Life tables for Down syndrome

Summary Life expectancy in Down syndrome was calculated to 68 years, using data for 1610 Down syndrome liveborn individuals among over 1.5 million consecutive British Columbia livebirths. Overall, although survival is significantly poorer than for the general population, over half of Down syndrome individuals can be expected to survive into their fifties, and 13.5% will still be alive at age 68. The data are presented as a life table, a practical format for the clinician and planner.     

Life tables for worker honeybees

Life tables for worker honeybees covering all life span, and those for adults, were prepared for three seasonal cohorts, June bees, July bees and wintering bees. Survivorship curves for June and July bees show a convex type being exceptional for insects, with relatively high mortality at egg and feeding larval stages and at later adult stage after most bees became potential foragers. Adult longevity greatly lengthens in Winteriing bees and survivorship curve drops approximately with the same rate. A remarkable similarity of survivorship curves for men and honeybees was demonstrated, apparently due to highly developed social care in both. Some comments were given on mortality factors. The importance of life tables for population researches was shown by applying our result to the population growth curve made byBodenheimer , based upon the data byNolan . At the asymptote of the uncorrected curve, the ratio of total population estimated by uncorrected curve to that by corrected curve reaches about 3∶2.     

The recent colonization of south Brazil by the Azores chromis Chromis limbata

The damselfish Chromis limbata is native to the Macaronesian Archipelagos (Azores, Madeira and Canaries) and the western coast of Africa between Senegal and Angola. During the austral summers of 2008 and 2009 the species was recorded for the first time in the south‐western Atlantic Ocean around Campeche and Xavier Islands, in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina State, Brazil. Here, the progression of C. limbata in southern Brazilian waters is described using visual counts and genetic surveys and changes in the density of the native congener Chromis multilineata were also investigated. Underwater visual censuses of both Chromis species were carried out from 2009 to 2014. Chromis limbata tissue samples were collected and the mtDNA control region was sequenced and compared with mtDNA haplotypes from the natural range to confirm species identity, compare genetic diversity and to infer connectivity between newly established Brazilian populations. The Brazilian population of C. limbata increased significantly over the past 5 years and the effect on C. multilineata is still an open question, longer time‐series data will be necessary to clarify possible interactions. The molecular analyses confirmed species identity, revealed strong haplotype connectivity among Brazilian study sites and showed a low genetic diversity in Brazil when compared with the native populations, suggesting few individuals started the invasion. Four hypotheses could explain this colonizing event: C. limbata was released by aquarium fish keepers; larvae or juveniles were transported via ship ballast water; the species has rafted alongside oil rigs; they crossed the Atlantic Ocean through normal larval dispersal or naturally rafting alongside drifting objects. The rafting hypotheses are favoured, but all four possibilities are plausible and could have happened in combination.     

Mammal survey in the southeastern Pantanal, Brazil

The Pantanal floodplain of southwestern Brazil, with its mosaic of marshes,seasonally flooded savannas, woodlands and forests, is known as one of thewildlife hotspots of South America. The region harbors a rich mammal fauna andis a stronghold for a number of mammal species; however, still very few thoroughmammal surveys have been conducted in the Pantanal. This is the first mammalsurvey from the southeastern part of the region. An intensive,three-month study of the medium to large, non-volant species wasconducted at a location in the upper Rio Negro Basin, Aquidauana region, MatoGrosso do Sul. Thirty species of mammals were recorded, including 5 xenarthrans,1 primate, 10 carnivores, 7 ungulates and 5 caviomorph rodents. It was possibleto analyze the field biology of many of the species to a level not previouslypublished for the Pantanal. Recommendations are given for camera trapping in thePantanal and the Amazon. Finally, the effects of intensive cattle ranching onconservation in the Pantanal are discussed.     

番石榴精油对柑橘木虱刺吸取食行为的影响

利用刺探电位技术(electrical penetration graph,EPG).比较测定了柑橘木虱Diaphorina citri Kuwayama成虫在经番石榴精油处理和对照柑橘叶片上的刺吸取食行为.结果表明,在正常(对照)叶片上,柑橘木虱成虫的刺吸取食有8种不同波形,表现为迅速进入取食过程,非刺探活动时间和唾液分泌较少,为韧皮部取食,没有木质部取食.而柑橘叶片经1μw/mL番石榴精油处理后,柑橘木虱成虫刺吸取食行为显著改变,表现为非刺探活动和唾液分泌增加,韧皮部取食时间极显著下降,下降率为62.12%,并出现木质部取食.不同时段柑橘木虱的有效取食时间动态结果显示,番石榴精油在第1 h使柑橘木虱完全进入木质部取食,但随后逐步恢复韧皮部取食.     

