Fish assemblages in the seagrass beds at Inhaca Island (Mozambique): cold season

Bol. Mus. Mun. Funchal, Sup. N.º 6: 111-125, 2001The fish communities in the seagrass beds at Inhaca Island (Mozambique) were sampled in three stations during the cold season (July-August 1993). On the whole, 66 species of fishes belonging to 34 families were collected by trawling. Cluster and factorial correspondence analyses showed that the fish community structure was different at the three stations. These structural differences were attributed to the type of seagrass association and to the proximity of mangrove and coral reef areas. Differences between day and night samples attest to the occurrence of marked circadian changes between nocturnal and diurnal components of this seagrass fish community. Carnivorous fishes were dominant both in number and biomass while herbivorous and omnivorous species were less represented in these assemblages.As comunidades ictiológicas dos fundos de fanerogâmicas da Ilha da Inhaca (Moçambique) foram amostradas em 3 estações durante a estação a estação fria (Julha-Agosto de 1993). No total, 66 espécies de peixes pertencendo a 34 famílias foram colhidas com arrasto. A análise dos dados mostrou que as comunidades ictiológicas tinham estruturas diferentes nas 3 estações. Estas diferenças foram atribuídas ao tipo de associação vegetal e à distância às áreas de coral e de mangal. Diferenças entre as amostragens diurnas e nocturnas atectam a ocorrência de ciclos circadianos marcados e a sua influência nas comunidades. Espécies carnívoras foram dominantes, quer em número, quer em biomassa, em relação às herbívoras e omnívoras

Sampling design may obscure species–area relationships in landscape-scale field studies

We investigated 1) the role of area per se in explaining anuran species richness on reservoir forest islands, after controlling for several confounding factors. We also assessed 2) how sampling design affects the inferential power of island species–area relationships (ISARs) aiming to 3) provide guidelines to yield reliable estimates of area-induced species losses in patchy systems. We surveyed anurans with autonomous recording units at 151 plots located on 74 islands and four continuous forest sites at the Balbina Hydroelectric Reservoir landscape, central Brazilian Amazonia. We applied semi-log ISAR models to assess the effect of sampling design on the fit and slope of species–area curves. To do so, we subsampled our surveyed islands following both a 1) stratified and 2) non-stratified random selection of 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 islands covering 1) the full range in island size (0.45–1699 ha) and 2) only islands smaller than 100 ha, respectively. We also compiled 25 datasets from the literature to assess the generality of our findings. Island size explained ca half of the variation in species richness. The fit and slope of species–area curves were affected mainly by the range in island size considered, and to a very small extent by the number of islands surveyed. In our literature review, all datasets covering a range of patch sizes larger than 300 ha yielded a positive ISAR, whereas the number of patches alone did not affect the detection of ISARs. We conclude that 1) area per se plays a major role in explaining anuran species richness on forest islands within an Amazonian anthropogenic archipelago; 2) the inferential power of island species–area relationships is severely degraded by sub-optimal sampling designs; 3) at least 10 habitat patches spanning three orders of magnitude in size should be surveyed to yield reliable species–area estimates in patchy systems

Patch-scale biodiversity retention in fragmented landscapes:Reconciling the habitat amount hypothesis with the island biogeography theory

Aim: To test whether the species richness of understorey insectivorous birds on forest islands induced by a major hydroelectric dam is best explained by either the island biogeography theory (IBT) or the habitat amount hypothesis (HAH). Given the low dispersal ability of the focal species group and the hostile water matrix, we predict that the species richness will be predominantly driven by an island effect as posited by the IBT, rather than a sample area effect as posited by the HAH. Location: Forest islands within the Balbina Hydroelectric Reservoir, central Brazilian Amazonia. Taxon: Birds. Methods: We mist-netted birds at 33 forest islands (0.63–1,699 ha), totalling 874 individuals of 59 species. The size of the local landscape used to calculate the habitat amount was determined by a multi-scale analysis in which buffers around mist-net lines ranged from 50 to 2,000 m. We applied four tests to examine whether the species richness on forest islands is predominantly driven by either an island effect (island size) or a sample area effect (habitat amount). Results: From the four tests applied, one was consistent with an island effect, two were regarded as inappropriate to test the HAH, and one could not be adequately addressed due to island size being highly correlated with habitat amount in the local landscape (200-m buffer). Main conclusions: Some of the proposed ways of testing the HAH may lead to misleading conclusions. The relative importance of island size in determining the species richness of understorey insectivorous birds on forest islands is higher than that of surrounding habitat amount, thereby providing stronger support for IBT. We propose a conceptual framework, based on the degree of matrix permeability and species dispersal ability, to determine to what extent a patch- or landscape-centric worldview in landscape ecology provides the most appropriate framework to assess the effects of habitat fragmentation on biodiversity

Neuroinflammation induces glial aromatase expression in the uninjured songbird brain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Estrogens from peripheral sources as well as central aromatization are neuroprotective in the vertebrate brain. Under normal conditions, aromatase is only expressed in neurons, however following anoxic/ischemic or mechanical brain injury; aromatase is also found in astroglia. This increased glial aromatization and the consequent estrogen synthesis is neuroprotective and may promote neuronal survival and repair. While the effects of estradiol on neuroprotection are well studied, what induces glial aromatase expression remains unknown.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Adult male zebra finches (<it>Taeniopygia guttata</it>) were given a penetrating injury to the entopallium. At several timepoints later, expression of aromatase, IL-1β-like, and IL-6-like were examined using immunohisotchemistry. A second set of zebra birds were exposed to phytohemagglutinin (PHA), an inflammatory agent, directly on the dorsal surface of the telencephalon without creating a penetrating injury. Expression of aromatase, IL-1β-like, and IL-6-like were examined using both quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction to examine mRNA expression and immunohistochemistry to determine cellular expression. Statistical significance was determined using t-test or one-way analysis of variance followed by the Tukey Kramers post hoc test.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Following injury in the zebra finch brain, cytokine expression occurs prior to aromatase expression. This temporal pattern suggests that cytokines may induce aromatase expression in the damaged zebra finch brain. Furthermore, evoking a neuroinflammatory response characterized by an increase in cytokine expression in the uninjured brain is sufficient to induce glial aromatase expression.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These studies are among the first to examine a neuroinflammatory response in the songbird brain following mechanical brain injury and to describe a novel neuroimmune signal to initiate aromatase expression in glia.</p

Avaliação de cultivares de soja sobre braquiária no sistema plantio direto, safra 1998/99, em Piacatu, SP.

bitstream/item/39753/1/COT-11-1999.pd

Energy and momentum entanglement in parametric downconversion

We present a simple treatment for the phenomenon of parametric downconversion considering the coherent scattering of one pump photon into a photon pair by a nonlinear crystal. The energy and momentum entanglement of the quantum state of the generated twin photons are seen as a consequence of the fundamental indistinguishability of the time and the position in which the photon pair is created inside the crystal. We also discuss some consequences of the system entanglement.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. v3: Minor changes on the text. Some references were include