1. Abstract The Method of Moving Asymptotes (MMA) is very popular within the structural optimizat... more 1. Abstract The Method of Moving Asymptotes (MMA) is very popular within the structural optimization commu- nity and applies for inequality constrained nonlinear programming problems with simple bounds. In its more recent version (Svanberg, 2002), MMA was merged into the Conservative, Convex and Separable Approximation (CCSA) class of algorithms, which are globally convergent. In this work a modified version of
The remaining populations of Pantaneiro cattle are quite similar to those described at the be-gin... more The remaining populations of Pantaneiro cattle are quite similar to those described at the be-ginning of this centu-ry, maintaining some pheno-typical characteristics of old spanish and portu-guese cattle. Pantaneiro bovine closely resembles the Criollo of Beni (Bolivia) and the Casanare (Colombia). RESUMEN Las primeras razas bovinas, traídas al Pantanal por los colonizadores y más tarde las portugue-sas y sus descendientes, formaron una raza local: bovino Pantanero, Tucura o Cuiabano. A través de la selección natural y de los procesos evoluti-vos estos bovinos se adaptaron a las condiciones climáticas e hidrológicas del Pantanal (16-22 o S y 55-58 o O) -región inundable del río Paraguay. Desde comienzo del siglo, la introducción de ganado Cebú, ha puesto a estos recursos genéti-cos en peligro de extinción. El Centro de Pesqui-sa Agropecuária do Pantanal (CPAP-EMBRAPA) fundó un banco de conservación en su estación experimental en el Pantanal (hacienda Nhumirim). La literatura sobre ...
SUMMARY The spanish cattle breeds brought by settlers reaching the Pantanal later joined portugue... more SUMMARY The spanish cattle breeds brought by settlers reaching the Pantanal later joined portuguese breeds and their descendants formed a local breed called Pantaneiro, Cuiabano or Tucura cattle. Through natural selection and evolutio- nary processes, these cattle adapted to the eco- logical conditions of the Pantanal (16 o -22 o S and 55 o -58 o W), a floodplain in the upper Paraguay river basin. Since the beginning of this century, these populations have been gradually substituted by Zebu cattle, placing this genetic resource in danger of extinction. The Pantanal Agricultural Research Center (CPAP-EMBRAPA) founded a conservation bank at its experimental station at the Pantanal (Nhumirim Ranch). Literature on the subject is very scarce; some publications from the beginning of the 20 th
The effects of environmental factors on growth traits were studied on Pantaneiro horses raised ex... more The effects of environmental factors on growth traits were studied on Pantaneiro horses raised extensively on natural pastures in the Nhecolândia sub-region, Pantanal, Brazil. Birth month had a significant effect on weaning height (WH). Animals born in September showed better performance because of higher quality and greater availability of pastures during the period of fastest growth. Hydrological birth year showed a significant effect on birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW) and height at 12 months (H12). Sex had a significant effect on WH, H12 and height at 36 months (H36). Mare age fitted as a covariable had linear effect on WW and H12. In conclusion, the manifestation of performance potential in the Pantaneiro Horse until the age of 12 months depends on mare age and environmental conditions, especially pasture quality, influenced in part by birth month and hydrological year. Foram estudados os efeitos de fatores ambientais sobre as características de crescimento de cavalos Pan...
The Pantanal region of Brazil has some distinct bio-climatic characteristics making it a very hot... more The Pantanal region of Brazil has some distinct bio-climatic characteristics making it a very hot and inhospitable environment. The only breed of horse that can support the long treks, and daily management of cattle in this environment is the Pantaneiro, that is a Iberian origin animal naturalized in the region through natural selection by centuries. This study aimed to evaluate the heart and respiratory rates (adaptation indicators) of Pantaneiro horses that daily work cattle in the Nhecolândia sub-region, Pantanal. Between the 5th and 8th of July 2003 these adaptation indicators were measured before, immediately after and 30 minutes after exercise on 12 horses, 7 of which were evaluated on two occasions, totaling 19 observations. The latter were evaluated in the morning and in the afternoon. The horses worked on average 5 hours in the morning and 8 in the afternoon. The heart rate immediately after and 30 minutes after exercise were 37.6, 50.0 and 46.1, respectively, in the mornin...
