrações de coprostanol se mantiveram altas nas estações distantes das fontes de contaminação, porém o material fecal representou uma menor fração do carbono orgânico. Nessas mesmas estações, redução na contagem de colimetria foi proporcionalmente mais alta, provavelmente pela baixa sobrevivência das bactérias devido ao efeito de luz, salinidade e temperatura. durante o transporte e deposição das partículas de esgoto. Portanto, baseando-se nos resultados obtidos, o coprostanol foi um indicador mais adequado da contaminação fecal nos sedimentos da Enseada de Botafogo.In September 2002, nine sediment samples (0-2 cm) were collected from Botafogo Cove (southwestern part of Guanabara Bay) in order to compare the use of chemical (coprostanol) and biological markers (E. coli and total coliforms) in identifying faecal contamination. The values found (organic carbon - 6.0 to 64.8 mg g-1; coprostanol - 1.4 to 105 µg g-1; E. coli - < 30 to 2400 NMP/10g and total coliforms - 40 to 9300 NMP/10g) were similar to or even higher than those observed in other contaminated areas of Guanabara Bay. In stations close to the shoreline, both coprostanol concentration and bacteria count confirmed that domestic sewage had accumulated in the cove. Coprostanol concentrations were still relatively high in the stations furthest from contamination sources, although faecal material represented a smaller fraction of the total organic carbon originated by dilution in waters containing algae. Reduction was proportionately higher by virtue of the use of the colimetric assessment method. This result may be associated with the effect that environmental variables (light, salinity, temperature) may have on the survival of bacteria during transport and deposition of sewage particles. Consequently, based on these results, coprostanol may be considered the better indicator of the faecal contamination level in Botafogo Cove sediments

Hidrocarbonetos e esterois como indicadores de fontes e destino de matéria orgânica em sedimentos da Baía de Sepetiba, Rio de Janeiro

The inputs of organic matter derived from natural and anthropogenic sources to Sepetiba Bay were investigated by using aliphatic hydrocarbons and sterols in superficial sediments. Concentrations ranged from 0.26 to 2.65 &#956;g g-1, <0.01 to 17.41 &#956;g g-1 and 0.77 and 9.24 &#956;g g-1 for n-alkanes, UCM (unresolved complex mixture) and total sterols, respectively. The selected markers and ratios among individual compounds showed the major contribution of terrestrial sources to the total pool of sedimentary organic matter in the bay, but the accumulation of autochthonous organic matter increased with distance from the shoreline. The input of petroleum hydrocarbons and sewage (coprostanol in the range 0.01 to 0.43 &#956;g g-1) were also detected, especially in the more urbanized regions of the bay, but at lower levels of contamination when compared to estuaries in other Brazilian coastal regions

Lipídios como indicadores de fontes e distribuição de matéria orgânica particulada em um complexo estuarino-lagunar tropical (Mundaú-Manguaba, AL)

Fatty acids, alcohols and sterols were considered as markers of the source and distribution of particulate organic matter during the dry season in the Mundaú-Manguaba estuarine-lagoon system, NE Brazil. Lipid composition showed an overwhelming influence of autochthonous sources of organic matter in all system´s compartments, including the probable occurrence of algal blooms in specific areas. On the other hand, contamination by sewage was restricted to Mundaú lagoon. This scenario differed from known conditions observed in the wet season, illustrating the usefulness of the lipid biomarker approach for the characterization of other complex and dynamic systems in the Brazilian coastal zone

Structural signatures of water-soluble organic aerosols in contrasting environments in South America and Western Europe

This study describes and compares the key structural units present in water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) fraction of atmospheric aerosols collected in different South American (Colombia – Medellín and Bogotá, Peru – Lima, Argentina – Buenos Aires, and Brazil – Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Porto Velho, during moderate (MBB) and intense (IBB) biomass burning) and Western European (Portugal – Aveiro and Lisbon) locations. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy was employed to assess the relative distribution of non-exchangeable proton functional groups in aerosol WSOC of diverse origin, for the first time to the authors’ knowledge in South America. The relative contribution of the proton functional groups was in the order H-C > H–C–C= > H-C-O > Ar-H, except in Porto Velho during MBB, Medellín, Bogotá, and Buenos Aires, for which the relative contribution of H-C-O was higher than that of H-C-C=. The 1H NMR source attribution confirmed differences in aging processes or regional sources between the two geographic regions, allowing the differentiation between urban combustion-related aerosol and biological particles. The aerosol WSOC in Aveiro, Lisbon, and Rio de Janeiro during summer are more oxidized than those from the remaining locations, indicating the predominance of secondary organic aerosols. Fresh emissions, namely of smoke particles, becomes important during winter in Aveiro and São Paulo, and in Porto Velho during IBB. The biosphere is an important source altering the chemical composition of aerosol WSOC in South America locations. The source attribution in Medellín, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, and Lima confirmed the mixed contributions of biological material, secondary formation, as well as urban and biomass burning emissions. Overall, the information and knowledge acquired in this study provide important diagnostic tools for future studies aiming at understanding the water-soluble organic aerosol problem, their sources and impact at a wider geographic scale.Fil: Duarte, Regina M.B.O.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Matos, João T.V.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Paula, Andreia S.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Lopes, Sónia P.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Pereira, Guilherme. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Vasconcellos, Pérola. Universidade de Sao Paulo; BrasilFil: Gioda, Adriana. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Carreira, Renato. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Silva, Artur M.S.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Duarte, Armando C.. Universidade de Aveiro; PortugalFil: Smichowski, Patricia Nora. Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Rojas, Nestor. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Sanchez Ccoyllo, Odon. No especifíca

