Echinodermata from São Sebastião Channel (São Paulo, Brazil)

Faunal inventories are extremely important, especially when focused on neglected groups, such as echinoderms, and concentrated on areas under intense anthropic activity such as the SAo Sebastilo Channel in Brazil (23 degrees 41' - 23 degrees 54' S and 45 degrees 19' - 45 degrees 30' W). Intertidal and upper sublittoral zone collections were performed at five sites of the Channel's continental margin from May to August 2001. The rocky substrate down to 19 m deep was surveyed by snorkeling and SCUBA diving from August 2002 to May 2004, on both margins of the Channel: continental (14 sites) and insular (10 sites). We report a total of 38 species of echinoderms (one Crinoidea, nine Asteroidea, 13 Ophiuroidea, nine Echinoidea and six Holothuroidea). Seven of those species have been recorded here for the first time for the Channel (four Asteroidea, two Ophiuroidea and one Echinoidea).     

Environmental variables and intertidal beach annelids of São Sebastião Channel (State of São Paulo,Brazil)

Benthic annelid communities were studied during a one-year period (August/95 to July/96) in two sectors of the beaches Engenho d'Agua and S?o Francisco, S?o Sebasti?o Channel (S?o Paulo, Brazil), where the substrate is composed by a mixture of sand and rock fragments. Abiotic parameters such as salinity of interstitial water and sediment properties were used to characterize the environment. The polychaetes were well represented in the two sectors and their distribution was related with sediment type. The density of individuals and the number of taxa was higher at S?o Francisco, while the diversity and the evenness were higher at Engenho d'Agua. This difference can be a consequence of organic enrichment caused by domestic input, and of the lower and more variable salinity at S?o Francisco. Due to these factors, the high density of opportunistic species, like Capitella capitata ssp., Scolelepis squamata, Laeonereis acuta and several oligochaetes, represented 75.5% of total abundance at this sector.     

Ecogenetic studies in Atacameño Indians

Summary Aldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency, N-acetyltransferase variation and the polymorphisms of ¹-antitrypsin, serum cholinesterase, paraoxonase, and -aminolevulinic acid dehydratase were investigated in 180 Atacameño Indians from the North of Chile. The genetic predisposition of these individuals for possible atypical reactions against environmental agents and drugs, as well as general implications of these findings, are discussed.Dedicated to Professor Dr. H. Hilz on the occasion of his 60th birthday     

Notes on Costeño cultural politics

The article fundamentally endorses Schroeder’s findings that Augusto Sandino failed to develop a significant base among the peoples of the Atlantic Coast. This article also places Schroeder’s argument in a comparative perspective, as it discusses the early 1930s rural mobilization in El Salvador, outlining how the Salvadoran left’s social egalitarian appeals compensated for a degree of cultural insensitivity and lack of knowledge regarding the indigenous peoples of the western part of the country. The article also questions the placement of the mining area as outside of the Atlantic Coast region. It suggests the historical connections of Miskitu Indians and the mining communities and in so doing modifies, to a degree, Schroeder’s argument about the desencuentro between Sandino and the indigenous people.     

Micropropagation of Stryphnodendron polyphythum (Barbatimão)

Stryphnodendron polyphythum Mart., popularly known as Barbatimão, is a native Brazilian tree widely used in folk medicine as a wound healing agent. Cotyledonary node segments were placed on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with different types and concentrations of cytokinins. The medium that gave best shoot proliferation contained 13.3 M 6-benzyladenine (BA). However, MS supplemented with 0.04 M BA and 0.005 M indole-3-acetic-acid enhanced shoot length. Root formation was best on shoots inserted into medium with half-strength macronutrients supplemented with 5.37 M naphthaleneacetic acid and 80 mg 1^–1 phloroglucinol.     

Distribution of fishes in the Río Guayalejo-Río Tamesí system and relationships with environmental factors in northeastern Mexico