The Pantanal region of Brazil has an inhospitable environment and highly variable climatic condit... more The Pantanal region of Brazil has an inhospitable environment and highly variable climatic conditions. Animal productivity depends on the animal¿s ability to dissipate heat efficiently. The Pantaneiro (Bos taurus) and Nelore (Bos indicus) are cattle breeds that are considered adapted to these conditions. Nevertheless there are few studies showing heat tolerance of these breeds in the region. This work aims to evaluate body and skin temperatures of cows and calves of these two cattle breeds during an extremely dry year in the sub region of Nhecolândia, Pantanal. Lactating cows of the Pantaneira and Nelore, with suckling calves, raised during the same season were evaluated in November 2002 until October 2003. These animals were measured monthly for skin and body temperature and environment temperature and relative humidity of the air were also measured as the animal went through the stall. During the study period, environmental temperature varied from 22 to 43°C and relative humidity ...
Emergy allows the sustainability of agricultural and livestock systems to be evaluated. This meth... more Emergy allows the sustainability of agricultural and livestock systems to be evaluated. This methodology was applied to analyze livestock systems on traditional farms located in the Pantanal Watershed in Brazil. The goals were to evaluate the sustainability of the system and to show the importance of the presence of native fauna and cattle in maintaining the region’s ecological quality. The results showed that the traditional livestock management in the Pantanal is composed of a high percentage of renewable resources, approximately 98% of the total emergy used. Cattle have the important function of controlling the fires in the region and thus cattle production preserves the local fauna and flora, which produce 7687 kg of biomass/ha/year. The value of this biomass was estimated by the emergy methodology to have a yearly value of US$ 367.80 per hectare of preserved landscape. Even though a large amount of renewable resources are used, thereby preserving the environment, the cost for m...
Private farms occupy about 95% of the Pantanal. Their main economic activity is beef cattle ranch... more Private farms occupy about 95% of the Pantanal. Their main economic activity is beef cattle ranching in extensive systems due to the widespread areas of natural pastures in the region. In the last decades, due to several factors, the traditional extensive production system became less economically sustainable and the Pantanal is now experiencing some threats such as deforestation without any technical criterion for introduction of exotic for-age species. The region is a complex and dynamic tropical wetland, where precipitation and hydrology are the principal determinants of primary production of forage resources. The dynamic of the rangelands can also be infl uenced by natural disturbances (drought, fl ood-ing, fi re by storm, etc.) and management practices (fi re, high animal stocking rate, pasture cleaning methods, etc.). Grasslands can decrease or increase in abundance, depending on environmental fl uctuations, especially fl ooding levels associated with management actions. Multi...
Rangelands are dynamic and complex systems requiring appropriate decision-making for calculating ... more Rangelands are dynamic and complex systems requiring appropriate decision-making for calculating grazing capacity. This work describes the development and application of a integrated framework using the Deltadiet program to identify key forage used by different herbivores in the same area associated with GIS technology to mapping landscape containing forage productivity and quality information. This study was conducted in a management unit of 131 hectares, representative of the Necolândia sub-region, Pantanal. During the dry period, representative fecal samples were collected of cows, capybaras and deer in a same area for microhystological analysis using the DELTADIET as well as information on key forage composition. landscape and NDVI's ranges maps were made in order to define pastures categories. An algorithm was used to evaluate the carrying capacity integrating all information generated and literature available data.
The regional feasibility of ranching (RFR) index was obtained in order to evaluate the productive... more The regional feasibility of ranching (RFR) index was obtained in order to evaluate the productive potential of farms in the Pantanal. Five indicators were selected by expert and employed for the developing of the index. One of the five indicators corresponded to the natural potential for livestock ranching (NPLR) index which was generated by GIS-fuzzy logic. Fuzzy inference process, involving definitions of membership functions, fuzzy set operations and inference rules was implemented and validated with the participation of primary stakeholders. Different scenarios were simulated in a batch, next validated and adjusted with the participation of stakeholders. Both procedures were performed by the use of the Webfuzzy software. The NPLR and RFR index values, calculated for the pilot ranch, corresponded to the expectations of both expert and stakeholders. Fuzzy logic combined with landscape metric seems to be suitable for the definition of the productive natural potential of ranches to ...