ATLANTIC-PRIMATES: a dataset of communities and occurrences of primates in the Atlantic Forests of South America

Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate species, as hybrids in the genera Callithrix and Alouatta. The dataset includes 700 primate communities, 8,121 single species occurrences and 714 estimates of primate population sizes, covering most natural forest types of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and some other biomes. On average, primate communities of the Atlantic Forest harbor 2 ± 1 species (range = 1–6). However, about 40% of primate communities contain only one species. Alouatta guariba (N = 2,188 records) and Sapajus nigritus (N = 1,127) were the species with the most records. Callicebus barbarabrownae (N = 35), Leontopithecus caissara (N = 38), and Sapajus libidinosus (N = 41) were the species with the least records. Recorded primate densities varied from 0.004 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta guariba at Fragmento do Bugre, Paraná, Brazil) to 400 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta caraya in Santiago, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Our dataset reflects disparity between the numerous primate census conducted in the Atlantic Forest, in contrast to the scarcity of estimates of population sizes and densities. With these data, researchers can develop different macroecological and regional level studies, focusing on communities, populations, species co-occurrence and distribution patterns. Moreover, the data can also be used to assess the consequences of fragmentation, defaunation, and disease outbreaks on different ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, species invasion or extinction, and community dynamics. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this Data Paper when the data are used in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using the data. © 2018 by the The Authors. Ecology © 2018 The Ecological Society of Americ

Caracterização da matéria orgânica sedimentar na Baía de Guanabara através de marcadores moleculares

The present work aimed at investigating the effects of growing eutrophic conditions and soil occupation on the carbon storage in Guanabara Bay. Sterols in dated sediment cores were used to characterize the sources of organic matter to the bay. Dinosterol was the most abundant amongst the measured sterols reaching 64.7 % of the total. Coprostanol, a fecal sterol, was present in concentrations as high as 40 µg g-1 in areas of intensive sewage discharge. These results are in agreement with the known elevated primary production in the bay and with the severe eutrophic conditions. The calculated carbon fluxes using the organic carbon content and the sedimention rates range between 50 g C m-2 year-1 and 500g C m-2 year-1 during the last 100 years.O presente trabalho tem como objetivo investigar o efeito do aumento da eutrofização e do uso e ocupação do solo sobre a estocagem de carbono na baía de Guanabara. As concentrações de esteróis ao longo do perfil sedimentar foram usadas para caracterizar a origem da matéria orgânica. O dinosterol foi o esterol mais abundante, representando o máximo de 64,7 % do total. O coprostanol, um esterol de origem fecal, foi encontrado me concentrações máximas de 40 µg g-1 em áreas de intenso aporte de esgotos. Os resultados encontrados são condizentes com a alta produtividade primária da baía e as condições extremas de eutrofização no local. De acordo com as concentrações de carbono orgânico e as taxas locais de sedimentação, foi calculado que o fluxo de carbono orgânico para o sedimento aumentou de 50 g C m-2 ano-1 para 500 g C m-2 ano-1 ao longo dos últimos 100 anos

Tetraether lipids and TEX86-based temperature estimates: a case study on core-top sediments from two cross-shelf transects on the south-eastern Brazilian continental margin

In the last years, core isoprenoid and branched glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) have been increasingly used as proxies to study recent and past environmental conditions, as the TEX86 (TetraEther indeX of isoprenoid tetraethers consisting of 86 carbon atoms) to estimate seawater temperature and BIT (branched and isoprenoid tetraethers) to track the relative contribution of terrestrial and aquatic carbon to sediments (review in Schouten et al., 2013). Here we present first data of GDGTs and associated TEX86 (Kim et al., 2010) and BIT (Hopmans et al., 2004) indices in surface sediments of the Campos Basin, on the south-eastern Brazilian continental margin (Figure 1). Samples were collected in 2009 within the framework of the Habitats Project – Campos Basin Environmental Heterogeneity by CENPES /PETROBRAS – along two cross-shelf sediment transects (25 to 3000 m water depths) located under the influence of upwelling (transect B) and river discharge (transect H). Isoprenoidal GDGTs are dominated by GDGT-0 (212.1 ± 203.8 ng g-1) and crenarchaeol (327.4 ± 295.7 ng g-1), with higher concentrations at 25 m and in the middle-slope (400-100 m depths) samples, particularly at transect B (Figure 1-a). Other GDGTs (1, 2, 3 and regioisomer of crenarchaeol) and branched GDGT (I, II and III) ranged between 50 and 100 ng g-1. In transect B, the distribution of GDGT abundances is similar to that of lipid biomarkers, which in turn indicated accumulation of autochthonous OM on the shelf and slope as a result of upwelling events and/or lateral transport by mesoscale processes (Oliveira et al., 2012 and references therein). Relatively lower concentrations of GDGTs on transect H may reflect coarse sediment with low organic carbon and lipidsCorg on the shelf (Carreira et al., unpublished results). BIT index was very similar in both transects (0.12 ± 0.02 and 0.13 ± 0.02), indicating a low influence of export of terrestrial OM to the shelf, as also suggested by long-chain fatty acids and alcohols (Carreira et al., unpublished results). The TEX86 indicates low temperatures at 25 and 50 m on transect B (Figure 1-b). This is consistent with the occurrence of coastal upwelling at Cabo Frio (Valentin and Kempf, 1977), although the values are lower than historical records of seawater temperature in the region (Franchito et al., 2008). GDGTs and calculated TEX86 and BIT indices provided information consistent with ongoing evaluation of the sources and fate of OM in the studied region. The interrelationships of oceanographic and sedimentological settings and GDGT proxy signal obtained in the present study will be investigated in further details with the analysis of additional samples