A priority issue in ecology and biogeography is understanding the patterns in species diversity and the causal factors of their distribution, which allows the generation of information for conservation strategies. The longitudinal distribution of fishes and their relationships with environmental variables were studied in the Guayalejo-Río Tamesí system (northeastern Mexico) from February 2000 to July 2001. A total of 5918 fish were caught in 27 collections along an altitudinal gradient in the main river course, from high mountain (1500 masl) to coastal plain near Tampico. Forty-three native and five exotic species, belonging to 35 genera in 23 families, were identified. Cluster analyses identified four major fish habitats in the river system. A distinctive euryhaline marine fish habitat (1) occurs near the mouth with native and two exotic species. Two other habitats consist essentially of freshwater fish species that are distributed along the longitudinal gradient. One of these habitats (habitat 4) shows greater diversity, as per the Shannon index value, and also includes amphidromous fish, in addition to two exotic freshwater fish; the other (habitat 2) includes freshwater, euryhaline and three exotic species. The changes in the frequency of occurrence and the abundance of Gambusia vittata, Astyanax mexicanus, and Xiphophorus variatus contribute to explaining differences between these habitats. Another habitat (3) is represented by two sampling sites located near the mouth and consist of freshwater and euryhaline fish and three exotic cyprinids with broad salinity tolerance. The low abundance and richness of exotic species suggest little impact on native fish fauna in this river. The fish assemblage of the Guayalejo-Tamesí river system species changes along a longitudinal gradient with the addition, replacement and presence of indicator species. Upstream fish fauna is mostly composed of freshwater species, some of them generalists that inhabit the entire longitudinal gradient, others that are restricted to certain sites, and the remainder of species is an assemblage composed of a mixture of euryhaline freshwater and marine species near the mouth.     

Aphids (Hemiptera: Aphidoidea) of ornamental plants from São Carlos,São Paulo state,Brazil

A total of 25 aphid species were collected from 49 ornamental plant species in S?o Carlos-S?o Paulo, Brazil; 12 aphids were monophagous, four oligophagous and nine polyphagous. A total of 58 aphid-plant associations are recorded, 43 unknown from Brazil. Eucarazzia elegans (Ferrari, 1872) (Aphididae: Aphidinae: Macrosiphini) is recorded for the first time from Brazil, and Nectandra megapotamica Spreng. (Lauraceae) is recorded for the first time as host plant for Lizerius tuberculatus (E.E. Blanchard, 1939) (Drepanosiphidae: Drepanosiphinae: Lizeriini). We also describe the injuries caused by aphids to the ornamental plants.     

Control of oötheca formation and oviposition in Blattaria

The brain is not required for oviposition in five species of Blaberidae; the control centre for formation, 90° counterclockwise rotation, and retraction of the oötheca lies in the abdomen. A similar centre controls oötheca formation and 90° clockwise rotation in Blattella germanica (Blattellidae). It is suggested that during oviposition, abdominal proprioceptors or musculature contribute nervous information to the last abdominal ganglion. Nerve impulses are presumably integrated in the last abdominal ganglion and transmitted to the colleterial glands, oviducts, and ovipositor. In Periplaneta americana (Blattidae), the brain is needed for initiating egg case formation, but it is unnecessary once the process has begun. The results suggest a divergence of control centres for oviposition between the Blaberoidea and Blattoidea.     

El Niño,volcanism, and global climate

The June 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the Philippines produced one of the greatest volcanic aerosols in the last hundred years. The estimated net decrease of radiation may have peaked at 10% in the tropics. What was the impact of the Pinatubo aerosol on regional and global climate? Besides the expected net cooling of the average global surface temperature, correlation studies indicate that other types of climate anomalies may also be expected. These include the appearance of an El Niño event, decreased Indian monsoon rainfall, fewer tropical storms in the north Atlantic Ocean in 1991–1993, and normal to above normal winter rainfall in California in 1991/92, all of which were observed. A proposed physical mechanism for the almost-simultaneous occurrence of this constellation of climate anomalies is presented. The results of correlation studies between low-latitude volcanic aerosols and the El Niño/Southern Oscillation are presented in some detail as one example. The correlation between Indian monsoon rainfall and tropical storms in the north Atlantic Ocean is also shown and is updated for the most recent 5 years.     

The ‘salão’ vegetation of Southwestern Amazonia

This paper presents a first account of the salão vegetation of southwestern Amazonia, a frequent but poorly known formation and unusual in that it is a lowland moist tropical environment in which virtually all of the plant diversity is accounted for by herbs. The salões occur along canalized portions of the Purus and Juruá river basins, and their substrates consist of exposed parent materials that characterize much of this sector of Amazonia but are usually overlain by a relatively thin (<1 m) layer of soil. They are constantly moist seeps or ‘seepage banks,’ and the lower portions are seasonally submerged. Strata are recognizable in the vegetation, and the physiognomy and composition of each vegetation band of the salões is likely determined by the slope, the parent material, and (for lower bands) the duration of flooding. To date the salão flora has registered 66 species: 11 bryophytes, 12 ferns, and 43 angiosperms. Five of the bryophyte species, two ferns, and one grass, Arundinella berteroniana, are found in most if not all salões and can be considered indicators of this vegetation type, while most of the pteridophytes and other angiosperms occur more sporadically. None of the species is endemic to the formation and only four to the region; most are associated generally with the margins of rivers, lakes, and streams, often on rocky or sandy substrates. The floristic and conservation significance of this formation lie in its apparent affinities with montane regions, in the fact that 21 species and eight genera are recorded for the Acre flora only from the salões, and in its local value as a source of filtered potable water.     

