Curso: O Guia do Mochileiro da Biosfera

A biologia é um campo de vasta atuação e em constante transformação. É comum entre os graduandos, principalmente aos recém-ingressos, apresentarem dificuldades na compreensão dos temas chaves e de sua respectiva aplicabilidade no campo profissional. Na biologia existem tantos caminhos a seguir, que o mochileiro iniciante necessita de um guia para se localizar e que sirva de ferramenta para orientá-lo em seu caminho.

A oficina "O Guia do Mochileiro da Biosfera" visa proporcionar, principalmente para alunos iniciantes do curso de Ciências Biológicas, um panorama geral acerca das possibilidades de colocação do profissional de Biologia no mercado de trabalho, além de aspectos iniciais dos assuntos-chave que precisam estar bem estruturados e embasados para um melhor aproveitamento do curso como um todo. Além disso, o curso também oferecerá módulos práticos em campo e laboratório, para desenvolver uma familiaridade com equipamentos, normas e atividades básicas nestes ambientes, além de um módulo sobre divulgação e comunicação científica.

Maiores informações em http://www.unisinos.br/extensao/evento/EX120405/EX120405-00001/620/apresentacao.

Toward an ecological synthesis: a case for habitat selection

MORRIS, D.W. 2003. Toward an ecological synthesis: a case for habitat selection. Oecologia 136:1-13.

Abstract. Habitat selection, and its associated density and frequency-dependent evolution, has a profound influence on such vital phenomena as population regulation, species interactions, the assembly of ecological communities, and the origin and maintenance of biodiversity. Different strategies of habitat selection, and their importance in ecology and evolution, can often be revealed simply by plots of density in adjacent habitats. For individual species, the strategies are closely intertwined with mechanisms of population regulation, and with the persistence of populations through time. For interacting species, strategies of habitat selection are not only responsible for species coexistence, but provide one of the most convenient mechanisms for measuring competition, and the various community structures caused by competitive interactions. Other kinds of interactions, such as those between predators and prey, demonstrate that an understanding of the coevolution of habitat-selection strategies among strongly interacting species is essential to properly interpret their spatial and temporal dynamics. At the evolutionary scale, the frequency dependence associated with habitat selection may often allow populations to diverge and diversify into separate species. Habitat selection thereby demonstrates how we can map microevolutionary strategies in behavior onto their population and community consequences, and from there, onto macroevolutionary patterns of speciation and adaptive radiation. We can anticipate that future studies of habitat selection will not only help us complete those maps, but that they will also continue to enrich the panoply of ideas that shape evolutionary ecology.

Frugivoria e potencial dispersão de sementes pelo marsupial Gracilinanus agilis (Didelphidae: Didelphimorphia) em áreas de Cerrado no Brasil central

CAMARGO, N.F.; CRUZ, R.M.S.; RIBEIRO, J.F.; VIEIRA, E.M. 2011. Frugivoria e potencial dispersão de sementes pelo marsupial Gracilinanus agilis (Didelphidae: Didelphimorphia) em áreas de Cerrado no Brasil central. Acta Botanica Brasilica 25(3):646-656.

Abstract. (Frugivory and potential seed dispersal by the marsupial Gracilinanus agilis (Didelphidae: Didelphimorphia) in areas of Cerrado in central Brazil). In the present study, we investigated patterns of fruit consumption and viability of seeds consumed by the marsupial Gracilinanus agilis (Burmeister, 1854) in four cerrado sites in central Brazil.  Faecal analysis indicated that this mammal feeds on seeds of pioneer plant species of Melastomataceae (Miconia albicans (Sw.) Triana, M. cuspidata Naudin, M. ferruginata DC., M. pepericarpa DC., M. pohliana Cogn. and Ossaea congestil ora (Naudin) Cogn.), Solanaceae (one unidentified species), and Viscaceae (Phoradendron perrottetii (DC.) Eichler, mistletoe). We recorded the highest reported rate of fruit consumption for Gracilinanus, with about 45% of the scats containing seeds and 86% containing items derived from fruits (N = 422). With the exception of O. congestiflora, the remaining seed species tested did not suffer negative effects on germination rates after passing through the marsupial guts. The analysis of intraspecific variation in the total number of Miconia seeds found in scats indicated that females defecate a significantly greater number of seeds (mean±EP = 21.7±3.8) than males (14.4±3.0) (F = 26.32; P < 0.0001). The factor season was also significant (F=452.22; P<0.0001) as well as the interaction between sex and season (F=30.10; P < 0.0001).  Both females and males increased their fruit consumption in the dry season, but in the rainy season females had more seeds than males in their faeces. Later during this season, we observed a higher number of Miconia seeds defecated by reproductive females (24.7±6.6) compared to non-reproductive females (12.9±2.8) (P = 0.031). Our results indicate that G. agilis feeds selectively on Melastomataceae, which suggests these plants play an important role in the diet of this marsupial in relation to energy and water demands, especially during the dry-cool season.

