Small reserve but high diversity: butterfly community across an altitudinal gradient in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

The present study aimed to describe the composition of the butterfly community in relation to the altitudinal gradient in the Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural (RPPN) Alto-Montana, Serra da Mantiqueira, Minas Gerais, Brazil, and to provide a list of species for the area. We collected samples in the RPPN Alto-Montana along an altitudinal gradient from 1400 to 2100 m, between the dry and rainy seasons of 2018 and 2019. During this period, the sampling method utilizing Van-Someren Rydon traps totaled 3,936 hours and the effort using sweep nets totaled 246 hours. A total of 1,253 butterflies distributed across 124 species and six families of diurnal butterflies were observed (Hesperiidae, Lycaenidae, Nymphalidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, and Riodinidae). Nymphalidae was the most representative family, followed by Hesperiidae, Pieridade, Lycaenidae, Papilionidae and Riodinidae. Moreover, we recorded 37 species with only one individual (singletons) and 20 species with only two individuals (doubletons), totalling 57 species, which corresponds to 46% of all sampled richness. The rarefaction curve did not reveal a tendency toward stabilization. However, the indices showed slightly higher values for the 124 species sampled. The analysis performed using the Bootstrap estimator predicted a total of 143.22 species (± 10.87 SE), with a further 19 additional species than observed. Chao 1 predicted 153.42 (± 11.82 SE), and Jackknife 1 predicted 164.00 (± 16.29 SE) species, with 29 and 40 additional species than the observed, respectively. Our study contributes to the knowledge of butterfly biodiversity in Serra da Mantiqueira and reveals a high species richness for the RPPN Alto Montana, especially considering the relatively small area. In addition, our study provides the first inventory of butterflies for the RPPN Alto Montana, thus supporting further studies investigating the butterfly richness in the Serra da Mantiqueira region. Finally, our findings of endemic, rare, and endangered butterfly species highlight the relevance of further conservation strategies to be considered for the Protected Area’s Management Plan

Are caves true habitats for anurans or more a favorable rocky environment? A discussion of habitat occupation by frogs in Neotropical caves

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Genomic epidemiology reveals the circulation of the Chikungunya virus east/central/south african lineage in Tocantins State, north Brazil

The chikungunya virus (CHIKV) is a mosquito-borne virus of the family Togaviridae transmitted to humans by Aedes spp. mosquitoes. In Brazil, imported cases have been reported since June 2014 through two independent introductions, one caused by Asian Lineage in Oiapoque, Amapá state, North Region, and another caused by East/Central/South African (ECSA) in Feira de Santana, Bahia state, Northeast Region. Moreover, there is still limited information about the genomic epidemiology of the CHIKV from surveillance studies. The Tocantins state, located in Northern Brazil, reported an increase in the number of CHIKV cases at the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022. Thus, to better understand the dispersion dynamics of this viral pathogen in the state, we generated 27 near-complete CHIKV genome sequences from four cities, obtained from clinical samples. Our results showed that the newly CHIKV genomes from Tocantins belonged to the ECSA lineage. Phylogenetic reconstruction revealed that Tocantins’ strains formed a single well-supported clade, which appear to be closely related to isolates from the Rio Grande do Norte state (Northeast Brazil) and the Rio de Janeiro state (Southeast Brazil), that experienced an explosive ECSA epidemic between 2016–2019. Mutation analyses showed eleven frequent non-synonymous mutations in the structural and non-structural proteins, indicating the autochthonous transmission of the CHIKV in the state. None of the genomes recovered within the Tocantins samples carry the A226V mutation in the E1 protein associated with increased transmission in A. albopictus. The study presented here highlights the importance of continued genomic surveillance to provide information not only on recording mutations along the viral genome but as a molecular surveillance tool to trace virus spread within the country, to predict events of likely occurrence of new infections, and, as such, contribute to an improved public health service

Beware of scientific scams! Hints to avoid predatory publishing in biological journals

Our motivation for writing this editorial is to alert the academic community about the risks of predatory publishing in Biology. By piggy-backing on the open access (OA) movement and taking advantage of the “publish or perish” culture in a system that prioritises quantity over quality, predatory publishing has grown exponentially in recent years and spread across all areas of knowledge. Thousands of predatory journals and books have emerged and (provided a fee is paid) they publish scientific papers and chapters without submitting them to rigorous peer review. Now there are even predatory meetings, which promise to accept talks and publish complete works for a fee, also without reviewing them properly. These profit-making machines can damage both academia and society, putting at risk the quality of science and public trust in it, the well-being of the population, the conservation of biodiversity and the mitigation of climate change. We show the modus operandi behind invitations to contribute to predatory journals, books and meetings and suggest ways to separate the wheat from the chaff. Finally, we discuss the need to create regulatory agencies that perform a careful and systematic evaluation of the activities carried out by publishers

