ABSTRACT Natural history collections (NHCs) contain valuable information that can be used in different fields of knowledge, and aid in the development of society, science, and technology. The role of ...curators and taxonomists in maintaining and improving biological collections is essential, as these are fundamental for the understanding of biodiversity. However, the role of taxonomists and the importance of NHCs to society have been undervalued in recent years. We, while attending a graduate program on collections at PUCRS, noted a gap in knowledge about scientific collections. Was this gap, which continued from our undergraduate to graduate years, a mere coincidence or widespread in biological science programs in Brazil? We queried 126 Brazilian institutions of higher education to assess the presence of courses related to natural-history collections and taxonomy. A total of 25 private and 37 public universities from 126 institutions searched, have a program of study in biological sciences in the curriculum on their websites. About 16% offer some course related to NHCs or taxonomy, and all of them are public institutions. Despite the budget cutting made by the Brazilian government that make it even more difficult to recognize NHCs and related areas, we believe that there should be more links among researchers from different areas and especially between the levels of basic and higher education, so that students are exposed to this subject early in their education. We, as Brazilian students, believe that more information on NHC-related issues and taxonomic subjects is urgently needed in biological science programs.
RESUMEN El arbusto Bulnesia retama es un importante recurso natural de uso no maderable productor de cera. Nuestro objetivo fue evaluar el efecto de diferentes intensidades de poda en el crecimiento, ...supervivencia y producción de cera de Bulnesia retama en su ambiente natural. Se trabajó en una comunidad de B. retama, en Bermejo, San Juan. Se seleccionaron 15 parcelas. En cada parcela se marcaron diez individuos de B. retama, se midieron variables morfométricas y se aplicaron 4 niveles de poda y un control. Con lo obtenido se determinó producción de cera. Transcurridos cinco años se repitieron las podas evaluándose producción de cera, tamaño y supervivencia. El contenido bruto de cera, al igual que el rendimiento de cera por kg ramas totales cosechadas, el volumen y la supervivencia mostró diferencias significativas de acuerdo al nivel de poda efectuado. El manteni miento en el tiempo de la producción de cera permite establecer el manejo y conservación de la especie. El retamo tolera podas de baja intensidad y es utilizado por lugareños, lo que podría representar un recurso sustentable generando trabajo y asegurando el arraigo del campesino en zonas marginales.
Resumen Schinus fasciculata y S. bumelioides son especies que presentan amplia distribución y a menudo co habitan en Argentina, pero sus semejanzas en morfología foliar en los primeros estadíos de ...desarrollo dificultan la diferenciación entre los individuos de cada taxón. El objetivo de este trabajo fue caracterizar ejemplares de cada especie de tres y seis meses de edad, los que fueron obtenidos en cámara de germinación a partir de frutos colec tados de dos poblaciones en Guachipas, Salta. Se registraron las alturas de las plántulas y plantas y el número de nudos, y se describieron cotiledones, protófilos y nomófilos juveniles en los dos estadíos. Los caracteres útiles para el reconocimiento taxonómico en ambas edades de las plantas son principalmente la forma y tipo de margen de los protófilos y nomófilos juveniles.
Resumen En el año 2019 comenzó el ciclo llamado “Pioneras: Las Científicas del Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales” como una nueva forma de visibilización del rol de las mujeres en la ciencia. Este ...ciclo, impulsado por mujeres trabajadoras del Museo, busca reconocer y homenajear a las primeras mujeres de la Institución dedica das a actividades científicas. En su cuarta edición (2022), el ciclo rindió homenaje a tres brillantes profesionales dedicadas a la ictiología: las científicas Elvira Mariana Siccardi y Liliana Braga y la ilustradora Elena Mouchet. Estas tres mujeres han dedicado su carrera científica al estudio de peces Neotropicales y del Océano Atlántico Sudoccidental. En este trabajo se revisa la biografía de ellas tres, se listan las publicaciones de Elvira Siccardi y Liliana Braga y se incluyen las ilustraciones científicas inéditas de Elena Mouchet.
This study represents an inventory of fish collected in a first order tributary of the Igarapé Piracolina at Chapada dos Parecis, upper Rio Machado drainage, Rio Madeira basin, Vilhena, Rondônia, ...Brazil. The sampled stream is located in moderate altitudes (570-590) m above sea level and it is the type locality of five recently described species. Through fieldwork carried out in four fieldtrips between 2014 and 2015, 966 specimens were captured belonging to 18 species, distributed in nine families and four orders. Most of these species have a restricted distribution in the upper Rio Machado. Characidae was the most representative family both in number of species and specimens. One species is recognized as new and endemic to the region, and belong to the genus Pyrrhulina (Lebiasinidae), while five other species (Ancistrus verecundus, Bryconops piracolina, Hyphessobrycon lucenorum, Moenkhausia cambacica, and M. parecis) are also possibly endemic to the upper Rio Machado basin. In this scenario, our results provide relevant data for the establishment of guiding policies, management decisions and bases for conservation actions in moderate altitude areas of the Amazon basin.
