A Survey of mid and large bodied mammals in Núcleo Caraguatatuba, Serra do Mar State Park, Brazil

Nós aplicamos técnicas de amostragem complementares para obter uma lista de espécies de mamíferos de médio e grande porte no Núcleo Caraguatatuba, Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, Brasil. As amostragens de campo realizaram-se nos meses de Maio e Setembro de 2011. Utilizou-se, censo ao longo de transectos (212,4 km), armadilhas fotográficas (223,2 armadilhas-dias) e armadilhas de pegadas (478 armadilhas-dias). Foram obtidos registros de 18 espécies, pertencentes a 14 famílias e oito ordens. Nós registramos a presença de sete espécies consideradas ameaçadas no Estado de São Paulo, incluindo primatas (Brachyteles arachnoides), Artiodactyla (Mazama americana e Tayassu pecari), Carnivora (Leopardus pardalis, Leopardus tigrinus e Puma concolor) e Perissodactyla (Tapirus terrestris). Com base em numa extrapolação da riqueza de espécies (First order jackknife) nós prevemos que existem entre 19 e 32 espécies de mamíferos de médio e grande porte no Núcleo. Nosso Mammal Priority Index classificou o Núcleo Caraguatatuba como uma área de importância média para a conservação de mamíferos de médio e grande porte na Mata Atlântica. Combinado com o número e a diversidade de espécies registradas, nossos resultados demonstram que este Núcleo é uma área importante para a conservação de mamíferos no Estado.We applied complementary survey techniques to obtain a baseline species list of mid and large bodied mammals in Núcleo Caraguatatuba, Serra do Mar State park, Brazil. Between May and September 2011 we surveyed the community of mid and large bodied mammals using diurnal line transect census (212.4 km), camera-traps (223.2 camera-trap days) and track-stations (478 track-station days). A total of 18 species were recorded from 14 families in eight orders. We recorded the presence of seven species considered threatened in the State of São Paulo, including Primates (Brachyteles arachnoides), Artiodactyla (Mazama cf. americana and Tayassu pecari), Carnivora (Leopardus pardalis, Leopardus tigrinus and Puma concolor) and Perissodactyla (Tapirus terrestris). Based on extrapolated (First order jackknife) species richness estimates we predict that there are between 19 and 32 species of mid and large bodied mammals in the Núcleo. Our revised Mammal Priority Index ranked Núcleo Caraguatatuba as being of medium overall importance for the conservation of mid and large bodied mammals in the Atlantic Forest. Combined with the number and diversity of species recorded, our results demonstrate that this Núcleo is an important area for mammal conservation

Mapping density, diversity and species-richness of the Amazon tree flora

Using 2.046 botanically-inventoried tree plots across the largest tropical forest on Earth, we mapped tree species-diversity and tree species-richness at 0.1-degree resolution, and investigated drivers for diversity and richness. Using only location, stratified by forest type, as predictor, our spatial model, to the best of our knowledge, provides the most accurate map of tree diversity in Amazonia to date, explaining approximately 70% of the tree diversity and species-richness. Large soil-forest combinations determine a significant percentage of the variation in tree species-richness and tree alpha-diversity in Amazonian forest-plots. We suggest that the size and fragmentation of these systems drive their large-scale diversity patterns and hence local diversity. A model not using location but cumulative water deficit, tree density, and temperature seasonality explains 47% of the tree species-richness in the terra-firme forest in Amazonia. Over large areas across Amazonia, residuals of this relationship are small and poorly spatially structured, suggesting that much of the residual variation may be local. The Guyana Shield area has consistently negative residuals, showing that this area has lower tree species-richness than expected by our models. We provide extensive plot meta-data, including tree density, tree alpha-diversity and tree species-richness results and gridded maps at 0.1-degree resolution

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time, and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space. While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes, vast areas of the tropics remain understudied. In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity, but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases. To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge, it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Floristic, edaphic and structural characteristics of flooded and unflooded forests in the lower Rio Purus region of central Amazonia, Brazil

