Water and sediment toxicity in a river affected by former mining residues

A bacia do Rio Ribeira de Iguape foi palco de intensa atividade de mineração de chumbo e, como resultado, estima-se que o \ud rio Ribeira de Iguape tenha recebido a descarga de aproximadamente 5,5 t/mês de materiais ricos em As, Ba, Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr e \ud Zn. No presente trabalho, foi analisada a toxicidade de sedimentos e águas coletados ao longo do rio com o intuito de avaliar \ud a qualidade ambiental, tendo sido realizadas 3 campanhas de coleta, entre 2009 e 2010. Os testes de toxicidade aguda foram \ud conduzidos com o cladócero Daphnia similis, utilizando as amostras brutas de água e a exposição aos sedimentos pela interface \ud sedimento-água. Os resultados indicaram, em geral, ausência de toxicidade, tanto para sedimentos quanto para águas, com \ud efeitos tóxicos agudos registrados apenas episodicamente (toxicidade marginal). Tais resultados são coerentes com as baixas \ud concentrações de metais em águas e sedimentos indicadas na literatura, porém diferem do monitoramento feito pela agência \ud ambiental estadual, que tem registrado toxicidade crônica. Essa toxicidade aguda eventual indica, ainda, que embora a qualidade do Rio Ribeira de Iguape esteja sendo recuperada, as condições ainda não estão totalmente controladas.The Ribeira de Iguape River basin received intense mining activities for lead exploiting and, as a result, the river received the \ud discharges of estimated amounts of 5.5 tons/month of material rich in As, Ba, Cd, Pb, Cu, Cr and Zn. In this article, the toxic-ity of waters and sediments collected in Ribeira de Iguape River was assessed aiming to estimate environmental quality. Three \ud sampling campaigns were conducted, from 2009 to 2010. Toxicity tests with the cladoceran Daphnia similiswere done for water \ud samples and for sediments, in this case using sediment-water interface exposure. Results showed in general absence of toxicity \ud for sediments and waters, and only eventually were acute effects registered (marginal toxicity). Results are consistent with the \ud conditions indicated by the literature, of low concentrations of metals in waters and sediments; however they differ from the \ud monitoring made by the state environmental agency, which registered chronic toxicity. The occurrence of eventual acute toxicity \ud indicates that although Ribeira de Iguape River quality is being restored, conditions still are not totally under control.FAPESPFundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Esta-do de São Paulo (FAPESP) - Processos n. 2008/54607-5 e n. 2009/52762-

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data