1. Abstract The Method of Moving Asymptotes (MMA) is very popular within the structural optimizat... more 1. Abstract The Method of Moving Asymptotes (MMA) is very popular within the structural optimization commu- nity and applies for inequality constrained nonlinear programming problems with simple bounds. In its more recent version (Svanberg, 2002), MMA was merged into the Conservative, Convex and Separable Approximation (CCSA) class of algorithms, which are globally convergent. In this work a modified version of
The remaining populations of Pantaneiro cattle are quite similar to those described at the be-gin... more The remaining populations of Pantaneiro cattle are quite similar to those described at the be-ginning of this centu-ry, maintaining some pheno-typical characteristics of old spanish and portu-guese cattle. Pantaneiro bovine closely resembles the Criollo of Beni (Bolivia) and the Casanare (Colombia). RESUMEN Las primeras razas bovinas, traídas al Pantanal por los colonizadores y más tarde las portugue-sas y sus descendientes, formaron una raza local: bovino Pantanero, Tucura o Cuiabano. A través de la selección natural y de los procesos evoluti-vos estos bovinos se adaptaron a las condiciones climáticas e hidrológicas del Pantanal (16-22 o S y 55-58 o O) -región inundable del río Paraguay. Desde comienzo del siglo, la introducción de ganado Cebú, ha puesto a estos recursos genéti-cos en peligro de extinción. El Centro de Pesqui-sa Agropecuária do Pantanal (CPAP-EMBRAPA) fundó un banco de conservación en su estación experimental en el Pantanal (hacienda Nhumirim). La literatura sobre ...
SUMMARY The spanish cattle breeds brought by settlers reaching the Pantanal later joined portugue... more SUMMARY The spanish cattle breeds brought by settlers reaching the Pantanal later joined portuguese breeds and their descendants formed a local breed called Pantaneiro, Cuiabano or Tucura cattle. Through natural selection and evolutio- nary processes, these cattle adapted to the eco- logical conditions of the Pantanal (16 o -22 o S and 55 o -58 o W), a floodplain in the upper Paraguay river basin. Since the beginning of this century, these populations have been gradually substituted by Zebu cattle, placing this genetic resource in danger of extinction. The Pantanal Agricultural Research Center (CPAP-EMBRAPA) founded a conservation bank at its experimental station at the Pantanal (Nhumirim Ranch). Literature on the subject is very scarce; some publications from the beginning of the 20 th
The effects of environmental factors on growth traits were studied on Pantaneiro horses raised ex... more The effects of environmental factors on growth traits were studied on Pantaneiro horses raised extensively on natural pastures in the Nhecolândia sub-region, Pantanal, Brazil. Birth month had a significant effect on weaning height (WH). Animals born in September showed better performance because of higher quality and greater availability of pastures during the period of fastest growth. Hydrological birth year showed a significant effect on birth weight (BW), weaning weight (WW) and height at 12 months (H12). Sex had a significant effect on WH, H12 and height at 36 months (H36). Mare age fitted as a covariable had linear effect on WW and H12. In conclusion, the manifestation of performance potential in the Pantaneiro Horse until the age of 12 months depends on mare age and environmental conditions, especially pasture quality, influenced in part by birth month and hydrological year. Foram estudados os efeitos de fatores ambientais sobre as características de crescimento de cavalos Pan...
The Pantanal region of Brazil has some distinct bio-climatic characteristics making it a very hot... more The Pantanal region of Brazil has some distinct bio-climatic characteristics making it a very hot and inhospitable environment. The only breed of horse that can support the long treks, and daily management of cattle in this environment is the Pantaneiro, that is a Iberian origin animal naturalized in the region through natural selection by centuries. This study aimed to evaluate the heart and respiratory rates (adaptation indicators) of Pantaneiro horses that daily work cattle in the Nhecolândia sub-region, Pantanal. Between the 5th and 8th of July 2003 these adaptation indicators were measured before, immediately after and 30 minutes after exercise on 12 horses, 7 of which were evaluated on two occasions, totaling 19 observations. The latter were evaluated in the morning and in the afternoon. The horses worked on average 5 hours in the morning and 8 in the afternoon. The heart rate immediately after and 30 minutes after exercise were 37.6, 50.0 and 46.1, respectively, in the mornin...
