Severidade da mancha foliar de diplodia (Stenocarpella macrospora) e sua relação com a incidência do patógeno e a germinação, em grãos de híbridos comerciais e experimentais de milho (Zea mays L.).

O fungo Stenocarpella macrospora (Sin. Diplodia macrospora) é um dos patógenos associados ao complexo de podridões de colmo e espiga e, em híbridos suscetíveis, pode causar também grandes lesões foliares. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a severidade do fungo via mancha foliar (Stenocarpella macrospora) e a sua relação com a incidência do patógeno em grãos de milho, bem como avaliar o efeito dessa incidência sobre a germinação de grãos de diferentes híbridos de milho. Para tanto, foram instalados experimentos com híbridos comerciais e experimentais em dois anos consecutivos (2002/2003 e 2003/2004), no campo experimental da Dow AgroSciences, no município de Uberaba (MG)

A New Species of River Dolphin from Brazil or:How Little Do We Know Our Biodiversity

True river dolphins are some of the rarest and most endangered of all vertebrates. They comprise relict evolutionary lineages of high taxonomic distinctness and conservation value, but are afforded little protection. We report the discovery of a new species of a river dolphin from the Araguaia River basin of Brazil, the first such discovery in nearly 100 years. The species is diagnosable by a series of molecular and morphological characters and diverged from its Amazonian sister taxon 2.08 million years ago. The estimated time of divergence corresponds to the separation of the Araguaia-Tocantins basin from the Amazon basin. This discovery highlights the immensity of the deficit in our knowledge of Neotropical biodiversity, as well as vulnerability of biodiversity to anthropogenic actions in an increasingly threatened landscape. We anticipate that this study will provide an impetus for the taxonomic and conservation reanalysis of other taxa shared between the Araguaia and Amazon aquatic ecosystems, as well as stimulate historical biogeographical analyses of the two basins

Challenges and priorities for river cetacean conservation

River cetaceans are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic impacts due to their constrained ranges in freshwater systems of China, South Asia, and South America. We undertook an exhaustive review of 280 peer-reviewed papers and grey literature reports (1998-2020) to examine the current status of knowledge regarding these cetaceans and their conservation. We aimed to better understand the scale of threats they face, and to identify and propose priority future efforts to better conserve these species. We found that the species have been studied with varying frequency and that most of the research on threats has focused on habitat degradation and fragmentation (43%, mainly driven by dams and extractive activities such as sand mining and deforestation), and fishery interactions (39%, in the form of bycatch and direct take). These threats occur across all species, but more information is needed, primarily on quantifying the population impacts as a basis for designing mitigation measures. Other threats identified include pollution, vessel collisions, traditional use, and poorly managed tourism. Emerging methods such as environmental DNA and unmanned aerial vehicles are described for studying these species. Promising conservation interventions include cetacean-specific protected areas, natural ex situ protection, community-led conservation, and education programmes. However, transnational political will is required for a step change towards broad-scale protection in freshwater environments. In addition, we propose increasing capacity building, developing management plans, working closely with fishing communities, enhancing public awareness, expanding regional collaborations, and diversifying funding