Chromosome banding patterns and localization of 5S and 45S rDNA sites in three shrub-tree species of Erythrina L. (Leguminosae: Papilionoideae) from Brazil

 Erythrina consists of 112 leguminous trees and shrubs, distributed throughout the tropical regions. Species of Erythrina are of great biological interest because they are pollinated by hummingbirds, which promote a high pollen flow and high chance of homogenization of recombinant forms. The karyotypes of E. speciosa, E. falcata and E. mulungu were cytogenetically analyzed in order to establish relationships among these three species of contrasting strategies. The chromosome count showed 2n = 42, with small chromosomes, prophasic condensation of the proximal type and non-reticulate to semi-reticulate nuclei with evident chromocenters. Chromosome banding showed AT-rich heterochromatic blocks in the pericentromeric region of most chromosomes and GC-rich regions in the terminal region of the largest pairs. In situ hybridization with 45S rDNA probes exhibited ten terminal signals in E. falcata and E. speciosa and eight in E. mulungu, while the 5S rDNA probe showed only two signals, also terminals in three species. The results show quite conserved karyotypes, with small variations in the size and number of 45S rDNA sites, which can be considered the only elements of karyotype differentiation, independent of plant size and strategies.Erythrina consists of 112 species distributed throughout the tropical and temperate regions. Species of Erythrina are of great biological interest because they are pollinated by hummingbirds, which promote a high pollen flow and high chance of homogenization of recombinant forms. The karyotypes of E. speciosa, E. falcata and E. mulungu were cytogenetically analyzed in order to establish relationships among these three species of contrasting habitats. The chromosome count showed 2n = 42, with small chromosomes, prophasic condensation of the proximal type and non-reticulate to semi-reticulate nuclei with evident chromocenters. Chromosome banding showed AT-rich heterochromatic blocks in the pericentromeric region of most chromosomes and GC-rich regions in the terminal portion of the largest pairs. In situ hybridization with 45S rDNA probes exhibited ten terminal signals in E. falcata and E. speciosa and eight in E. mulungu, while the 5S rDNA probe showed only two signals, also terminals in three species. The results show quite conserved karyotypes, with small variations in the size and number of 45S rDNA sites, which can be considered the only elements of karyotype differentiation, independent of plant size and strategies.  

Limites e possibilidades da Educação Ambiental em uma escola municipal agrícola de ensino fundamental

Ao compreendermos a educação enquanto formação humana intencional para a vida em sociedade, trazemos seu papel como possibilidade de transformação e pressupomos a transversalidade do tema meio ambiente. A análise do Projeto Político Pedagógico (PPP) de uma Escola Municipal Agrícola de Ensino Fundamental do Estado de São Paulo - Brasil, mediante as três possíveis dimensões da Educação Ambiental (EA), nos permitiu verificar: desafios, como a necessidade de reconhecimento da comunidade local articulada às questões globais, e perspectivas para trabalhos futuros a partir de ligações entre as dimensões da EA no PPP

Integração curricular do tema agropecuária em uma escola municipal agrícola : sentidos construídos

Considerando os desafios da educação ambiental para o enfrentamento da crise ambiental, este recorte de pesquisa, de natureza qualitativa, analisou os enunciados dos professores de uma escola agrícola (Rio Claro, SP, Brasil), buscando compreender como têm integrado o tema Agropecuária em suas práticas. Buscando a construção de sentidos sob uma perspectiva bakhtiniana, a leitura dos enunciados iniciais dos professores indicou que maioria dos professores o considera importante e indicam integrá-lo com frequência em suas atividades. No entanto, este não parece ser problematizado: os sentidos produzidos parecem distantes de romper, por meio da crítica, com o discurso hegemônico sobre a questão agropecuária

Invasion and current distribution of the octocoral Carijoa riisei (Duchassaing & Michelotti, 1860) in the Ecuadorian coast (Eastern Tropical Pacific)

