ECOLOGY

This study evaluated the potential of lowland tapirs as seed dispersers in the northern Brazilian Amazon. The study analyzed the viability of seeds after passage through the gut. Fecal samples were collected from 6 different vegetation physiognomies in Viruá National Park during the dry season. The samples were then kept in a greenhouse for 16 months to allow the seeds to germinate. The seedling species were identified and classified according to the type of fruit, plant habit, seed size and type of ingestion. Of the 111 fecal samples, 94 (84.7%) had viable seeds of 75 species. Melastomataceae was the most frequent family with viable seeds in the fecal samples (69.1% of samples, N = 18 species). The data suggest that the importance of the lowland tapirs as dispersers is not restricted to the species consumed actively by frugivory but also extends to species accidentally consumed during browsing. The occurrence of both large and small viable seeds in the fecal samples as well as a number of large drupes, which probably cannot be transported via endozoochory by any other animal species, provide evidence of the ecological importance of lowland tapirs to the dynamics of the forest–campinarana vegetation mosaic in the region.

The tropical South American savannas have been occupied and manipulated by humans since the late Pleistocene. Ecologists consider that soils, hydrology, and seasonal precipitation influence the structure and composition of plants and the fire-proneness of savannas. However, the human influence on these dynamics remains uncertain. This is because little is known about human activities and what influence they have on the diversity of ecosystems. Considering this, our study sought to synthesize the management practices used by small-scale societies of the South American savannas, compile the species that are the focus of direct management, and demonstrate the role of this management in maintaining the diverse ecosystems that make up the savannas. We also set out to test the hypotheses that forms of management differ depending on the ecosystem and cultural matrices. To do so, we conducted a systematic review, in which we collected 51 articles with information about the management carrie...

ABSTRACT Isospora sagittulae McQuistion and Capparella, 1992 (Protozoa: Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) is reported from White-throated Antbirds (Gymnopithys salvini (Berlepsch, 1901)) and from Common Scale-backed Antbirds (Willisornis poecilinotus (Cabanis, 1847)), which are thamnophilid birds from the Brazilian Amazon. Its oocysts are ovoidal to ellipsoidal, 28.4 μm × 22.4 μm, with smooth, bilayered wall, 1.1 μm. Micropyle and oocyst residuum are absent, but one to three polar granules are present. Sporocysts are subspherical to ovoidal, 15.0 μm × 12.6 μm. Stieda body thin and flattened and substieda body triangular to round. Sporocyst residuum composed of scattered granules. Sporozoites with refractile body and nucleus. This coccidium was originally described from the Spotted Antbird (Hylophylax naevioides (Lafresnaye, 1847)), a trans-Andean antbird that is not sympatric with G. salvini and W. poecilinotus, which are cis-Andean antbirds from lowland Amazon forest; therefore, this current study presents some assumptions to explain the dispersion of I. sagittulae among antbird species.

Two silver arowana, Osteoglossum bicirrhosum, one male (49.5 cm standard length, L ) and one female (52.5 cm L ) that had fed on small-eared colilargo or small-eared pygmy rice rat Oligoryzomys microtis, were sampled during the rising water period in the Brazilian Amazon. The identified prey were 6 and 8 cm long and occupied the entire stomachs of both individuals. This opportunistic feeding behaviour appears to be a strategy for this fish to acquire nutrients during times when its usual aquatic prey is dispersed throughout the flooded forest. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

1Laboratório de Herpetologia, Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 2Laboratório de Genética Evolutiva, Departamento de Ecologia e Biologia Evolutiva, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil 3Biology, City College of New York and The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY, USA 4Projeto Dinâmica Biológica de Fragmentos Florestais (PDBFF), Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil 5Laboratório de Ecofisiologia e Fisiologia Evolutiva, Departamento de Fisiologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

Aim: To investigate cryptic diversity and diversification timing in the putatively low-dispersal Amazonian leaf-litter lizard Loxopholis osvaldoi, and to ask how geography (rivers, isolation by distance, IBD), ecological drivers (isolation by environment, IBE) and historical factors (climatic refugia) explain intraspecific genetic variation. Location: Central Amazonia, Brazil. Taxon: Squamata; Gymnophthalmidae; Loxopholis osvaldoi. Methods: We sequenced two mitochondrial and two nuclear markers in 157 individuals. Phylogeographic structure and the occurrence of independent evolving lineages where explored through phylogenetic and coalescent analyses. A species tree and divergence dates of lineages were inferred with BEAST, employing multiple DNA substitution rates. The potential genetic impacts of geographic distance among localities, the environment, and the position of localities in relation to main rivers were tested by Redundancy Analysis (RDA). Results: We detected 11 independe...

