Aurivela longicauda (Red-tailed Teiid). Predation

Aurivela longicauda is an endemic lizard from the Monte Desert region of western Argentina. It is an agile lizard that is typically observed during the warm hours of the day, where it inhabits sedimentary sand or dunes with a few shrubs and scattered ground vegetation. The aim of this note is to report an observation of an A. longicauda being preyed upon by an Argentine dwarf spider, Grammostola mendozae. The predation of vertebrates by arthropods is documented worldwide. The predation event was recorded in Talampaya National Park (TNP), located in an extensive plain of the Monte region (29.8°S, 67.833°W, WGS 84; 1300 m elev.) in the center-west of La Rioja Province (Argentina), which was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. At 1310 h on 11 November, during pitfall trap surveys in TNP, we found the spider feeding on the right portion of the skull, including the right eye, of an adult A. longicauda. After a few minutes, the spider dragged the lizard for a few centimeters and let it go. The lizard was collected and housed at Museo de La Plata Herpetological Collection. Our observation is the first record of predation on A. longicauda by G. mendozae.Fil: Kass, Camila Alejandra. Universidad Nacional de Chilecito. Instituto de Ambientes de Montaña y Regiones Áridas; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Kass, Nicolás Ariel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Zoología de Vertebrados. Sección Herpetología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Calvo, Rodrigo. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Zoología de Vertebrados. Sección Herpetología; ArgentinaFil: Castillo, Martin Cristian. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo; ArgentinaFil: Torres, Adriana Marilyn. Universidad Nacional de Chilecito; ArgentinaFil: Juri, María Dolores. Universidad Nacional de Chilecito; Argentin

Inventário da herpetofauna do Parque Nacional Talampaya, Patrimônio da Humanidade, na Argentina

Talampaya National Park (TNP) was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site, together with Ischigualasto Provincial Park in 2000, but there is no list with updated information from reptiles and amphibians eighteen years after its creation. Therefore, we listed a complete inventory of the herpetofauna of TNP with the information obtained from bibliography, data from Argentina National Parks Administration (ranger reports and the species listed in their database) and fieldwork using pitfall traps, active search transects and pictures/material collected in the site. We confirm the occurrence of 35 species of herpetofauna in the TNP, including 29 reptiles and 6 amphibians. Some species found in TNP are of great value because their national conservation status is vulnerable (Chelonoidis chilensis, Liolaemus anomalus, Liolaemus riojanus) or even endangered (Boa constrictor occidentalis). Therefore, priority areas for conservation of these species should be proposed inside the park. Keywords: amphibians, conservation area, list of species, reptiles.O Parque Nacional Talampaya (TNP) foi declarado Patrimônio da Humanidade pela UNESCO, juntamente com o Parque Provincial Ischigualasto, em 2000, mas não há lista com informações atualizadas de répteis e anfíbios 18 anos após sua criação. Portanto, listamos um inventário completo da herpetofauna do TNP com as informações obtidas na bibliografia, dados da Administração de Parques Nacionais da Argentina (relatórios de guardas florestais e as espécies listadas em seu banco de dados) e trabalho de campo usando armadilhas de queda, transecções de pesquisa ativa e fotos/material coletado no site. Confirmamos a presença de 35 espécies da herpetofauna no TNP, incluindo 29 répteis e 6 anfíbios. Algumas espécies encontradas no TNP são de grande importância, pois seu estado de conservação nacional é vulnerável (Chelonoidis chilensis, Liolaemus anomalus, Liolaemus riojanus), ou mesmo em perigo (Boa constrictor occidentalis). Assim, áreas prioritárias para a conservação dessas espécies devem ser propostas para o parque.Palavras-chave: anfíbios, lista de espécies, répteis, unidade de conservação

Farmland biodiversity and agricultural management on 237 farms in 13 European and two African regions

