RESIDUOS SÓLIDOS DOMÉSTICOS: ESTUDO DE CASO DO ÓLEO VEGETAL RESIDUAL NO BAIRRO MORADA DA SERRA CUIABÁ/MT

O presente trabalho aduz as adversidades ocasionadas pelos óleos vegetais residuais, como poluentes ambientais, bem como suas potencialidades como matérias-primas para a obtenção de produtos para a sociedade. O descarte inadequado dos óleos de cozinha após a utilização nos processos de fritura se constitui num grave problema ambiental, com impactos diretos nos mananciais hídricos, no solo e no ar. É um problema que tem sua origem nas próprias residências, decorrente da falta de informação e conscientização da população. Este artigo tem por objetivo, identificar o destino dado ao óleo proveniente de frituras dos domicílios do bairro Morada da Serra Três Setor Quatro – Cuiabá/MT, bem como sugeri alternativas sustentáveis para o reaproveitamento do óleo residual. Esclarece também os danos ambientais causados pelo descarte inadequado do óleo residual e apresenta alternativas para evitá-los. A maioria da população ainda descarta os resíduos oleosos de maneira inadequada, seja pelo esgoto doméstico, lixo comum ou diretamente no solo e ainda não existe um sistema efetivo de coleta bem como educação ambiental para mitigar o impacto deste contexto problemático. Assim entendemos que o poder público tem a obrigação de tomar medidas urgentes que atendam todo o município de Cuiabá no quesito coleta de óleo vegetal residual e execução de um programa de educação ambiental para a sensibilização

Impacts of 1.5°C Global Warming on Natural and Human Systems

An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate povert

High Mountain Areas

The cryosphere (including, snow, glaciers, permafrost, lake and river ice) is an integral element of high-mountain regions, which are home to roughly 10% of the global population. Widespread cryosphere changes affect physical, biological and human systems in the mountains and surrounding lowlands, with impacts evident even in the ocean. Building on the IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), this chapter assesses new evidence on observed recent and projected changes in the mountain cryosphere as well as associated impacts, risks and adaptation measures related to natural and human systems. Impacts in response to climate changes independently of changes in the cryosphere are not assessed in this chapter. Polar mountains are included in Chapter 3, except those in Alaska and adjacent Yukon, Iceland, and Scandinavia, which are included in this chapter

MPI-Ding reference glasses for in situ microanalysis: New reference values for element concentrations and isotope ratios

We present new analytical data of major and trace elements for the geological MPI-DING glasses KL2-G, ML3B-G, StHs6/80-G, GOR128-G, GOR132-G, BM90/21-G, T1-G, and ATHO-G. Different analytical methods were used to obtain a large spectrum of major and trace element data, in particular, EPMA, SIMS, LA-ICPMS, and isotope dilution by TIMS and ICPMS. Altogether, more than 60 qualified geochemical laboratories worldwide contributed to the analyses, allowing us to present new reference and information values and their uncertainties (at 95% confidence level) for up to 74 elements. We complied with the recommendations for the certification of geological reference materials by the International Association of Geoanalysts (IAG). The reference values were derived from the results of 16 independent techniques, including definitive (isotope dilution) and comparative bulk (e.g., INAA, ICPMS, SSMS) and microanalytical (e.g., LA-ICPMS, SIMS, EPMA) methods. Agreement between two or more independent methods and the use of definitive methods provided traceability to the fullest extent possible. We also present new and recently published data for the isotopic compositions of H, B, Li, O, Ca, Sr, Nd, Hf, and Pb. The results were mainly obtained by high-precision bulk techniques, such as TIMS and MC-ICPMS. In addition, LA-ICPMS and SIMS isotope data of B, Li, and Pb are presented

Physiological flexibility of free-living aardvarks (Orycteropus afer) in response to environmental fluctuations

