Small mammal responses to Amazonian forest islands are modulated by their forest dependence

Hydroelectric dams have induced widespread loss, fragmentation and degradation of terrestrial habitats in lowland tropical forests. Yet their ecological impacts have been widely neglected, particularly in developing countries, which are currently earmarked for exponential hydropower development. Here we assess small mammal assemblage responses to Amazonian forest habitat insularization induced by the 28-year-old Balbina Hydroelectric Dam. We sampled small mammals on 25 forest islands (0.83–1466 ha) and four continuous forest sites in the mainland to assess the overall community structure and species-specific responses to forest insularization. We classified all species according to their degree of forest-dependency using a multi-scale approach, considering landscape, patch and local habitat characteristics. Based on 65,520 trap-nights, we recorded 884 individuals of at least 22 small mammal species. Species richness was best predicted by island area and isolation, with small islands ( 200 ha; 10.8 ± 1.3 species) and continuous forest sites (∞ ha; 12.5 ± 2.5 species) exhibited similarly high species richness. Forest-dependent species showed higher local extinction rates and were often either absent or persisted at low abundances on small islands, where non-forest-dependent species became hyper-abundant. Species capacity to use non-forest habitat matrices appears to dictate small mammal success in small isolated islands. We suggest that ecosystem functioning may be highly disrupted on small islands, which account for 62.7% of all 3546 islands in the Balbina Reservoir

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

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Cirurgia bariátrica: repercussões na vida laboral do obeso

Pesquisa descritivo-exploratória que objetivou conhecer as repercussões da cirurgia bariátrica na vida laboral do obeso grau III, com pacientes submetidos à gastroplastia em Y de Roux. A coleta de dados foi realizada de junho a julho de 2011, por meio de entrevista individual, originando três Discursos do Sujeito Coletivo: “Mais disposição para o trabalho”, “A vida sem comorbidades” e “Outras repercussões da cirurgia bariátrica”. Foram incluídos 30 pacientes com média de idade 44±12 anos, sendo 24 (80%) do sexo feminino, 19 (63%) que trabalhavam, 10 (34%) que não trabalhavam, um (3,3%) estudante, 23 (96%) hipertensos e oito (33%) com diagnóstico de Diabetes Mellitus. Constatou-se, também, que 13 (43%) tinham dificuldades no aspecto físico e que 21 (70%) as tinham no aspecto emocional. A cirurgia bariátrica repercutiu favoravelmente na vida laboral do obeso, uma vez que houve redução das comorbidades e das dificuldades físicas e emocionais, favorecendo a reinserção social e profissional do indivíduo