Com o aumento progressivo das taxas de desmatamento sobre as florestas tropicais nas ultimas decadas, e necessario entender como as comunidades biologicas tem suas relacoes ecologicas afetadas pelas novas configuracoes espaciais de uma paisagem. Vinte anos apos a construcao da Usina Hidreletrica de Balbina no rio Uatuma, Amazonia Central, grande parte da biota que sobreviveu ao alagamento ficou confinada em ilhas de diversos tamanhos e graus de isolamento. Sendo assim, a proposta deste trabalho foi avaliar como a assembleia de pequenos mamiferos foi afetada pelas mudancas abruptas na paisagem oriundas do alagamento do reservatorio, atraves da analise da importância de atributos como o tamanho e grau de isolamento das manchas (ilhas) remanescentes. Tambem foi avaliada a influencia das mudancas na assembleia de pequenos mamiferos na composicao da assembleia de palmeiras. A comunidade de pequenos mamiferos foi amostrada entre julho e dezembro de 2006, atraves do uso de armadilhas de al...

Pantepui is a Neotropical archipelago of remote sky islands (tepuis) that harbours a unique and poorly known biota, such as the endemic butterfly Antirrhea ulei. The Vicariance‐Migration hypothesis argues that Pantepui biota originated from a complex succession of climatic shifts, causing up‐and‐down migrations of cool‐adapted species from the last glacial maximum (LGM) to the present. We evaluated how environmental gradients affect A. ulei habitat occupancy and predict its distribution across the Eastern Pantepui. We also test whether the species had a broader distribution during the LGM, following the Vicariance‐Migration hypothesis. We surveyed for butterflies across 14 plots at Uei tepui, following an elevational gradient. We used Bayesian occupancy modelling to evaluate how environmental gradients affect A. ulei occurrence and to predict the current and past species distribution. Species habitat occupancy was strongly associated with environmental gradients. Our model correctly predicted the species occurrence at all localities previously reported to be occupied by the species, and also predicted the potential species occurrence on other tepuis. Our historical prediction of species distribution showed that the species likely had a broader distribution during the LGM, in comparison with its current restricted distribution. Our historical predictions suggest that the species may have spread across the Eastern Pantepui during LGM and migrated up the tepuis during the Holocene warming, in accordance with the Vicariance‐Migration hypothesis. Our study shows how data from local standardised surveys can be useful to estimate the distribution pattern of other little‐studied species of the Pantepui biota.

Atualmente, muito esforco cientifico e direcionado para entender como os padroes fenologicos das especies estao relacionados aos fatores climaticos. Essas informacoes sao essenciais no monitoramento das florestas tropicais e implicacoes das mudancas climaticas globais no comportamento das especies ao longo do tempo. A floracao de especies arboreas em florestas tropicais varia de acordo com a localizacao e as variacoes climaticas. No entanto, nenhum estudo anterior quantifica os efeitos de longo prazo (decadas) em diferentes locais e para diferentes especies. No presente trabalho foi quantificada a contribuicao relativa da localizacao e variaveis climaticas para explicar 30 anos de floracao em nove especies de arvores nativas da Amazonia, Aniba canelilla (H. B. K.) Mez.; Cariniana micrantha Ducke.; Dinizia excelsa Ducke.; Dipteryx odorata (AUBL.) Willd.; Goupia glabra Aubl.; Hevea guianensis Aubl.; Jacaranda copaia (AUBL) D. Don.; Minquartia guianensis Aubl. e Parkia pendula (Willd.)...