Despite a natural history interest in the early 1900s, relatively little ecological research has been carried out in the Rio Purús basin of central Amazonia, Brazil. Here we describe a new study area in the region of Lago Uauaçú with an emphasis on the climate, forest structure and composition, and soil characteristics between adjacent unflooded (terra firme) and seasonally inundated forests; situated within both the white-water (várzea) and black-water (igapó) drainage systems that dominate the landscape. The climate was found to be typical of that of the central Amazon. Várzea forest soils had high concentrations of nutrients, while terra firme and igapó soils were comparatively nutrient-poor. Terra firme forests were the most floristically diverse forest type, whereas várzea was intermediate, and igapó the most species-poor. The Lecythidaceae was the most important family in terra firme while the Euphorbiaceae was the most important in both várzea and igapó. There were significant differences between forest types in terms of number of saplings, canopy cover and understorey density. In contrasting our results with other published information, we conclude that the Lago Uauaçú region consists of a typical central Amazonian forest macro-mosaic, but is a unique area with high conservation value due to the intimate juxtaposition of terra firme, várzea and igapó forests

Isolation and expeditious morphological, biochemical and kinetic characterization of propolis-tolerant ruminal bacteria Isolamento e caracterização expedita morfológica, bioquímica e cinética de bactérias ruminais tolerantes a própolis

It was aimed in this work to evaluate bacterial strains tolerant to products based on propolis (LLOS) through the isolation, morphological and biochemical characterization techniques in diets with roughage:concentrate ratio 100:0 and 50:50. For roughage diets, the products LLOSC1 and LLOSB3 were evaluated, and for 50:50% diets, the products LLOSC1, LLOSD1, LLOSA2, and LLOSC3, which differed in alcoholic concentrations (1, 2 and 3) and propolis (A, B, C and D) concentrations. The ruminal liquid was anaerobically incubated at 39°C for 6 days in medium containing LLOS. After isolation, the strains were submitted to Gram staining and the bacterial growth was monitored by photospectrometer. It was evaluated the strain growth in the presence of the following subtracts: arabinose, cellulose, glucose, cellobiose, xylose, fructose, and lactose. In roughage diets, strains tolerant to LLOSC1 and LLOSB3 were similar to carbohydrates degradation, except lactose in which LLOSC1 was superior to strains tolerant to LLOSB3. For diets with 50:50 roughage:concentrate ratio, the products LLOSC3 and LLOSA2 stood out because they selected the highest number of strains able to degrade most of the tested carbohydrates. The results suggest that tolerance to propolis is higher in Gram-positive strains with several growth metabolic levels.<br>Objetivou-se avaliar cepas bacterianas tolerantes a produtos à base de própolis pelas técnicas de isolamento, caracterização morfológica e bioquímica, em dietas com relação volumoso: concentrado de 100:0 e 50:50. Para dietas volumosas foram avaliados os produtos LLOSC1 e LLOSB3 e, para dietas 50:50% os produtos LLOSC1, LLOSD1, LLOSA2 e LLOSC3, diferentes quanto aos teores alcoólicos (1, 2 e 3) e as concentrações de própolis (A, B, C e D). O líquido ruminal foi incubado anaerobiamente a 39°C durante 6 dias em meio contendo LLOS. Após o isolamento, as cepas foram submetidas à coloração de Gram e o crescimento bacteriano foi monitorado por espectrofotômetro. Foi avaliado o crescimento das cepas na presença dos substratos: arabinose, celulose, glicose, celobiose, xilose, frutose e lactose. Em dietas volumosas as cepas tolerantes a LLOSC1 e LLOSB3 foram semelhantes na degradação dos carboidratos, exceto lactose no qual LLOSC1 foi superior às cepas tolerantes a LLOSB3. Para dieta 50:50 de volumoso:concentrado, destacaram-se os produtos LLOSC3 e LLOSA2, que selecionaram maior número de cepas capazes de degradar a maioria dos carboidratos testados. Os resultados sugerem que a tolerância à própolis foi maior nas cepas Gram-positivas, com níveis metabólicos de crescimento diversos