First report on the whitefly, Aleurodicus pseudugesii on the coconut palm, Cocos nucifera in Brazil.

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Benthic estuarine communities in Brazil: moving forward to long term studies to assess climate change impacts

Abstract Estuaries are unique coastal ecosystems that sustain and provide essential ecological services for mankind. Estuarine ecosystems include a variety of habitats with their own sediment-fauna dynamics, all of them globally undergoing alteration or threatened by human activities. Mangrove forests, saltmarshes, tidal flats and other confined estuarine systems are under increasing stress due to human activities leading to habitat and species loss. Combined changes in estuarine hydromorphology and in climate pose severe threats to estuarine ecosystems on a global scale. The ReBentos network is the first integrated attempt in Brazil to monitor estuarine changes in the long term to detect and assess the effects of global warming. This paper is an initial effort of ReBentos to review current knowledge on benthic estuarine ecology in Brazil. We herein present and synthesize all published work on Brazilian estuaries that has focused on the description of benthic communities and related ecological processes. We then use current data on Brazilian estuaries and present recommendations for future studies to address climate change effects, suggesting trends for possible future research and stressing the need for long-term datasets and international partnerships

DISTRIBUIÇÃO ESPACIAL DE POLYCHAETA (ANNELIDA) EM DIFERENTES AMBIENTES ENTREMARÉS DE PRAIAS DE SÃO SEBASTIÃO (SP)

Five sandy beaches of São Paulo, Brazil, were sampled in order to determine whether different beach morphodinamics support different macroinfaunal compositions. Density and diversity patterns of Polychaeta from five beaches were compared with some physical and chemical characteristics of those sites. Two patterns were distinguished through examination of diagrams based on muitivariate techniques: (1) in protected beaches with high sand content there is the dominance of Laeonereis acuta: (2) in very protected beaches with high silt and clay content there is the dominance of smaller species. Organic-rich sediments supported a more diverse fauna showing the importance of this source of food on occurrence of many deposit-feeding species. It is suggested that low salinity can determine L. acuta abundance, due to high correlation between this parameter and the density of this specie. The dominance of smaller species on finer sediments, Heteromastus filliformes and Sternaspis capillata, could be due to mechanisms of exploitation of food resources. Principal component analysis showed that sand, silt-clay as well as organic contents and salinity were the most important variables accounting for the spatial variability of polychaetes on the studied beaches.Com o objetivo de verificar a distribuição espacial de anelídeos poliquetas em praias de diferentes características morfológicas e texturais presentes na região de São Sebastião, realizou-se uma série de amostragens ao longo da zona entremarés destes ambientes. A densidade e diversidade específica de Polychaeta foram comparadas com fatores físico-químicos relacionados à granulometria e salinidade. Através de análises multivariadas dois padrões foram observados: (1) praias protegidas, com maior porcentagem de areia, sujeitas à baixa salinidade e dominância de Laeonereis acuta; (2) praias muito protegidas, nas quais a contribuição de silte-argila e matéria orgânica foi maior, ocorrendo a dominância de espécies de pequeno porte. Uma fauna diversa foi observada em sedimentos com maior porcentagem de matéria orgânica, o que demonstrou a importância deste recurso alimentar para ocorrência de muitas espécies detritívoras. A presença de L. acuta parece estar condicionada às baixas salinidades, pois observou-­se forte correlação negativa da sua densidade com este parâmetro. A dominância de espécies detritívoras de pequeno porte, Heteromastus filliformes e Sternaspis capillata, em sedimentos mais finos, pode estar relacionada à exploração do recurso alimentar. A porcentagem de areia, silte-argila, matéria orgânica e salinidade foram os parâmetros abióticos mais importantes para a distribuição espacial dos poliquetas

Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) of the intertidal zone of Governador and Paquet\ue1 islands, Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

During six consecutive months, sampling were made at three points located on Governador Island and three on Paquetá Island in Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Material was collected from dock pilings and rocks in the intertidal zone. In these samples, five species belonging to three families, Corynidae, Kirchenpaueriidae and Campanulariidae, were identified. The campanulariid species Obelia dichotoma Linnaeus, 1758, dominated at nearly all points sampled. The small number of species obtained in this survey is attributed to the intense pollution in the bay, which borders the second-largest industrial complex and the second-largest demographic center of Brazil