Global Priorities for Conserving the Evolutionary History of Sharks, Rays, and Chimaeras

In an era of accelerated biodiversity loss and limited conservation resources, systematic prioritization of species and places is essential. In terrestrial vertebrates, evolutionary distinctness has been used to identify species and locations that embody the greatest share of evolutionary history. We estimate evolutionary distinctness for a large marine vertebrate radiation on a dated taxon-complete tree for all 1,192 chondrichthyan fishes (sharks, rays and chimaeras) by augmenting a new 610-species molecular phylogeny using taxonomic constraints. Chondrichthyans are by far the most evolutionarily distinct of all major radiations of jawed vertebrates—the average species embodies 26 million years of unique evolutionary history. With this metric, we identify 21 countries with the highest richness, endemism and evolutionary distinctness of threatened species as targets for conservation prioritization. On average, threatened chondrichthyans are more evolutionarily distinct—further motivating improved conservation, fisheries management and trade regulation to avoid significant pruning of the chondrichthyan tree of life

Lead exposure in an urban community: Investigation of risk factors and assessment of the impact of lead abatement measures

Introduction: A battery recycling plant located in an urbanized area contaminated the environment with lead oxides. The Secretary of Environment of the State of Sao Paulo demanded an evaluation of lead exposure among the population in the vicinity of the plant. Objectives: To assess the lead exposure of children, to propose control measures and evaluate the impact of these measures. Methods: Cross-sectional study of all children 10 mu g/dL were: to live in unpaved areas, parent working in the plant, distance from the plant, to play on the ground, pica, and to drink locally produced milk. After control measures were implemented (closing the plant, soil removal, dust vacuum-cleaning in the households, etc.), a reduction of 46% in BLL was observed considering the 241 reevaluated children with levels > 10 mu g/dL. Conclusions: This study showed that combined abatement measures were effective in reducing BLL in children living close to a contaminating source. These results informed the decision-making process regarding management of contaminated areas in Brazil. (c) 2006 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.103333834