Que idade podem alcançar as castanheiras (Bertholletia excelsa) da Amazônia?

The age of a large Brazil-nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) is measured by radiocarbon dating, and a discussion is made about their importance in the Amazon rain-forest ecosystem.A idade de uma castanheira (Bertholletia excelsa) grande é medida por datação radiocarbônica e uma discussão é feita a respeito de sua importância no ecosistema da floresta amazônica

Que idade podem alcançar as castanheiras (Bertholletia excelsa) da Amazônia?

The age of a large Brazil-nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) is measured by radiocarbon dating, and a discussion is made about their importance in the Amazon rain-forest ecosystem.A idade de uma castanheira (Bertholletia excelsa) grande é medida por datação radiocarbônica e uma discussão é feita a respeito de sua importância no ecosistema da floresta amazônica

The forward physics facility at the high-luminosity LHC

High energy collisions at the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce a large number of particles along the beam collision axis, outside of the acceptance of existing LHC experiments. The proposed Forward Physics Facility (FPF), to be located several hundred meters from the ATLAS interaction point and shielded by concrete and rock, will host a suite of experiments to probe standard model (SM) processes and search for physics beyond the standard model (BSM). In this report, we review the status of the civil engineering plans and the experiments to explore the diverse physics signals that can be uniquely probed in the forward region. FPF experiments will be sensitive to a broad range of BSM physics through searches for new particle scattering or decay signatures and deviations from SM expectations in high statistics analyses with TeV neutrinos in this low-background environment. High statistics neutrino detection will also provide valuable data for fundamental topics in perturbative and non-perturbative QCD and in weak interactions. Experiments at the FPF will enable synergies between forward particle production at the LHC and astroparticle physics to be exploited. We report here on these physics topics, on infrastructure, detector, and simulation studies, and on future directions to realize the FPF's physics potential

Stable Isotope Evidence Of Puma Concolor (felidae) Feeding Patterns In Agricultural Landscapes In Southeastern Brazil

We evaluated puma (Puma concolor) feeding patterns in southeastern Brazilian agricultural landscapes using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses of hair collected from fecal samples (N = 64). We classified the samples into three groups: feeding patterns based on forest remnants, on the agricultural matrix or both. We observed a predominance of consumption of C3 prey (~47% of individuals) in the area with the highest proportion of forest coverage. Conversely, C4 prey were highly consumed (~40% of individuals) where the agricultural matrix was predominant. The δ13C values for pumas in both areas indicated that their food resources come from both forest remnants and the agricultural matrix and that some individuals preferentially consumed C4 prey, indicating that food resources from the agricultural matrix make up most of their diet (~46% of prey individuals). The wide range of puma's δ15N values in both areas indicated a diet based on different types of prey. 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What drives the seasonality of photosynthesis across the Amazon basin? A cross-site analysis of eddy flux tower measurements from the Brazil flux network

We investigated the seasonal patterns of Amazonian forest photosynthetic activity, and the effects thereon of variations in climate and land-use, by integrating data from a network of ground-based eddy flux towers in Brazil established as part of the ‘Large-Scale Biosphere Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia’ project. We found that degree of water limitation, as indicated by the seasonality of the ratio of sensible to latent heat flux (Bowen ratio) predicts seasonal patterns of photosynthesis. In equatorial Amazonian forests (5° N–5° S), water limitation is absent, and photosynthetic fluxes (or gross ecosystem productivity, GEP) exhibit high or increasing levels of photosynthetic activity as the dry season progresses, likely a consequence of allocation to growth of new leaves. In contrast, forests along the southern flank of the Amazon, pastures converted from forest, and mixed forest-grass savanna, exhibit dry-season declines in GEP, consistent with increasing degrees of water limitation. Although previous work showed tropical ecosystem evapotranspiration (ET) is driven by incoming radiation, GEP observations reported here surprisingly show no or negative relationships with photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). Instead, GEP fluxes largely followed the phenology of canopy photosynthetic capacity (Pc), with only deviations from this primary pattern driven by variations in PAR. Estimates of leaf flush at three non-water limited equatorial forest sites peak in the dry season, in correlation with high dry season light levels. The higher photosynthetic capacity that follows persists into the wet season, driving high GEP that is out of phase with sunlight, explaining the negative observed relationship with sunlight. Overall, these patterns suggest that at sites where water is not limiting, light interacts with adaptive mechanisms to determine photosynthetic capacity indirectly through leaf flush and litterfall seasonality. These mechanisms are poorly represented in ecosystem models, and represent an important challenge to efforts to predict tropical forest responses to climatic variations