How much leaf area do insects eat? A data set of insect herbivory sampled globally with a standardized protocol

Herbivory is ubiquitous. Despite being a potential driver of plant distribution and performance, herbivory remains largely undocumented. Some early attempts have been made to review, globally, how much leaf area is removed through insect feeding. Kozlov et al., in one of the most comprehensive reviews regarding global patterns of herbivory, have compiled published studies regarding foliar removal and sampled data on global herbivory levels using a standardized protocol. However, in the review by Kozlov et al., only 15 sampling sites, comprising 33 plant species, were evaluated in tropical areas around the globe. In Brazil, which ranks first in terms of plant biodiversity, with a total of 46,097 species, almost half (43%) being endemic, a single data point was sampled, covering only two plant species. In an attempt to increase knowledge regarding herbivory in tropical plant species and to provide the raw data needed to test general hypotheses related to plant–herbivore interactions across large spatial scales, we proposed a joint, collaborative network to evaluate tropical herbivory. This network allowed us to update and expand the data on insect herbivory in tropical and temperate plant species. Our data set, collected with a standardized protocol, covers 45 sampling sites from nine countries and includes leaf herbivory measurements of 57,239 leaves from 209 species of vascular plants belonging to 65 families from tropical and temperate regions. They expand previous data sets by including a total of 32 sampling sites from tropical areas around the globe, comprising 152 species, 146 of them being sampled in Brazil. For temperate areas, it includes 13 sampling sites, comprising 59 species

The complete genome sequence of Chromobacterium violaceum reveals remarkable and exploitable bacterial adaptability

Chromobacterium violaceum is one of millions of species of free-living microorganisms that populate the soil and water in the extant areas of tropical biodiversity around the world. Its complete genome sequence reveals (i) extensive alternative pathways for energy generation, (ii) ≈500 ORFs for transport-related proteins, (iii) complex and extensive systems for stress adaptation and motility, and (iv) wide-spread utilization of quorum sensing for control of inducible systems, all of which underpin the versatility and adaptability of the organism. The genome also contains extensive but incomplete arrays of ORFs coding for proteins associated with mammalian pathogenicity, possibly involved in the occasional but often fatal cases of human C. violaceum infection. There is, in addition, a series of previously unknown but important enzymes and secondary metabolites including paraquat-inducible proteins, drug and heavy-metal-resistance proteins, multiple chitinases, and proteins for the detoxification of xenobiotics that may have biotechnological applications

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

Lessons from a tropical deciduous shrub species: leaf fall can play a more important role than rain in leaf budding

In the Cerrado, the sequential chaining of phenological events during the dry season is a pattern observed in many plant species. In this season, many plants completely lose their leaves, and soon after deciduous, there is an expressive production of leaf buds. In this study, we investigated the effect of irrigation and early defoliation on the triggering of leaf budding of the deciduous species Peixotoa tomentosa A.Juss. in the dry season of a seasonal environment with water restrictions. Therefore, we set up an experiment with three groups of plants: control (n = 15), irrigation treatment (n = 15), and removal treatment (n = 15), and after the complete deciduousness of the plants, we carried out phenological monitoring of the development of leaf buds in these plants. From July to August 2022, the leaf budding phenology of the 45 individuals was evaluated twice a week. To test whether there is a difference in the number of leaf buds between treatments, we built generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs). Plants in the removal treatment had a statistically higher number of leaf buds produced than the plants in the irrigation and control groups (P 0.05). We showed that early defoliation influenced the triggering of leaf buds in P. tomentosa, increasing the production of young leaves in their individuals in a seasonal environment with water restrictions. Irrigation was not able to break the dormancy of leaf buds. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the triggering of vegetative phenophases in deciduous Cerrado plants, showing that leaf fall may play a more important role than rain in the production of leaf buds in the dry season

Cerrado Rupestre is not Campo Rupestre: The unknown and threatened savannah on rocky outcrops

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A double defensive mutualism? A case between plants, extrafloral nectaries, and trophobionts

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