The Pantanal region of Brazil has an inhospitable environment and highly variable climatic condit... more The Pantanal region of Brazil has an inhospitable environment and highly variable climatic conditions. Animal productivity depends on the animal¿s ability to dissipate heat efficiently. The Pantaneiro (Bos taurus) and Nelore (Bos indicus) are cattle breeds that are considered adapted to these conditions. Nevertheless there are few studies showing heat tolerance of these breeds in the region. This work aims to evaluate body and skin temperatures of cows and calves of these two cattle breeds during an extremely dry year in the sub region of Nhecolândia, Pantanal. Lactating cows of the Pantaneira and Nelore, with suckling calves, raised during the same season were evaluated in November 2002 until October 2003. These animals were measured monthly for skin and body temperature and environment temperature and relative humidity of the air were also measured as the animal went through the stall. During the study period, environmental temperature varied from 22 to 43°C and relative humidity ...
Emergy allows the sustainability of agricultural and livestock systems to be evaluated. This meth... more Emergy allows the sustainability of agricultural and livestock systems to be evaluated. This methodology was applied to analyze livestock systems on traditional farms located in the Pantanal Watershed in Brazil. The goals were to evaluate the sustainability of the system and to show the importance of the presence of native fauna and cattle in maintaining the region’s ecological quality. The results showed that the traditional livestock management in the Pantanal is composed of a high percentage of renewable resources, approximately 98% of the total emergy used. Cattle have the important function of controlling the fires in the region and thus cattle production preserves the local fauna and flora, which produce 7687 kg of biomass/ha/year. The value of this biomass was estimated by the emergy methodology to have a yearly value of US$ 367.80 per hectare of preserved landscape. Even though a large amount of renewable resources are used, thereby preserving the environment, the cost for m...
Private farms occupy about 95% of the Pantanal. Their main economic activity is beef cattle ranch... more Private farms occupy about 95% of the Pantanal. Their main economic activity is beef cattle ranching in extensive systems due to the widespread areas of natural pastures in the region. In the last decades, due to several factors, the traditional extensive production system became less economically sustainable and the Pantanal is now experiencing some threats such as deforestation without any technical criterion for introduction of exotic for-age species. The region is a complex and dynamic tropical wetland, where precipitation and hydrology are the principal determinants of primary production of forage resources. The dynamic of the rangelands can also be infl uenced by natural disturbances (drought, fl ood-ing, fi re by storm, etc.) and management practices (fi re, high animal stocking rate, pasture cleaning methods, etc.). Grasslands can decrease or increase in abundance, depending on environmental fl uctuations, especially fl ooding levels associated with management actions. Multi...
Rangelands are dynamic and complex systems requiring appropriate decision-making for calculating ... more Rangelands are dynamic and complex systems requiring appropriate decision-making for calculating grazing capacity. This work describes the development and application of a integrated framework using the Deltadiet program to identify key forage used by different herbivores in the same area associated with GIS technology to mapping landscape containing forage productivity and quality information. This study was conducted in a management unit of 131 hectares, representative of the Necolândia sub-region, Pantanal. During the dry period, representative fecal samples were collected of cows, capybaras and deer in a same area for microhystological analysis using the DELTADIET as well as information on key forage composition. landscape and NDVI's ranges maps were made in order to define pastures categories. An algorithm was used to evaluate the carrying capacity integrating all information generated and literature available data.
The regional feasibility of ranching (RFR) index was obtained in order to evaluate the productive... more The regional feasibility of ranching (RFR) index was obtained in order to evaluate the productive potential of farms in the Pantanal. Five indicators were selected by expert and employed for the developing of the index. One of the five indicators corresponded to the natural potential for livestock ranching (NPLR) index which was generated by GIS-fuzzy logic. Fuzzy inference process, involving definitions of membership functions, fuzzy set operations and inference rules was implemented and validated with the participation of primary stakeholders. Different scenarios were simulated in a batch, next validated and adjusted with the participation of stakeholders. Both procedures were performed by the use of the Webfuzzy software. The NPLR and RFR index values, calculated for the pilot ranch, corresponded to the expectations of both expert and stakeholders. Fuzzy logic combined with landscape metric seems to be suitable for the definition of the productive natural potential of ranches to ...
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