Rainforest-to-pasture conversion stimulates soil methanogenesis across the Brazilian Amazon

The Amazon rainforest is a biodiversity hotspot and large terrestrial carbon sink threatened by agricultural conversion. Rainforest-to-pasture conversion stimulates the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The biotic methane cycle is driven by microorganisms; therefore, this study focused on active methane-cycling microorganisms and their functions across land-use types. We collected intact soil cores from three land use types (primary rainforest, pasture, and secondary rainforest) of two geographically distinct areas of the Brazilian Amazon (Santarém, Pará and Ariquemes, Rondônia) and performed DNA stable-isotope probing coupled with metagenomics to identify the active methanotrophs and methanogens. At both locations, we observed a significant change in the composition of the isotope-labeled methane-cycling microbial community across land use types, specifically an increase in the abundance and diversity of active methanogens in pastures. We conclude that a significant increase in the abundance and activity of methanogens in pasture soils could drive increased soil methane emissions. Furthermore, we found that secondary rainforests had decreased methanogenic activity similar to primary rainforests, and thus a potential to recover as methane sinks, making it conceivable for forest restoration to offset greenhouse gas emissions in the tropics. These findings are critical for informing land management practices and global tropical rainforest conservation

Interação calagem-adubação nitrogenada na produção de sorgo sob deficiência hídrica em rotação com soja Interation of lime and nitrogen fertilization on the yield of sorghum under drought in rotation with soybeans

No ano agrícola 1983/84, conduziu-se um exerimento num Latossolo Vermelho-Escuro álico na Estação Experimental de Mococa, SP, plantando o sorgo cultivar Contigrão 111 em parcelas que receberam calagem em 1980 nas doses equivalentes a 1, 4, 7 e 10t/ha de calcário dolomítico, e foram cultivadas por três anos com soja. Nas subparcelas, aplicaram-se 0, 40, 80 e 120kg/ha de nitrogênio em cobertura 35 dias depois da germinação. Os resultados mostraram que a calagem elevou substancialmente a produção, mesmo com a drástica deficiência hídrica ocorrida na fase reprodutiva da cultura. A calagem eliminou as limitações impostas pela toxicidade de alumínio e aumentou a disponibilidade do nitrogênio proveniente dos restos da cultura de soja. Em todos os níveis de calagem, houve aumento linear de concentração de nitrogênio nas folhas de sorgo, em função das doses de nitrogênio em cobertura, mas as quantidades necessárias para atingir níveis adequados de N nas folhas foram substancialmente reduzidas nos níveis mais altos de calagem.<br>An experiment was conducted during the summer of 1983/84 in a clay textured allic, dark red Latosol at Mococa Experimental Station, State of São Paulo, Brazil. Sorghum Contigrão 111 was planted in plots that had received the equivalent to 1, 4, 7 and 10 t/ ha of dolomitic limestone in 1980. These plots were cultivated continuously with soybeans during the three previous years. In the subplots, 0, 40, 80 and 120 of N were applied as side dressing 35 days after germination. The results showed that liming increased the yield of grain sorghum despite the drought at the seed filling stage. It also decreased the toxic effect of aluminum and increased the availability of N from the residues of previous soybean crops. At all the liming rates a linear increase was observed in the leaf N concentration as a function of the rates of nitrogen applied as side dressing. The quantity of N fertilizer required to attain adequate leaf N concentration was substancially reduced at the higher rates of lime applied