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Johannesburg, South Africa June 2018.Aardvarks (Orycteropus afer) are ecological engineers because they dig the burrows that provide shelter for numerous sympatric animals and, as such, are keystone mammals in sub-Saharan Africa. They are nocturnally-active, solitary and elusive. As a result, aardvark ecophysiology is poorly understood, despite their ecological significance. Much of their range is becoming hotter and drier with global climate change, with potential impacts on the aardvarks. A recent drought in the Kalahari in the summer of 2012-13 coincided with high aardvark mortality. The Kalahari semi-desert at the south-western edge of aardvark distribution is the hottest and driest environment currently inhabited by aardvarks. Climate change will likely exacerbate the Kalahari’s harsh conditions through increased aridification and higher environmental temperatures. Whether the physiological plasticity of aardvarks will allow them to buffer such changes is unknown. I therefore studied wild, free-living aardvarks for ~3.5 years (July 2012 to September 2015) at Tswalu Kalahari Reserve, South Africa. Aardvarks were implanted with VHF-tracking units and data loggers to record body temperature and locomotor activity. Camera traps at burrows recorded the aardvarks’ times of emergence. I scored aardvark body condition and collected fresh scats for dietary analysis. Aardvarks typically feed exclusively on ants and termites, which depend largely on vegetation productivity. Thus, I assessed prey abundance and availability monthly using pitfall traps and signs of termite surface activity, and assessed vegetation productivity using field-based transect methods and remote-sensing data (MODIS-EVI). I subsequently measured energy and water content of the aardvarks’ main prey items. Harvester termites (Hodotermes mossambicus) were the most important dietary item for aardvarks throughout the study period, accounting for ~75 % of prey ingested, and providing ~90 % of water and energy needs. By contrast, research in less arid southern African regions found ants to be the dominant dietary item. Although the aardvarks’ regional flexibility in feeding on the most abundant social insects likely improves survival under normal conditions, aardvark well-being in the Kalahari might depend on fluctuations in harvester termite populations. I found that harvester termite abundance correlated with grass availability, which in turn depended on rainfall. During my study, inter-annual variability in rainfall was high; two good rainfall years occurred which had large amounts of rainfall early in the wet season, resulting in high vegetation productivity. During these years, ant (largely in summer) and termite abundances were high, thus aardvarks obtained sufficient prey to cover their minimum daily energy and water requirements, and were in good body condition. Irrespective of the season, aardvarks in good condition remained nocturnal, and were homeothermic, with a low 24-h amplitude of body temperature rhythm (~2.5 °C; varying from 35 to 37.5 °C). Their body temperature rhythm over 24-h closely tracked that of activity, with body temperature increasing at the beginning of the active phase, and declining at the end of the active phase. A drought during summer 2012-13 likely resulted in local declines of termite populations, such that aardvarks were no longer able to meet their energetic requirements. A mass mortality of aardvarks occurred at the end of the summer drought, and surviving aardvarks were in poor condition. Nutritionally-compromised aardvarks relaxed the precision of body temperature regulation, resulting in heterothermy with a high 24-h amplitude of body temperature rhythm, primarily because of low minimum 24-h body temperature (~25 °C). These nutritionally-compromised aardvarks became partly diurnal, some shifting activity entirely to the daytime in the weeks leading up to their deaths. In moribund aardvarks, a dissociation of the 24-h rhythm of body temperature and activity occurred, with minimum 24-h body temperatures occurring during daytime activity, and maximum 24-h body temperature while resting at night. By the winter that followed the summer drought, the late and poor summer rains had not sufficed to ensure a complete recovery of the termite and ant populations at Tswalu. The aardvarks displayed exaggerated heterothermy with 24-h amplitude of body temperature rhythm as high as 11.7 °C, the greatest amplitude ever recorded in a large mammal. During this winter, many aardvarks were in poor body condition and started foraging unusually early, during midday, presumably to compensate for their energetic needs. Some individuals basked in the sun outside their burrows for lengthy periods, thereby passively increasing their body temperature and potentially allowing for savings of up to 7 % of daily energy requirements. However, these energy-saving strategies were not sufficient in all aardvarks to prevent death by starvation, and many more individuals died. This study was the first long-term, and the most comprehensive, study of aardvark diet, behaviour, and thermoregulation in response to prey availability to date. To my knowledge, it was also one of the first studies to record physiological variables in a free-ranging large mammal over a period of more than one year, thereby allowing the assessment of physiological flexibility of aardvarks in response to seasonal and annual changes in the environment. Moreover, it was the first study identifying termites as the aardvark’s key prey item, and the first to estimate the aardvark’s energetic needs in relation to fluctuating food resources as a result of drought. Records of body temperature and activity patterns provided useful direct indicators of physiological well-being in aardvarks. Vegetation cover was a useful index of termite abundance, and thus aardvark resource availability. Understanding the physiological and behavioural limitations of animals in arid ecosystems is vital for assessing responses to increased environmental stress resulting from current and ongoing climate change. The anticipated increase in the frequency and intensity of droughts will likely result in a decline in grass biomass throughout Africa, impacting on termites and other herbivores. Termite declines were likely the main cause of the Kalahari aardvark mass mortality following the drought in the summer of 2012-13. I advocate that future environmental stressors such as drought-induced lack of resources, brought about by climate change, pose a greater threat to aardvarks than previously thought. Aardvark extirpation in the Kalahari will likely have severe cascading effects on other animals co-using aardvark burrows.LG201