The present study aimed to increase knowledge about the diversity and factors that determine the distribution of galling insects in the Parque Nacional do Itatiaia (PNI), Southeast, Brazil. For this, ...collections were performed in April, August and November 2015 and March 2016. Seventy gall morphotypes were found in 12 families, 32 genera and 61 species of host plants. The richness of galls did not vary with altitude, but increased with the richness of plants. The families and genera of plants with greater species richness harbored a greater number of galling insects. The number of gall morphotypes was higher in the autumn than in the other seasons. The spatial distribution of galling insects was better explained by factors such as floristic richness and species composition than by ecological effects, represented here by altitude. Regarding seasonality, the results indicate that the way resources are temporarily distributed to galling insects depends on factors such as the active growth of host plants, making some periods of the year more conducive to the development of galls.
Mixed flocks are associations of two or more species that are formed and maintained through mutual behavioral responses, with advantages such as maximizing foraging and protecting against predation. ...This study aimed to evaluate the composition, temporal dynamics, and presence of core species in mixed flocks of birds in a remnant of the Submontane Atlantic Rain Forest in the Parque Nacional Aparados da Serra, southern Santa Catarina state, Brazil. Data collection took place from October 2016 to September 2017 through monthly campaigns, consisting of three consecutive observation days, with sampling sessions of six hours per day, resulting in a total effort of 216 h of observations. For each contact with the flocks, we recorded the species and number of individuals, stratum of occurrence, substrates of search, and agonistic interactions. We recorded 152 mixed flocks, with a total of 76 species belonging to 24 families, and five orders, with Thraupidae, Tyrannidae, Furnariidae, and Rhynchocyclidae being the richest. The flocks had an average of 4.5 ± 2.7 species and 8.7 ± 5.8 individuals, with richness and the number of individuals being positively correlated (R² = 0.8). Mixed flocks occurred throughout the year. There was a great variation in the number of contacts from October to February (from 5 to 20 contacts). Meanwhile from March to September, the coldest period of the year in the region, the number of contacts did not vary (from 9 to 14 contacts). However, there was no difference in the number of contacts between these months (z = 0.37; p = 0.691). Basileuterus culicivorus and Habia rubica were the core species because, in addition to their high participation (46.7 and 32.9%, respectively), they showed frequent and conspicuous movement and vocalization. Thus, a high capacity to enlist a greater number of individuals from different species for the flocks was demonstrated.
Eurysthea vandenberghei, new species from Nicaragua is described, and E. vandenberghei Santos-Silva, Heffern & Botero, 2021 is considered a nomen nudum.
Knowledge of the reproductive biology of Bare-faced Curassows (BFC) from their natural habitats is very limited. Our study covers a two-and-a-half year breeding phenology on BFC in the northern ...Pantanal (Mato Grosso State, Brazil) with the main objective of collecting information on reproduction biology to contribute to future conservation management strategies of this cracid, which received a recent status of "High Conservation Priority". The study was conducted at the SESC Pantanal, Baía das Pedras, Mato Grosso, Brazil (16°29′55″S, 56°24′46″W), a private protected area of approximately 4,200 ha. Between July 2015 and December 2017, 37 sampling locations were monitored with camera traps placed in a regular grid with a spacing of 1 km. Offspring were detected at least once at 8 locations, namely, in March, April, and May 2016 and in June, July, October, and November 2017, always together with parent(s). Territorial overlap between different family groups was detected. The camera trap dataset was supplemented by data from Citizen Science Projects (i.e., eBird) and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Based on feather developmental stages and body size, offspring were classified into different age classes. Age determination indicates that breeding occurs year-round in the northern Pantanal region, supported by eBird and GBIF data. The use of a grid-based design for future camera-trapping studies of BFCs is strongly recommended. Our study is of biological relevance for conservation management projects since data were collected in an area with low anthropogenic disturbance and intact ecosystem services.
The spider genus Strotarchus Simon, 1888 includes 18 extant species from the American continent (12 from Mexico). Additionally, two fossil species have been described for this genus, Strotarchus ...paradoxus (Petrunkevitch, 1963) from Mexican amber (Chiapas), and Strotarchus heidti Wunderlich, 1988 from Dominican Republic amber. From two pieces of amber from Chiapas, here we describe for the first time, the male of the fossil spider S. paradoxus previously known only by a female specimen preserved in amber from the same locality. Moreover, a diagnosis is proposed for this species based on the characteristics of the female described by Petrunkevitch (1963) and the male here described.