Carijoa riisei is a snowflake coral that has aggressively spread across many coastal habitats in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, threatening a number of tropical ecosystems worldwide, including coral reefs. The aim of this work was to evaluate the distribution and provide an estimation of abundance of the invasive octocoral C. riisei along the Ecuadorian coast, as well as the relationship between its abundance and different environmental variables. In a field survey, high abundances of C. riiseicolonies were reported growing over corals and sessile communities at 5 of 43 sampling sites. The areas with highest relative abundance were found in the Manabí province, at two sites in Jama: Bajo Londres (44.57% coverage) and Vaca Brava 1(20.25%). Results of ordination and grouping statistical analyses showed no significant differences between invaded and not invaded sites as regards community compositionor environmental characteristics, suggesting neither biotic nor abiotic factors could be limiting C. riisei dispersal along the Ecuadorian coast. Results from a bibliographic survey covering occurrence data up to 2020 were in accordance, showing that inthat period C. riisei became an established species to the Ecuadorian coast, being present in at least 22 of the 43 sites, including various sites in Marine Protected Areas. Based on these findings, recommendations are made to promote urgent monitoring programs to detect C. riisei in new areas along the coast of Ecuador andin the Galapagos Marine Reserve, in order to develop a mitigation program and to take actions to conserve the ecosystems affected by this invasion.Fil: Cárdenas-Calle, Maritza. Universidad de Guayaquil; Ecuador. Bioelite; EcuadorFil: Pérez-Correa, Julián. Universidad Espiritu Santo; Ecuador. Bioelite; EcuadorFil: Uzca-Sornoza, Cecilia. Universidad de Guayaquil; EcuadorFil: Bigatti, Gregorio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto de Biología de Organismos Marinos; ArgentinaFil: Lozada, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico. Instituto de Biología de Organismos Marinos; ArgentinaFil: Keith, Inti. Charles Darwin Research Station; EcuadorFil: Diez, Nardy. Centro de Investigación Biotecnológicas del Ecuador-CIBE; EcuadorFil: Coronel, Jorge. Universidad Agraria del Ecuador; EcuadorFil: Herrera, Ileana. Universidad Espíritu Santo; Ecuador. Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad; EcuadorFil: Torres, Gladys. Instituto Oceanográfico y Antártico (INOCAR); EcuadorFil: De la Cuadra, Telmo. Instituto Público de Investigación de Acuicultura y Pesca; EcuadorFil: Espinoza, Freddy. Dirección Nacional de los Espacios Acuáticos (DIRNEA); EcuadorFil: Mair, James. Bioelite; Ecuador. Heriot-Watt University; Reino Unid

Karyotype differentiation of four Cestrum species (Solanaceae) revealed by fluorescent chromosome banding and FISH

The karyotypes of four South American species of Cestrum (C. capsulare,C. corymbosum,C. laevigatum and C. megalophylum) were studied using conventional staining, C-CMA/DAPI chromosome banding and FISH with 45S and 5S rDNA probes. The karyotypes showed a chromosome number of 2n = 2x = 16, with metacentric chromosomes, except for the eighth submeta- to acrocentric pair. Several types of heterochromatin were detected, which varied in size, number, distribution and base composition. The C-CMA+ bands and 45S rDNA were located predominantly in terminal regions. The C-CMA + /DAPI + bands appeared in interstitial and terminal regions, and the C-DAPI + bands were found in all chromosome regions. The 5S rDNA sites were observed on the long arm of pair 8 in all species except C. capsulare, where they were found in the paracentromeric region of the long arm of pair 4. The differences in band patterns among the species studied here, along with data from other nine species reported in the literature, suggest that the bands are dispersed in an equilocal and non-equilocal manner and that structural rearrangements can be responsible for internal karyotype diversification. However, it is important to point out that the structural changes involving repetitive segments did not culminate in substantial changes in the general karyotype structure concerning chromosome size and morphology