Drastic effects of El Niño on Galapagos pinnipeds

Summary Population dynamics of pinnipeds living in the tropical upwelling ecosystem of the Galapagos were strongly influenced by the 1982–83 Southern Oscillation-El Niño (EN) event which was the strongest recorded in this century. The Galapagos fur seal (Arctocephalus galapagoensis) population lost the four youngest year classes (1980–1983) almost entirely and approximately 30% of the adult females and non-territorial males. Mortality of large territorial males was almost 100%. Most of the 1982 year class of Galapagos sea lions (Zalophus californianus wollebaeki) died and there was a much lower pup production in the breeding season following EN. Recurrent EN events must strongly influence age structure and average population size of these and other otariid species depending on tropical upwelling ecosystems.     

The ultrastructure of oösorption in Locusta migratoria migratorioides

Summary The changes in the ultrastructure of the oöcyte and associated follicle cells during oösorption in Locusta migratoria migratoroides are described.Throughout the process the follicle cells act in a phagocytic manner and invade the oöplasm. Localizatio of acid phosphatase activity indicates that at the start of resorption the Golgi complexes of the follicle cells begin to produce lysosomes on a large scale, and that these are utilised in the breakdown of yolk spheres which have been taken up from the oöcyte. Partly degraded yolk spheres are collected together along with other cell organelles into cytolysomes.The significance of large numbers of microtubules within the follicle cells and of microvillar borders between the cells in late stage resorbing bodies is discussed.     

Bioluminescent Mycena species from São Paulo, Brazil

Six species of bioluminescent agarics are described and illustrated from a single site in primary Atlantic Forest habitat in the Parque Estadual Turistico do Alto Ribeira, Sao Paulo State, Brazil. These include two new taxa of Mycena, viz. M. asterina and M. lucentipes. Luminescence in Mycena fera, M. singeri and M. discobasis is reported for the first time. In addition an undeterminable luminescent Mycena species is described and additional specimens of Gerronema viridilucens are documented. An accounting of known bioluminescent species of Mycena and a discussion of why they luminesce are presented.     

Chemical composition of SÃo paulo atmospheric wet precipitation

Rainwater samples of the city of SÃo Paulo collected from December 1993 to April 1995 were analyzed for sulfate, nitrate, chloride, and amonium ions by ion chromatography, for Al, As, Cr, Fe, K, La, Mn, Na, Sm, and Zn by instrumental neutron activation analysis, and pH. Correlation and regression analysis indicated that H⁺ is more closely associated with nitrate than with sulfate ions. Sulfate ions are associated with ammonium, probably as (NH₄)₂SO₄ Statistical analysis suggest that Al, Fe, and Mn in precipitation are soil derivated and nitrate and sulfate ions are associated with anthropogenic sources.

     

Occurrence of Ornithodoros brasiliensis Aragão (Acari: Argasidae) in São Francisco de Paula, RS, Southern Brazil

There have been no reports of the endemic Ornithodoros brasiliensis (Arag?o) in Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, since the 1950s. In January 2007, 21 O. brasiliensis ticks were collected in a rural area named "Cruzinha" in the municipality of S?o Francisco de Paula, RS, and another population was sampled later that year (October) in Vargem do Cedro, another rural area of S?o Francisco de Paula, following reports of human parasitism by ticks. The reappearance of this tick is a reason for concern in terms of public health.     

El Niño effects on the dynamics of terrestrial ecosystems

New studies are showing that the El Ni?o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has major implications for the functioning of different ecosystems, ranging from deserts to tropical rain forests. ENSO-induced pulses of enhanced plant productivity can cascade upward through the food web invoking unforeseen feedbacks, and can cause open dryland ecosystems to shift to permanent woodlands. These insights suggest that the predicted change in extreme climatic events resulting from global warming could profoundly alter biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in many regions of the world. Our increasing ability to predict El Ni?o effects can be used to enhance management strategies for the restoration of degraded ecosystems.