Road Ecology Brazil 2013

O Centro Brasileiro de Estudos em Ecologia de Estradas tem acaba de disponibilizar a primeira circular de lançamento do Road Ecology Brazil 2013. Todas as informações podem ser lidas no site:

http://issuu.com/reb_2013/docs/reb_2013_circular_0

Todos os endereços para contato estão disponíveis neste link.

Disponibilidade de frutos e a dieta de Lycalopex vetulus (Carnivora - Canidae) em um cerrado de Mato Grosso, Brasil

DALPONTE, J.C.; LIMA, E.S. 1999. Disponibilidade de frutos e a dieta de Lycalopex vetulus (Carnivora - Canidae) em um cerrado de Mato Grosso, Brasil. Revista Brasileira de Botânica 22(2):325-332.

Abstract. (Fruit availability and the diet of Lycalopex vetulus (Carnivora - Canidae) in a cerrado vegetation of Mato Grosso, Brazil). The fruiting phenology of 41 species known as potential food for mammals was monitored monthly during the period of 1985 and 1986, and compared with the frugivorous diet of the hoary fox (Lycalopex vetulus) in a cerrado area near Chapada dos Guimarães National Park, Mato Grosso, Brazil. The fruiting pattern was seasonal, with peaks of greater availability in the beginning of dry and wet seasons. Hancornia speciosa, Rauwolfia sp. and Solanum lycocarpum showed a long (nine to 12 months) fruiting pattern, while Guettarda viburnioides and Mouriri elliptica a short pattern (five to eight months). Seventy percent of the fruit species were eaten by the hoary fox. Despite the large number of fruit species consumed, a small percentage (26%) of these species reaches 10% of the occurrence frequency in the fox scats. The consumption of fruits by the hoary fox was opportunistic, generally consistent with the seasonal fruiting pattern in the study area. H. speciosa and S. lycocarpum were considered the most important fruit species in the diet of the hoary fox, since they give sources of alternative food year round, including periods of low availability of other fruits, like the peak os dry season. Changes in the intensity of fruit used by the hoary fox, like the replacement of some species by others, seem to show states of satiation and interest for new atractive fruits. Apparently, accessibility, strong smell and energetic content are features of the fruits that determine primary preferences for some species. The role of the hoary fox as an important agent to diesperse fruits in the cerrado may be suggested by the large number of fruit species eaten, and by the presence of undamaged seeds in the scats.

Daily activity patterns of the Atlantic bamboo rat (Kannabateomys amblyonyx) in southern Brazil.

SARTI, P.T; SILVA, R.B.; VIEIRA, E.M. 2012. Daily activity patterns of the Atlantic bamboo rat (Kannabateomys amblyonyx) in southern Brazil. Neotropical Biology and Conservation 7(2):108-113.

Abstract. Several biotic and abiotic factors influence on daily cycles and mammalian life-history patterns. In this paper, we investigated behavioral patterns and diurnal and nocturnal activity of the Atlantic bamboo rat Kannabateomys amblyonyx (Rodentia, Echimyidae) an endemic species of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. We conducted the study in the southern portion of the species distribution, in patches of an introduced bamboo species (Bambusa tuldoides) that occurred inside native forest areas. We evaluated behavior and activity time of the individuals by conducting scans during nocturnal and diurnal periods (mean scan length – 24 min, range from 2 to 30 min). We considered the following behavioral categories: feeding, moving, self-cleaning and resting. We did not find significant difference between the diurnal and nocturnal activity (randomized MANOVA, SS = 0.07, d.f. = 45, P = 0.59). The Atlantic Bamboo Rat seemed to be active during the entire 24-h daily period, but with activity peaks by the beginning of the night (between 19:00 and 21:00). The low energy quality provided by food (buds, twigs and bamboo leaves) should compel the rodent to eat several times a day in order to supply their metabolic needs. Besides that, predator activity both during day and night, as well as other local environmental characteristics, probably represents relevant factors that influence the 24-h activity patterns of the studied rodent.