Dinâmica do Carbono Inorgânico Dissolvido nos Rios Teles Pires e Cristalino na Bacia Amazônica

The rivers are extremely important in the carbon cycle, either inthe CO2 out gassing flows or carbon exporters to the oceans. Directmeasuring of CO2 exchanges between the terrestrial ecosystems and theatmosphere should consider the aquatic systems flows, not overestimatingthe carbon terrestrial accumulation. The Amazon basin has the largest andmore complex system of fresh water in the world, so that it holds animportant in the global carbon cycle. The objective of this work was toevaluate, during the period between September 2004 to August 2005, thedynamics of the Total Dissolved Inorganic Carbon (DIC) and fractions(dissolved CO2 + HCO3 - + CO32 -), in the waters of Teles Pires andCristalino rivers, components of the Amazon basin, in the district of AltaFloresta, MT. Fortnightly were determined DIC concentration, pH andtemperature of the rivers. Based in those results and applying thethermodynamic balance equations, it was possible to estimate the pCO2and the carbonate system fractions. The rivers presented a seasonal variationin the pH values, being closer to the neutrality in the drought period. Theconcentration of HCO3- was significantly larger in the drought than duringthe flood season. Both studied rivers were oversaturated in CO2 related tothe atmosphere.Os rios têm importante papel no ciclo do carbono, seja nos fluxosevasivos de CO2 ou como exportadores de carbono para os oceanos. Medidasdiretas de trocas de CO2 entre os ecossistemas terrestres e a atmosferadevem considerar os fluxos dos sistemas aquáticos, para não superestimaro acúmulo terrestre de carbono. A bacia Amazônica forma o maior e maiscomplexo sistema de água doce do mundo, tendo conseqüentemente umimportante papel no ciclo global de carbono. O objetivo deste trabalho foiavaliar, no período compreendido entre os meses de setembro de 2004 aagosto de 2005, a dinâmica do carbono inorgânico dissolvido total (CID) esuas frações (CO2 dissolvido + HCO3- + CO32-) nas águas dos rios TelesPires e Cristalino, componentes da bacia amazônica, no município de AltaFloresta, MT. Quinzenalmente foram determinadas as concentrações deCID, pH e temperatura dos rios. Com base nessas determinações e aplicandoas equações de equilíbrio termodinâmico, estimou-se a pCO2 e asfrações do sistema de carbonatos. Os rios apresentaram variação sazonalnos valores de pH, sendo estes mais próximos da neutralidade no períododa seca. A concentração de HCO3- foi significativamente maior no perío116Ciência e Natura, UFSM, 29(2): 115 - 127, 2007do da seca do que no período da cheia. Ambos os rios estudados apresentaram-se sempre supersaturados de CO2 em relação atmosfera

Avaliação da qualidade ecológica de ambientes aquáticos da bacia hidrográfica do Rio Itanhaém através da assembleia de macrófitas aquáticas: proposta para a formulação de um índice de integridade biótica