Fishes of the southeastern Brazil Atlantic Forest

The largest preserved areas of Atlantic Forest are located in the southeastern region of Brazil. Estuaries, mangroves, rivers and streams are home to a community of fish that is still poorly understood. The composition of fish species and their relationships with environmental conditions were used to identify homogeneous areas within a landscape of 33,000 km². A total of 6,542 specimens, representing 124 species and 13 orders of bony fishes were collected at 102 sampling stations. Resulting scores from a canonical correspondence analysis applied to biological and environmental data were used in a cluster analysis to identify fish species with similar spatial distributions and localities with similar fish fauna and abiotic conditions. Five micro-regions were identified, with homogeneous compositions of species, allowing better planning of conservation of aquatic biodiversity. Despite a high degree of preservation, impacts due to deforestation, drainage of wetlands and overfishing were detected, as well as the introduction of 41 exotic species.     

Understanding the threats to biological diversity in southeastern Brazil

Habitat destruction and the over-exploitation of species are perhaps thetwo most important processes threatening biodiversity. Whilst the growing humanpopulation puts considerable pressure on biological resources, a number ofsocial and economic factors tend to augment over-exploitation of theseresources. Here we show that the over-exploitation of the tropical palm treeEuterpe edulis Mart., as a consequence of social problems,has contributed significantly to its extinction in several forest fragments andalso to the disappearance of many wild animal species which used to be found inareas of the Atlantic Rain Forest (Brazil). Some of these species have been lostas a direct result of people hunting the animals when they went harvestingE. edulis while others disappeared as a consequence of thedecrease in food availability or by alterations in the trophic structure.     

Assessment of the nursery species pool for restoring landscapes in southeastern Brazil

Brazil has committed to fulfilling international restoration goals and to enforcing environmental legislation that will require private landowners to undertake ecological restoration of 21 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes. To support a broad range of restoration practices, a well‐established supply chain capable of representing regional plant diversity is essential. This study investigated the restoration species pool in native plant nurseries in São Paulo state, located in southeastern Brazil, and evaluated their geographic distribution, similarity of their plant stocks, and the proportion of species represented from regional floras. Despite a lack of technical assistance and a significant presence of nonnative species (126 species, average 7.5 species/nursery), we found an impressive native species richness in plant nurseries (561 species, average 86.4 species/nursery) from both the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado domains, representing 38–44% of regional floras. There was a huge bias toward tree and shrub species (96.6%) and an absence or underrepresentation of other growth forms, as well as of savanna specialists, animal‐dispersed, and threatened species. The dissimilarity of species observed among the different nurseries surveyed highlights their role in representing regional diversity, which reflects their regional seed collection practices. Effective assistance and training are essential to address issues related to misidentification of species, underrepresentation of most functional plant groups, and the presence of nonnative species, as well as to support the supply chain, which is currently undergoing a market downturn.     

Life history and phenology of the eucalyptus psyllid, Ctenarytaina eucalypti in Ireland

During the early 1990s, the eucalyptus psyllid, Ctenarytaina eucalypti Maskell, was accidentally introduced into Ireland and began to threaten economically a newly developing ornamental foliage production industry based in the south west. The life cycle of the psyllid was studied at three field sites in Co. Kerry. The psyllid exhibited a complex seasonal population dynamic suggesting that two, largely overlapping population cohorts over‐winter as eggs and nymphs, respectively, in a state of reduced development or temporary dormancy. The duration of this dormancy is short. Evidence of a resumption of activity was monitored at all sites in early February with increasing adult numbers and renewed egg laying being seen before any significant rise in temperatures. This strongly suggests that retarded development, and resumption of psyllid activity in early spring, are at least partially consequences of the changing nutritional quality of the food plant, probably mediated by changing day length. As a consequence of seasonally inhibited development, individual egg and nymphal over‐wintering cohorts probably alternate in the completion of two or three generations per growing season. Analysis of psyllid numbers on shoot samples showed that greater population densities were found on shoots at the top of the food plant compared with lower‐placed shoots. Evidence was also found that the distribution of nymphal instars changed seasonally, probably in response to population density and increased competition for preferred feeding sites. Overall psyllid abundance, and the finer details of seasonal population dynamics, varied between plantations. In the absence of effective predation or parasitism by indigenous natural enemies, these differences were also likely to be due to variation in nutritional quality of the host plant and may be influenced by crop husbandry factors such as the timing and severity of crop pruning.     

