Moringa oleifera Lam. seeds as a natural solid adsorbent for removal of AgI in aqueous solutions

This work describes the sorption potential of Moringa oleifera seeds for the decontamination of AgI in aqueous solutions. Infrared spectroscopy was used for elucidating possible functional groups responsible for uptaking AgI. Sorption studies using AgI standard solutions were carried out in batch experiments as functions of adsorbent mass, extraction time, particle size and pH. The AgI was quantified before and after the removal experiments using flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Furthermore, based on adsorption studies and adsorption isotherms applied to the Langmuir model, it was possible to verify that M. oleifera seeds present a high adsorption capacity. The optimum conditions were: 2.0 g of adsorbent with particle size of 75-500 µm, 100 mL of 25.0 mg L-1 AgI, extraction time of 20 min and pH at 6.5. The results show that Moringa oleifera seeds can be used for removing AgI in aqueous solutions

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Mudanças na estrutura da vegetação lenhosa em três porções da mata de galeria do Córrego Bacaba (1999-2006), Nova Xavantina-MT

Este estudo, realizado na Mata de Galeria do córrego Bacaba (14º41'S e 52º20'W), em Nova Xavantina, MT, avaliou as mudanças na estrutura da vegetação no período de 1999 a 2006. Em 1999, foram demarcadas 141 parcelas permanentes em três porções da mata (alto, meio e baixo), em um gradiente topográfico, e medidos os indivíduos com CAP ≥ 15 cm. No inventário de 2006, os indivíduos foram remedidos e os recrutas, computados. Em 2006, amostraram-se 135 espécies, 113 gêneros e 49 famílias. A posição hierárquica das espécies apresentou mudanças expressivas em relação a 1999. Na porção do alto, as espécies com maior valor de importância (VI) foram: Astrocaryum vulgare, Diospyros guianensis e Calophyllum brasiliense. Essa porção pode ter sido a mais afetada pelo fogo que atingiu a área em 2001, visto que uma espécie típica de ambientes antropizados passou a ocupar a primeira posição de VI. No meio, as espécies mais importantes em 2006 foram: Aspidosperma subincanum, Tetragastris altissima e Hymenaea courbaril. No baixo, apenas Mauritia flexuosa manteve a mesma posição do inventário anterior, e a maior alteração hierárquica foi apresentada pelas espécies pioneiras, sugerindo um fechamento da vegetação. Entre as 10 espécies de maior VI em 2006, nenhuma foi comum às três porções da mata. Características estruturais distintas da vegetação entre áreas geograficamente tão próximas podem estar relacionadas à heterogeneidade do ambiente. As mudanças no VI registradas nas espécies das três porções de mata reforçam a ideia de que esta apresenta elevada dinâmica

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved