Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 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 or ganism 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 ne glected 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 lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

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

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 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,18,19 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

Desempenho de cultivares de feijão-arroz em Coimbra e Leopoldina, Minas Gerais

O feijão-arroz é espécie de leguminosa de grãos pouco estudada. Foram conduzidos seis ensaios em Coimbra e Leopoldina, MG, com o objetivo de estudar o comportamento de 12 cultivares de feijão-arroz. Em quatro ensaios, um ou dois cultivares de feijão-comum também foram incluídos. Os ensaios foram instalados nos meses de setembro, novembro (Coimbra), abril e maio (Leopoldina). Os instalados em Leopoldina foram irrigados, e as plantas foram pulverizadas com inseticida quando necessário. Foram empregadas 15 sementes por metro, e as fileiras foram espaçadas de 0,5 m. Os ciclos de vida do feijão-arroz variaram de 99 a 110 dias (a partir da emergência), 8 a 18 dias mais longos que os do feijãocomum. Não ocorreu doença na parte aérea daquela espécie. As produtividades médias dos ensaios variaram de 599 a 2.261 kg/ha. Em quatro ensaios, houve diferença significativa entre as médias de produtividade dos cultivares, estando E-18, GL 250 e E-37 sempre entre os mais produtivos. A massa média de 100 sementes variou de 6,8 a 9,2 g. A produtividade do feijão-arroz foi semelhante à do feijão-comum.Rice bean is a less-studied species of grain legumes. Six yield trials were carried out in Coimbra and Leopoldina, MG, Brazil, to evaluate the behavior of 12 cultivars of rice beans. One or two cultivars of common bean were also included in four trials. Trials were conducted in the months September, November (Coimbra), April, and May (Leopoldina). The trials installed in Leopoldina were sprinkler irrigated and insecticide treated when necessary. Fifteen seeds per meter were planted in rows 0.5 m apart. Rice bean life cycles varied from 99 to 111 days (from emergence), between 8 and 18 days longer than common bean. No foliar disease was observed on rice bean plants. Average trial yields varied from 599 to 2,261 kg/ha. In four trials there were significant differences among cultivar yields; E-18, GL 250, and E-37 were always among the highest yielding. Average 100-seed mass of cultivars varied from 6.8 to 9.2 g. Rice bean yielded as much as common bean