Trypanosomatid protozoa in fruit of Solanaceae in southeastern Brazil

Fruits of cultivated and indigenous Solanaceae from Southeastern Brazil have been examined for the presence of trypanosomatid flagellates. The 14 species found infected were: Capsicum annuum, C. praetermissum, Lycopersicon esculentum, Nicandra physaloides, Physalis angulata, Solanum sp., S. americanum, S. concinnum, S. diflorum, S. erianthum, S. gilo, S. robustum, S. variable and S. viarum. The pentatomid hemipteran Arvelius albopunctatus experimentally transmitted flagellates to fruits of some species. Cultures of flagellates were obtained from fruits of eight species of Solanaceae and from A. albopunctatus.     

Ornithophilous canopy species in the Atlantic rain forest of southeastern Brazil

ABSTRACT.   In tropical ecosystems, birds play a relevant role in plant reproduction. Although hummingbirds are regarded as the most important vertebrate pollinators in the Neotropics, the possible role of perching birds as pollinators has been neglected. From 2003 to 2005, we observed 68 species of plants visited by birds in an Atlantic rainforest in southeastern Brazil, including three canopy species: Spirotheca rivieri (Malvaceae, Bombacoidea), Schwartzia brasiliensis (Marcgraviaceae), and Psittacanthus dichrous (Loranthaceae). Flowers of these three species were visited by 15 different species of perching birds and by hummingbirds. The flowers of these three plants are colorful, ranging from deep red or purple to orange. Spirotheca rivieri blooms during the austral winter and Schwartzia brasiliensis during the summer. The flowers of these two species produce copious amounts of dilute nectar in easily accessible structures and both species appear to depend primarily on perching birds as pollinators, with hummingbirds being secondary or minor pollen vectors. The tubular, narrow flowers of P. dichrous are produced during the austral summer and are visited primarily by hummingbirds. Perching birds also visit the flowers, but destroy them. Our results suggest that previous estimates of the number of perching birds that feed on nectar may be too low and that flowers pollinated by perching birds may be more common in the canopy of Neotropical forests than previously thought.     

Hummingbirds and their flowers in the coastal mountains of southeastern Brazil

Summary Observations were made on the nectar-feeding of hummingbirds in three areas of natural forest in the coastal mountains of southeastern Brazil. Five of the seven hummingbird species observed are endemic to the region. The observations are summarised and discussed, and limited comparison is made with the feeding ecology of Andean hummingbirds. The data suggest that two plant families of prime importance in temperate forest in the Andes, the Rubiaceae and Ericaceae, are unimportant in southeastern Brazilian montane forest. The close fit between the bill ofPhaethornis eurynome and the corollas of three species of plants suggests coevolution. The data presented are preliminary and incomplete, and indicate the need for more thorough research into the relationships between hummingbirds and plants in this region.

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Kolibris und die von ihnen besuchten Blüten im Küstengebirge Südostbrasiliens

Zusammenfassung Die Beobachtungen über blütenbesuchende Kolibris stammen aus drei Naturwaldgebieten im Küstengebirge Südostbrasiliens. 5 der 7 beobachteten Kolibriarten sind in dieser Region endemisch. Die Zusammenfassung der Beobachtungen gestattet unter Einschränkung gewisse Vergleiche mit der Nahrungsökologie andiner Kolibris. Die Daten machen wahrscheinlich, daß Rubiaceae und Ericaceae, zwei Pflanzenfamilien von vorrangiger Bedeutung in den Wäldern der gemäßigten Zone der Anden, im südostbrasilianischen Bergwald unwichtig sind. Die enge Anpassung des Schnabels vonPhaethornis eurynome an die Gestalt der Blütenkrone dreier Pflanzenarten läßt Koevolution vermuten. Die Beobachtungen sind jedoch unvollständig und forden weitere intensive Untersuchung der Beziehungen zwischen Kolibris und Pflanzen in den bearbeiteten Gebieten.

     

Synanthropy of Sarcophagidae (Diptera) in southeastern Brazil

Sarcophagidae (Diptera) are potential vectors of several pathogens. They are also very important in forensic entomology, providing basic information on the circumstances of death. The objective of this study was to determine the synanthropic index of adult Sarcophagidae collected in Rio Claro, state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. Sampling occurred between September 2009 and August 2010. Traps baited with sardines, beef liver, or minced meat were set for five consecutive days per month in three distinct ecological areas representing urban, rural, and forest environments. A total of 440 specimens of sarcophagids were collected. The most abundant species was Peckia (Sarcodexia) lambens (Wiedemann), followed by Oxysarcodexia thornax (Walker), Peckia (Euboettcheria) collusor (Curran & Walley), Peckia (Euboettcheria) sp., and Peckia (Pattonella) intermutans (Walker). The only species with positive synanthropic index values were O. thornax and P. (S.) lambens, which demonstrated a greater preference for inhabited areas. Peckia (Euboettcheria) florencioi (Prado & Fonseca), P. (P.) intermutans, and Peckia (Euboettcheria) australis (Townsend) were only found in the forested area, which demonstrates their importance in forensic entomology because of their preference for a particular type of environment. The greatest number of sarcophagids was found in the forest environment; however, only the forest and rural areas were significantly different in Sarcophagidae abundance.     