Increased Diurnal Activity Is Indicative of Energy Deficit in a Nocturnal Mammal, the Aardvark

International audienceShifting activity to cooler times of day buffers animals from increased heat and aridity under climate change. Conversely, when resources are limited, some nocturnal species become more diurnal, reducing energetic costs of keeping warm at night. Aardvarks (Orycteropus afer) are nocturnal, obligate ant- and termite-eating mammals which may be threatened directly by increasing heat and aridity, or indirectly by the effects of climate change on their prey. We hypothesised that the minimum 24-h body temperature of aardvarks would decline during energy scarcity, and that aardvarks would extend their active phases to compensate for reduced resource availability, possibly resulting in increased diurnal activity when aardvarks were energetically compromised. To measure their thermoregulatory patterns and foraging activity, we implanted abdominal temperature and activity data loggers into 12 adult aardvarks and observed them for varying durations over 3 years in the Kalahari. Under non-drought conditions, aardvarks tightly controlled their 24-h body temperature rhythm (mean amplitude of the 24-h body temperature rhythm was 1.8 ± 0.3°C during summer and 2.1 ± 0.1°C during winter) and usually were nocturnal. During a summer drought, aardvarks relaxed the precision of body temperature regulation (mean 24-h amplitude 2.3 ± 0.4°C) and those that subsequently died shifted their activity to progressively earlier times of day in the weeks before their deaths. Throughout the subsequent winter, the aardvarks’ minimum 24-h body temperatures declined, causing exaggerated heterothermy (4.7 ± 1.3°C; absolute range 24.7 to 38.8°C), with one individual’s body temperature varying by 11.7°C within 8 h. When body temperatures were low, aardvarks often emerged from burrows during daytime, and occasionally returned before sunset, resulting in completely diurnal activity. Aardvarks also shortened their active periods by 25% during food scarcity, likely to avoid energetic costs incurred by foraging. Despite their physiological and behavioural flexibility, aardvarks were unable to compensate for reduced food availability. Seven study aardvarks and several others died, presumably from starvation. Our results do not bode well for aardvarks facing climate change, and for the many animal species dependent on aardvark burrows for refuge

Metagenomics uncovers dietary adaptations for chitin digestion in the gut microbiota of convergent myrmecophagous mammals

International audienceABSTRACT In mammals, myrmecophagy (ant and termite consumption) represents a striking example of dietary convergence. This trait evolved independently at least five times in placentals with myrmecophagous species comprising aardvarks, anteaters, some armadillos, pangolins, and aardwolves. The gut microbiome plays an important role in dietary adaptation, and previous analyses of 16S rRNA metabarcoding data have revealed convergence in the composition of the gut microbiota among some myrmecophagous species. However, the functions performed by these gut bacterial symbionts and their potential role in the digestion of prey chitinous exoskeletons remain open questions. Using long- and short-read sequencing of fecal samples, we generated 29 gut metagenomes from nine myrmecophagous and closely related insectivorous species sampled in French Guiana, South Africa, and the United States. From these, we reconstructed 314 high-quality bacterial genome bins of which 132 carried chitinase genes, highlighting their potential role in insect prey digestion. These chitinolytic bacteria belonged mainly to the family Lachnospiraceae, and some were likely convergently recruited in the different myrmecophagous species as they were detected in several host orders (i.e., Enterococcus faecalis , Blautia sp.), suggesting that they could be directly involved in the adaptation to myrmecophagy. Others were found to be more host-specific, possibly reflecting phylogenetic constraints and environmental influences. Overall, our results highlight the potential role of the gut microbiome in chitin digestion in myrmecophagous mammals and provide the basis for future comparative studies performed at the mammalian scale to further unravel the mechanisms underlying the convergent adaptation to myrmecophagy. IMPORTANCE Myrmecophagous mammals are specialized in the consumption of ants and/or termites. They do not share a direct common ancestor and evolved convergently in five distinct placental orders raising questions about the underlying adaptive mechanisms involved and the relative contribution of natural selection and phylogenetic constraints. Understanding how these species digest their prey can help answer these questions. More specifically, the role of their gut microbial symbionts in the digestion of the insect chitinous exoskeleton has not been investigated in all myrmecophagous orders. We generated 29 new gut metagenomes from nine myrmecophagous species to reconstruct more than 300 bacterial genomes in which we identified chitin-degrading enzymes. Studying the distribution of these chitinolytic bacteria among hosts revealed both shared and specific bacteria between ant-eating species. Overall, our results highlight the potential role of gut symbionts in the convergent dietary adaptation of myrmecophagous mammals and the evolutionary mechanisms shaping their gut microbiota