DAS CAPIVARAS E CARRAPATOS A UMA PROPOSTA DE COMUNICAÇÃO E MANEJO NO PARQUE NACIONAL DA SERRA DO CIPÓ PARA REDUÇÃO DE RISCOS À SAÚDE.

We report a study first designed to deal with a collective condemnation of the capybaras, in a protected area. The emphasis shifted from the capybaras to the high risks associated to exposure to ticks, a diversified group of complex ecological relations, both with hosts and pathogens. A management program associating communication tools and varied strategies to reduce exposition to ticks was collectively proposed considering local perception about the capybaras and their ecological relations, the risk of occurrence of spotted fever, the spatial distribution of ticks, and resistance of local community to explicitly deal with transmissible health problems, due to high social magnificence and economic losses after a wrong report about Schistosomiasis in the region in a previous year. Key-words:  Environmental management; protected areas; risk management; tick bite fever.Traemos un caso de investigación enfocada en el manejo de un área protegida en lo cual el centro de las atenciones ha cambiado desde la preocupación con la condena colectiva de una especie silvestre, la capibara, hacia la proposición de una estrategia de manejo del paisaje y de comunicación dirigidas a la reducción del riesgo de contacto con garrapatas, considerando las enfermedades y la incomodidad asociadas a este vector. El caso se pasó en la región de Serra do Cipó,  donde la economía está fuertemente basada en el turismo,  y la consideración de temas relativos a enfermedades transmisibles es dificultado por lo trauma con la divulgación de noticias incorrectas acerca de un caso de esquistosomiasis en la región, hace más de 10 años.  Palabras claves:  Areas naturales protegidas;  ecologia de paisaje; manejo de riesgo; uso público.Apresentamos um estudo de caso em que o foco das preocupações de manejo em uma área protegida se deslocou de uma evidente condenação pública a uma espécie silvestre, a capivara, para a construção de uma proposta coletiva de manejo da paisagem e de comunicação visando à redução da exposição das pessoas a carrapatos de modo a diminuir o risco de doenças a eles associadas. O caso aconteceu na região da Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais, com forte apelo turístico, onde a abordagem de questões relativas a doenças transmissíveis é dificultada pelo trauma da quebra da economia local, baseada no turismo, em função da divulgação equivocada, há mais de 10 anos, de um caso de esquistossomose pela imprensa, com ampla repercussão. Investigou-se a presença de agentes causadores da Febre Maculosa Brasileira (FMB) por meio de exames sorológicos em cavalos, cães e capivaras e teste de hemolinfa seguido de exame de PCR dos carrapatos casos positivos. As formas de Rickettsia encontradas não pertencem ao grupo das relacionadas à FMB, mas esta informação não reduz a preocupação com a vigilância sanitária e cuidados com exposição a carrapatos

Punica granatum L. protects mice against hexavalent chromium-induced genotoxicity

This study investigated the chemoprotective effects of Punica granatum L. (Punicaceae) fruits alcoholic extract (PGE) on mice exposed to hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)]. Animals were pretreated with PGE (25, 50 or 75 mg/kg/day) for 10 days and subsequently exposed to a sub-lethal dose of Cr(VI) (30 mg/kg). The frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in the bone marrow was investigated and the Cr(VI) levels were measured in the kidneys, liver and plasm. For the survival analysis, mice were previously treated with PGE for 10 days and exposed to a single lethal dose of Cr(VI) (50 mg/kg). Exposure to a sub-lethal dose of Cr(VI) induced a significant increase in the frequency of micronucleated cells. However, the prophylactic treatment with PGE led to a reduction of 44.5% (25 mg/kg), 86.3% (50 mg/kg) and 64.2% (75 mg/kg) in the incidence of micronuclei. In addition, the 50 mg/kg dose of PGE produced a higher chemoprotective effect, since the survival rate was 90%, when compared to that of the non-treated group. In these animals, reduced amounts of chromium were detected in the biological materials, in comparison with the other groups. Taken together, the results demonstrated that PGE exerts a protective effect against Cr(VI)-induced genotoxicity

Assemblage of Focal Species Recognizers-AFSR: A technique for decreasing false indications of presence from acoustic automatic identification in a multiple species context.

Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) coupled with automated species identification is a promising tool for species monitoring and conservation worldwide. However, high false indications of presence are still an important limitation and a crucial factor for acceptance of these techniques in wildlife surveys. Here we present the Assemblage of Focal Species Recognizers-AFSR, a novel approach for decreasing false positives and increasing models' precision in multispecies contexts. AFSR focusses on decreasing false positives by excluding unreliable sound file segments that are prone to misidentification. We used MatlabHTK, a hidden Markov models interface for bioacoustics analyses, for illustrating AFSR technique by comparing two approaches, 1) a multispecies recognizer where all species are identified simultaneously, and 2) an assemblage of focal species recognizers (AFSR), where several recognizers that each prioritise a single focal species are then summarised into a single output, according to a set of rules designed to exclude unreliable segments. Both approaches (the multispecies recognizer and AFSR) used the same sound files training dataset, but different processing workflow. We applied these recognisers to PAM recordings from a remote island colony with five seabird species and compared their outputs with manual species identifications. False positives and precision improved for all the five species when using AFSR, achieving remarkable 0% false positives and 100% precision for three of five seabird species, and 90% precision for the other two species. AFSR' output was also used to generate daily calling activity patterns for each species. Instead of attempting to withdraw useful information from every fragment in a sound recording, AFSR prioritises more trustworthy information from sections with better quality data. AFSR can be applied to automated species identification from multispecies PAM recordings worldwide

Neotropical freshwater fisheries : A dataset of occurrence and abundance of freshwater fishes in the Neotropics

The Neotropical region hosts 4225 freshwater fish species, ranking first among the world's most diverse regions for freshwater fishes. Our NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set is the first to produce a large-scale Neotropical freshwater fish inventory, covering the entire Neotropical region from Mexico and the Caribbean in the north to the southern limits in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. We compiled 185,787 distribution records, with unique georeferenced coordinates, for the 4225 species, represented by occurrence and abundance data. The number of species for the most numerous orders are as follows: Characiformes (1289), Siluriformes (1384), Cichliformes (354), Cyprinodontiformes (245), and Gymnotiformes (135). The most recorded species was the characid Astyanax fasciatus (4696 records). We registered 116,802 distribution records for native species, compared to 1802 distribution records for nonnative species. The main aim of the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set was to make these occurrence and abundance data accessible for international researchers to develop ecological and macroecological studies, from local to regional scales, with focal fish species, families, or orders. We anticipate that the NEOTROPICAL FRESHWATER FISHES data set will be valuable for studies on a wide range of ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, fishery pressure, the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation, and the impacts of species invasion and climate change. There are no copyright restrictions on the data, and please cite this data paper when using the data in publications

NEOTROPICAL XENARTHRANS: a data set of occurrence of xenarthran species in the Neotropics

Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across their full distribution ranges. The Neotropics harbor 21 species of armadillos, 10 anteaters, and 6 sloths. Our data set includes the families Chlamyphoridae (13), Dasypodidae (7), Myrmecophagidae (3), Bradypodidae (4), and Megalonychidae (2). We have no occurrence data on Dasypus pilosus (Dasypodidae). Regarding Cyclopedidae, until recently, only one species was recognized, but new genetic studies have revealed that the group is represented by seven species. In this data paper, we compiled a total of 42,528 records of 31 species, represented by occurrence and quantitative data, totaling 24,847 unique georeferenced records. The geographic range is from the southern United States, Mexico, and Caribbean countries at the northern portion of the Neotropics, to the austral distribution in Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay. Regarding anteaters, Myrmecophaga tridactyla has the most records (n = 5,941), and Cyclopes sp. have the fewest (n = 240). The armadillo species with the most data is Dasypus novemcinctus (n = 11,588), and the fewest data are recorded for Calyptophractus retusus (n = 33). With regard to sloth species, Bradypus variegatus has the most records (n = 962), and Bradypus pygmaeus has the fewest (n = 12). Our main objective with Neotropical Xenarthrans is to make occurrence and quantitative data available to facilitate more ecological research, particularly if we integrate the xenarthran data with other data sets of Neotropical Series that will become available very soon (i.e., Neotropical Carnivores, Neotropical Invasive Mammals, and Neotropical Hunters and Dogs). Therefore, studies on trophic cascades, hunting pressure, habitat loss, fragmentation effects, species invasion, and climate change effects will be possible with the Neotropical Xenarthrans data set. Please cite this data paper when using its data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using these data