This study aimed to evaluate issues related to ecological quality of aquatic environments, with emphasis in aquatic macrophytes. Initially we developed a scientometric analysis in order to verify the global view of the studies dealing with ecological quality and index of biotic integrity (IBI), and try to provide an overview of ecosystems, organisms and regions that mostly used these indicators, as well as a critical analysis of the trends, applications and limitations of this approach. Our results indicate a lack of uniformity in the distribution of the number of studies by continent, mainly in tropical regions. Moreover, few studies have focused in more than one biological group to assess the ecological quality of aquatic environments. After, we used macrophyte aquatic data from Itanhaém River Basin, located in the south littoral of São Paulo State, to develop two more studies. First, we evaluated the influence of environmental variables on species richness and life form richness in order to verify which natural and anthropogenic factors are most important in structuring the plant assemblages. Both natural and anthropogenic factors were responsible for explaining the species richness and life forms richness in aquatic environments studied. Finally, we explored the use of macrophytes as indicators of the river ecological conditions in tropical rivers, in order to develop a multimetric IBI. Our results showed that the macrophyte assemblage structure is distinct in degraded and undisturbed sites, allowing the development of an IBI. Although the validation of the IBI has not shown good results, this study allowed a better understanding of ecological conditions in these aquatic environments and consists in a relevant contribution for future studies involving assessment and biomonitoring in tropical aquatic ecosystemsEste trabalho teve como principal objetivo avaliar questões referentes à avaliação da qualidade ecológica de ambientes aquáticos, com ênfase em macrófitas aquáticas. Inicialmente fizemos uma análise cienciométrica a fim de verificar o panorama global dos estudos sobre qualidade ecológica e índices de integridade biótica e tentamos fornecer uma visão geral sobre os ecossistemas, organismos e regiões que mais utilizam esses indicadores, bem como uma análise crítica sobre as tendências, aplicações e limitações dessa abordagem. Nossos resultados indicam que há uma falta de uniformidade na distribuição do número de estudos por continente, principalmente em regiões tropicais. Além disso, poucos estudos consideram mais do que um grupo de organismos para avaliar a qualidade ecológica de ambientes aquáticos. Em seguida, utilizamos dados de macrófitas aquáticas presentes na bacia hidrográfica do Rio Itanhaém, situada no litoral sul do Estado de São Paulo, para desenvolver mais dois estudos. O primeiro deles avaliou a influência das variáveis ambientais sobre a riqueza de espécies e riqueza de formas de vida, com o intuito de verificar quais fatores naturais e antropogênicos são mais importantes na estruturação da assembleia de macrófitas aquáticas. Tanto fatores naturais quanto antrópicos foram responsáveis por explicar a riqueza de espécies e formas de vida nos ambientes aquáticos estudados. Por fim, nós exploramos o uso de macrófitas aquáticas como indicadoras da integridade ecológica dos ambientes aquáticos da bacia do Rio Itanhaém, a fim de desenvolver um índice multimétrico. Nossos resultados mostraram que a estrutura da assembleia de macrófitas é distinta em locais degradados e não impactados, permitindo o desenvolvimento do índice. Embora o processo de validação do índice não tenha apresentado bons resultados, este estudo permitiu um melhor entendimento das condições ecológicas..

An analysis of publications on invasive macrophytes in aquatic ecosystems

In this study, we performed a scientometric analysis of published scientific papers on the biological invasion of macrophytes in freshwater ecosystems to assess the main trends and gaps in research concerning this group of organisms. The analysis showed that publications on invasive macrophytes increased exponentially in the last decade. However, the activity index (a comparison of the quantitative trends of invasive macrophytes in relation to all of the papers on macrophytes) indicated that invasive macrophytes have not been consistently studied more than other topics in the field of limnology over the last decade. The most studied macrophyte species were Myriophyllum spicatum, Hydrilla verticillata, Phragmites australis and Eichhornia crassipes. Certain gaps were related to the limited number of studies on the important species threatening tropical ecosystems, under-representation of investigations on the impacts of invasive macrophytes on fish and lack of studies associating macrophytes with microorganisms (bacteria and fungi). Studies that encompassed several levels of biological complexity were also scarce, indicating that the studies were fragmented at specific levels. Finally, there was a clear geographical bias, with fewer studies occurring in Neotropical and Afrotropical regions. Identification of these gaps may be useful for addressing future studies that might help evaluate the causes of invasion by macrophytes and the impacts of such invasions on freshwater ecosystems.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Histopathological study of corpora amylacea pulmonum

In this paper, we present a rare disorder which is known as corpora amylacea pulmonum. X-ray CT scanning showed an abnormal focus of the lung as a solitary mass with high density and spicular features around the surface. The resected l u n ~ti ssue was - - U characterized by the appearance of round, concentrically laminated acellular bodies about 40-80 microns in diameter. The bodies were usually found lying free in the alveolar space and surrounded by the exudate alveolar macrophages or multinuclear giant cells. Some of these macrophages were in a state of progressive degeneration. The bodies showed an affinity for Congo red and exhibited partial birefringence. Moreover, al1 the bodies had a strong positivity for the PAS reaction and anti lysozyme antibodies. The exudate alveolar macrophages and multinuclear giant cells also displayed reactivity for PAS and lysozyme in a similar manner to that of the bodies. Electron microscopically the bodies were fundamentally composed of fibrillar elements, which bore some resemblance to amyloid fibrils and probably accounted for the partial affinity of the bodies for Congo red. These amyloid-like fibrils were also found in the cytoplasm of the macrophages. This suggested that the concentrically laminated bodies in corpora amylacea pulmonum might be formed by sequential aggregation, fusion, coalescence and compaction of degenerated alveolar macrophages