Farmland is a major land cover type in Europe and Africa and provides habitat for numerous species. The severe decline in farmland biodiversity of the last decades has been attributed to changes in farming practices, and organic and low-input farming are assumed to mitigate detrimental effects of agricultural intensification on biodiversity. Since the farm enterprise is the primary unit of agricultural decision making, management-related effects at the field scale need to be assessed at the farm level. Therefore, in this study, data were collected on habitat characteristics, vascular plant, earthworm, spider, and bee communities and on the corresponding agricultural management in 237 farms in 13 European and two African regions. In 15 environmental and agricultural homogeneous regions, 6–20 farms with the same farm type (e.g., arable crops, grassland, or specific permanent crops) were selected. If available, an equal number of organic and non-organic farms were randomly selected. Alternatively, farms were sampled along a gradient of management intensity. For all selected farms, the entire farmed area was mapped, which resulted in total in the mapping of 11 338 units attributed to 194 standardized habitat types, provided together with additional descriptors. On each farm, one site per available habitat type was randomly selected for species diversity investigations. Species were sampled on 2115 sites and identified to the species level by expert taxonomists. Species lists and abundance estimates are provided for each site and sampling date (one date for plants and earthworms, three dates for spiders and bees). In addition, farmers provided information about their management practices in face-to-face interviews following a standardized questionnaire. Farm management indicators for each farm are available (e.g., nitrogen input, pesticide applications, or energy input). Analyses revealed a positive effect of unproductive areas and a negative effect of intensive management on biodiversity. Communities of the four taxonomic groups strongly differed in their response to habitat characteristics, agricultural management, and regional circumstances. The data has potential for further insights into interactions of farmland biodiversity and agricultural management at site, farm, and regional scale

Training program on sign language: social inclusion through Virtual Reality in ISENSE project

Structured hand gestures that incorporate visual motions and signs are used in sign language. Sign language is a valuable means of daily communication for individuals who are deaf or have speech impairments, but it is still rare among hearing people, and fewer are capable of understand it. Within the academic context, parents and teachers play a crucial role in supporting deaf students from childhood by facilitating their learning of sign language. In the last years, among all the teaching tools useful for learning sign language, the use of Virtual Reality (VR) has increased, as it has been demonstrated to improve retention, memory and attention during the learning process. The ISENSE project has been created to assist students with deafness during their academic life by proposing different technological tools for teaching sign language to the hearing community in the academic context. As part of the ISENSE project, this work aims to develop an application for Spanish and Italian sign language recognition that exploits the VR environment to quickly and easily create a comprehensive database of signs and an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based software to accurately classify and recognize static and dynamic signs: from letters to sentences

The use of artificial intelligence for sign language recognition in education: from a literature overview to the ISENSE project

Common strategies to guarantee the inclusion of d/Deaf students in university are still absent. Recent studies have demonstrated how innovative technologies, such as artificial intelligence and virtual/augmented reality, could be applied to solve this issue. This paper aims at providing an overview of the AI-based algorithms for sign language recognition, as well as the description of the project ISENSE. As concerning the AI application, the already implemented procedures are generally based on three steps, starting from sign language capture to sign language translation, passing through sign language recognition. The state-of-the art for each step has been reported, highlighting the most widespread solutions and the related pros and cons. Focusing on ISENSE, the project aims at implementing services and tools based on artificial intelligence and immersive technologies for deaf students at university. The project framework has been introduced, reporting both the main outcomes and the operating steps

Bird diversity-environment relationships in urban parks and cemeteries of the Neotropics during breeding and non-breeding seasons

Background Urbanization will increase in the next decades, causing the loss of green areas and bird diversity within cities. There is a lack of studies at a continental scale analyzing the relationship between urban green areas, such as parks and cemeteries, and bird species richness in the Neotropical region. Bird diversity-environment relationships in urban parks and cemeteries may be influenced by latitudinal gradients or species-area relationships. However, the seasonal variation of species diversity- environment has not been analyzed at a continental scale in the Neotropics. Methods Bird surveys were conducted in 36 cemeteries and 37 parks within 18 Neotropical cities during non-breeding and breeding seasons. Bird diversity was assessed through Hill numbers, focusing on species richness, the effective number of species derived from Shannon index and the Simpson index. Environmental variables included latitude, altitude, and local scale variables such as area size, habitat diversity and pedestrian traffic. Results Species richness and Shannon diversity were higher during the breeding season, whereas Simpson diversity did not vary between seasons. During both seasons, species richness increased with area size, was negatively related to altitude, and was the highest at 20° latitude. Species richness was also positively related to habitat diversity, pedestrian traffic, and was highest in suburban areas during the non-breeding season. Shannon and Simpson diversity showed significant relationships with habitat diversity and area size during the breeding season. Bird diversity was similar between parks and cemeteries. Discussion Our results showed that urban parks and cemeteries have similar roles in conserving urban bird diversity in Neotropical cities. However, species diversity-environment relations at the continental scale varied between seasons, highlighting the importance of conducting annual studies