Hydrological trade-offs due to different land covers and land uses in the Brazilian Cerrado

Farmland expansion in the Brazilian Cerrado, considered one of the largest agricultural frontiers in the world, has the potential to alter water fluxes on different spatial scales. Despite some large-scale studies being developed, there are still few investigations in experimental sites in this region. Here, we investigate the water balance components in experimental plots and the groundwater table fluctuation in different land covers: wooded Cerrado, sugarcane, pasture and bare soil. Furthermore, we identify possible water balance trade-offs due to the different land covers. This study was developed between 2012 and 2016 in the central region of the state of São Paulo in southern Brazil. Hydrometeorological variables, groundwater table, surface runoff and other water balance components were monitored inside experimental plots containing different land covers; the datasets were analyzed using statistical parameters; and the water balance components uncertainties were computed. Replacing wooded Cerrado by pastureland and sugarcane shifts the overland flow (up to 42&thinsp;mm&thinsp;yr−1) and the water balance residual (up to 504&thinsp;mm&thinsp;yr−1) and may affect groundwater table behavior. This fact suggests significant changes in the water partitioning in a transient land cover and land use (LCLU) system, as the evapotranspiration is lower (up to 719&thinsp;mm&thinsp;yr−1) in agricultural land covers than in the undisturbed Cerrado. We recommend long-term observations for continuing the evaluations initiated in this study, mainly because there are few basic studies on tropical environments at the hillslope scale and more assessments are needed for a better understanding of the real field conditions. Such efforts should be made to reduce uncertainties, validate the water balance hypothesis and catch the variability of hydrological processes.</p

A ambientalização dos currículos de Educação Física no ensino superior The environmentalization of physical education curricula in higher education

Os debates em torno das questões ambientais se expandem por vários campos, promovendo diferentes modos de se relacionar com o tema e suas problemáticas. A multiplicidade de significações consequentes desses encontros deve ser considerada nos processos de disputa simbólica em que são formuladas, dentre eles, a ambientalização curricular da educação superior. Assim, o objetivo central desse artigo, sustentado por pesquisa teórica, é analisar como a inserção da dimensão ambiental está sendo estruturada na educação física no ensino superior brasileiro. Para tanto, o artigo foi dividido em quatro partes, apresentando: a) elementos da ambientalização curricular no ensino superior; b) algumas particularidades da educação física enquanto área de conhecimento; c) o papel das atividades na natureza na ambientalização curricular da educação física; d) as considerações finais, buscando compreender os caminhos da ambientalização curricular da educação física no ensino superior brasileiro.<br>Discussions surrounding environmental issues span multiple fields, promoting different ways to relate to the theme. The multiplicity of meanings resulting from these encounters should be analyzed regarding the processes of symbolic dispute in which they are formulated, among them, the environmentalization of curricula in higher education. This article, sustained by theoretical research, aims to analyze how the insertion of the environmental dimension is being structured in physical education in Brazilian higher education settings. To this end, the article was divided into four parts, showing: a) elements of curricular environmentalization in higher education; b) some particularities of physical education as area of knowledge construction; c) the role of nature (outdoor) activities in the environmentalization of physical education curricula; d) the final considerations, seeking to understand the processes of environmentalization of physical education curricula in Brazilian higher education