EpIG‐DB: A database of vascular epiphyte assemblages in the Neotropics

Vascular epiphytes are a diverse and conspicuous component of biodiversity in tropical and subtropical forests. Yet, the patterns and drivers of epiphyte assemblages are poorly studied in comparison with soil‐rooted plants. Current knowledge about diversity patterns of epiphytes mainly stems from local studies or floristic inventories, but this information has not yet been integrated to allow a better understanding of large‐scale distribution patterns. EpIG‐DB, the first database on epiphyte assemblages at the continental scale, resulted from an exhaustive compilation of published and unpublished inventory data from the Neotropics. The current version of EpIG‐DB consists of 463,196 individual epiphytes from 3,005 species, which were collected from a total of 18,148 relevés (host trees and ‘understory’ plots). EpIG‐DB reports the occurrence of ‘true’ epiphytes, hemiepiphytes and nomadic vines, including information on their cover, abundance, frequency and biomass. Most records (97%) correspond to sampled host trees, 76% of them aggregated in forest plots. The data is stored in a TURBOVEG database using the most up‐to‐date checklist of vascular epiphytes. A total of 18 additional fields were created for the standardization of associated data commonly used in epiphyte ecology (e.g. by considering different sampling methods). EpIG‐DB currently covers six major biomes across the whole latitudinal range of epiphytes in the Neotropics but welcomes data globally. This novel database provides, for the first time, unique biodiversity data on epiphytes for the Neotropics and unified guidelines for future collection of epiphyte data. EpIG‐DB will allow exploration of new ways to study the community ecology and biogeography of vascular epiphytes

ATLANTIC EPIPHYTES: a data set of vascular and non-vascular epiphyte plants and lichens from the Atlantic Forest

Epiphytes are hyper-diverse and one of the frequently undervalued life forms in plant surveys and biodiversity inventories. Epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest, one of the most endangered ecosystems in the world, have high endemism and radiated recently in the Pliocene. We aimed to (1) compile an extensive Atlantic Forest data set on vascular, non-vascular plants (including hemiepiphytes), and lichen epiphyte species occurrence and abundance; (2) describe the epiphyte distribution in the Atlantic Forest, in order to indicate future sampling efforts. Our work presents the first epiphyte data set with information on abundance and occurrence of epiphyte phorophyte species. All data compiled here come from three main sources provided by the authors: published sources (comprising peer-reviewed articles, books, and theses), unpublished data, and herbarium data. We compiled a data set composed of 2,095 species, from 89,270 holo/hemiepiphyte records, in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay, recorded from 1824 to early 2018. Most of the records were from qualitative data (occurrence only, 88%), well distributed throughout the Atlantic Forest. For quantitative records, the most common sampling method was individual trees (71%), followed by plot sampling (19%), and transect sampling (10%). Angiosperms (81%) were the most frequently registered group, and Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae were the families with the greatest number of records (27,272 and 21,945, respectively). Ferns and Lycophytes presented fewer records than Angiosperms, and Polypodiaceae were the most recorded family, and more concentrated in the Southern and Southeastern regions. Data on non-vascular plants and lichens were scarce, with a few disjunct records concentrated in the Northeastern region of the Atlantic Forest. For all non-vascular plant records, Lejeuneaceae, a family of liverworts, was the most recorded family. We hope that our effort to organize scattered epiphyte data help advance the knowledge of epiphyte ecology, as well as our understanding of macroecological and biogeographical patterns in the Atlantic Forest. No copyright restrictions are associated with the data set. Please cite this Ecology Data Paper if the data are used in publication and teaching events. © 2019 The Authors. Ecology © 2019 The Ecological Society of Americ

Limites e possibilidades da Educação Ambiental em uma escola municipal agrícola de ensino fundamental

Ao compreendermos a educação enquanto formação humana intencional para a vida em sociedade, trazemos seu papel como possibilidade de transformação e pressupomos a transversalidade do tema meio ambiente. A análise do Projeto Político Pedagógico (PPP) de uma Escola Municipal Agrícola de Ensino Fundamental do Estado de São Paulo - Brasil, mediante as três possíveis dimensões da Educação Ambiental (EA), nos permitiu verificar: desafios, como a necessidade de reconhecimento da comunidade local articulada às questões globais, e perspectivas para trabalhos futuros a partir de ligações entre as dimensões da EA no PPP