A fish-based biotic integrity index for assessment of lowland streams in southeastern Brazil

This study was carried out to develop and apply a fish-based biotic integrity index to assess lowland streams in a highly deforested region of the Upper Paraná River basin. Fifty-six first-order segments were randomly selected for environmental and fish evaluation. Because previous analysis had identified the main type of effect on the streams of the region as physical habitat degradation, 22 qualitatively biological attributes were selected and tested over a physical condition gradient between reference and degraded sites. Sensitivity and redundancy of each attribute revealed that five metrics were adequate for discriminating higher quality from degraded sites. Of the fifty-six streams assessed, one (2%) was classified as good, four (7%) as fair, ten (18%) as poor, and forty-one (73%) as very poor, indicating that, on a regional scale, many aspects of biological integrity are altered, indicative of serious degradation. Considering that first-order segments amount to 11,000 km in total, it is noticeable that 10,000 km of the stream segments have no more than half of the expected conditions, indicative of poor or very poor biotic integrity conditions. Possible strategies of mitigating this scenario are discussed. Handling editor: S. M. Thomaz     

Life cycle and secondary production of two species of Campsurus (Ephemeroptera,Polymitarcyidae) in reservoirs of southeastern Brazil

The aim of this paper was to study the life cycle, the annual secondary production, and the spatial and temporal variation of the species Campsurus truncatus and C. violaceus in two reservoirs in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Campsurus truncatus was recorded in 11 months and had a multivoltine lifecycle with a secondary production of 4.61 g.m^?2.year^?1. Campsurus violaceus was collected in eight months and had a bivoltine lifecycle with a secondary productivity of 1.96 g.m^?2.year^?1.     

Structure and conservation value of high-diversity hedgerows in southeastern Brazil

We studied the tree component of hedgerows resulting from the natural colonization of land plot boundaries’ ditches. These three-meter wide ditches were dug during the European occupation of southeastern Brazil, and are a prominent feature of the landscape. The hedgerows are connected to forest fragments within a farmland matrix. In two systems of hedgerows, we sampled a total of 2.28 ha (114 plots of 200 m²), where we evaluated the structural and floristic similarity between fragments and hedgerows, the similarities between the hedgerows and the fragments’ edges and interior, and the relationships between distribution of tree species and soil variables. The systems presented similar richness and diversity; hedgerows had greater similarity to the fragments included in the same system than to hedgerows of the other system, indicating possible functional linkages between their components (fragments and hedgerows). Tree species composition in the hedgerows was not more similar to the fragment edges as we expected. The hedgerows exhibited greater density and basal area than the fragments. For either single system, species showed preferences for fragments or hedgerows or for sections of the ditch (edge, wall and bottom of the ditch), but for species common in both systems, those preferences were rarely held. The environmental conditions in the ditches seem to favor the establishment of species from the fragments, even those more common in fragment interior, suggesting that, in spite of their narrow widths, these hedgerows may play an important role in the conservation of flora without negatively impacting agriculturally productive rural areas.     

Life cycle inventory for electric energy system in Brazil

Goal, Scope and Background  

The goal of this paper is to present the modeling of life cycle inventory (LCI) for electric energy production and delivery in Brazil for the reference year 2000 by application of ISO 14040. Site specific data along with sector production data have been combined to construct an energy production model, which has been applied to emissions estimation. Background-data of all the inputs and outputs from the system have been inventoried as follows: gross electric energy generation, installed nameplate capacity, flooded area, losses, emissions to air / water, process waste, used fuel, efficiency and land use.     

Dengue virus detection in Aedes aegypti larvae from southeastern Brazil

The transmission of dengue, the most important arthropod‐borne viral disease in Brazil, has been intensified over the past decades, along with the accompanying expansion and adaptation of its Aedes vectors. In the present study, we mapped dengue vectors in Ouro Preto and Ouro Branco, Minas Gerais, by installing ovitraps in 32 public schools. The traps were examined monthly between September, 2011 through July, 2012 and November, 2012 to April, 2013. The larvae were reared until the fourth stadium and identified according to species. The presence of dengue virus was detected by real time PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis. A total of 1,945 eggs was collected during the 17 months of the study. The Ovitrap Positivity Index (OPI) ranged from 0 to 28.13% and the Eggs Density Index (EDI) ranged from 0 to 59.9. The predominant species was Aedes aegypti, with 84.9% of the hatched larvae. Although the collection was low when compared to other ovitraps studies, vertical transmission could be detected. Of the 54 pools, dengue virus was detected in four Ae. aegypti pools.