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

Prevalência da infecção por lentivírus de pequenos ruminantes em caprinos em Teresina, Piauí

The prevalence of anti-lentiviruses antibodies of small ruminants was investigated in goat herds in the city of Teresina, PI, Brazil. A seroepidemiological survey was conducted involving 480 animals, apparently healthy, belonging to six rural properties. The diagnostic test was the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID), using antigens produced from cellular cultures infected with caprine arthritis encephalitis virus (CAEV Cork). Prevalences by gender and age were estimated considering sampling fractions for each farm. A general prevalence of 4.2%, was observerved, being 4.2% for females and 3.6% for males. Prevalences were higher among older goats. Regarding the breed standard, 23.5% were of the Anglo Nubian, 5.9% of the Boer, 35.3% Anglo Nubian x Boer crossbred, and 35.3% of undefined breed. It is concluded that small ruminant lentiviruses are endemic among goat herds of Teresina

Torta de amendoim em substituição ao farelo de soja na alimentação de cordeiros ½ sangue dorper

The objective was to determine the best level of groundnut cake (Arachis hypogaea) in concentrate supplement for lambs. We used 20 crossbred lambs 1/2 Dorper, with a mean age of 7 months, kept in individual pens. Treatments consisted of substitution levels of soybean meal peanut pie: 0, 33.33, 66.67, and 100 %. The experimental period was 32 days, including 14 days for adaptation and 18 between routine and data collection. During the last 5 days of experimental samples were collected daily offered, orts and feces, twice daily, at 8 and 15 hours. In the 8 th, 9 th and 10 th days of the experimental period, the animals underwent evaluation for visual observation of ingestive behavior in response to diet and physiological responses of animals to the environment. On days 13, 15 and 17, held the measurement of water consumption in response to diet offered. For the consumption of dry matter, crude protein, NDT, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber not significant differences (p>0.05) were observed with the inclusion of groundnut cake. The digestibility of DM, NDF and CNF showed no differences (p>0.05), and water consumption was similar (p>0.05) with the inclusion of groundnut cake instead of soybean meal. The heart rate (FC), rectal temperature (TR) and body temperature (TC) were similar (p>0.05) in the morning and afternoon, except for respiratory rate in the afternoon that showed a quadratic effect (p0,05) com a inclusão da torta de amendoim. Os coeficientes de digestibilidade da matéria seca, fibra em detergente neutro e carboidratos não fibrosos não apresentaram diferenças (p>0,05) e o consumo de água foi similar (p>0,05) com a inclusão da torta de amendoim em substituição ao farelo de soja. A frequência cardíaca , temperatura retal e temperatura corpórea foram semelhantes (p>0,05) no período da manhã e tarde, exceto para a frequência respiratória no período da tarde que apresentou um efeito quadrático (p<0,05). A torta de amendoim pode substituir totalmente o farelo de soja na alimentação de cordeiros

Agronomic performance of sugarcane families in response to water stress Desempenho agronômico de famílias de cana-de-açúcar em resposta ao déficit hídrico

Water deficit is one of the major factors limiting the production of sugarcane, especially in areas where there is a prolonged period of water deficiency, such as the West Central Brazilian region. One way to overcome this problem is to cultivate resistant or tolerant varieties. An experiment was set up at the Jalles Machado Sugar Mill, located near Goianésia, Goiás State, Brazil, to evaluate agronomic performance of several sugarcane families. A comparative analysis was carried out among the families under two irrigation regimes, one under regular environmental conditions and another under monthly irrigations during the period of water deficiency. Evaluated families consisted of 25 progenies planted in a factorial design with three replications with 20 plants each. The first ratoon crop was evaluated for four yield components, stalk height, stalk diameter, stalk number and Brix. By analysis of variance, stalk number and stalk height were influenced by water stress conditions during the initial growth phase, and for stalk diameter and Brix, water regime had no effect on the average expression of the characters during the growth phase. The method of classification in four categories proved to be adequate. Some families had high values for stalk diameter, stalk number and stalk height under water stress conditions. This study showed that it is possible to select sugarcane families under water deficit conditions associated with higher stalk diameter, stalk number and stalk height.<br>O déficit hídrico é um dos fatores mais importantes que limitam a produção da cana-de-açúcar, especialmente nas áreas onde existe um período prolongado de seca, como na Região Centro-Oeste do Brasil. Uma forma de contornar este problema é plantar variedades resistentes ou tolerantes à seca. Um experimento foi desenvolvido na Usina Jalles Machado, localizada próxima de Goianésia, no Estado de Goiás, Brasil, para avaliar o desempenho de várias famílias de cana-de-açúcar sob condições de déficit hídrico. Foi realizada uma análise comparativa entre as famílias que foram cultivadas sob duas condições de disponibilidade de água: ambientais regulares ou irrigações mensais durante o período de deficiência de água. O material avaliado consistiu de 25 famílias plantadas em um desenho factorial de três repetições com 20 plantas cada uma, no total de 60 indivíduos. Na colheita da primeira soqueira, avaliaram-se quatro componentes: altura, diâmetro, número de colmos e Brix. Por meio da análise de variância, o número e a altura dos colmos foram influenciados pelas condições de seca durante a fase de crescimento inicial, enquanto o regime de irrigação não afetou as médias de diâmetro do colmo e de Brix durante a fase de crescimento. Pelo método de separação em quatro categorias, em algumas famílias observaram-se elevados valores de diâmetro, número e altura de colmos quando cresceram sob condição de déficit hídrico. Este estudo comprovou que é possível selecionar famílias de cana-de-açúcar sob estresse hídrico associadas com maiores diâmetro, número e altura de colmos