Adriano Pereira Paglia

Wild, synanthropic and domestic hosts of Leishmania in an endemic area of cutaneous leishmaniasis in Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Domestic, synanthropic and wild hosts of Leishmania spp. parasites were studied in an area endemic for American tegumentary leishmaniasis (ATL), specifically in northern Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Domestic dogs and small forest mammals are reservoir hosts for L. (Leishmania) infantum. However, the role that these animals play in the transmission cycle of the Leishmania spp. that cause cutaneous leishmaniasis is not well known. This study evaluated 72 rodents, 25 marsupials and 98 domestic dogs found in two villages of the Xakriabá Indigenous Territory, an area of intense ATL transmission. A total of 23 dogs (23.47%) were shown to be positive according to at least one test; 8 dogs (8.16%) tested positive in a single serological test and 15 dogs (15.31%) tested positive by IFAT and ELISA. Eleven dogs were euthanised to allow for molecular diagnosis, of which nine (81.8%) tested positive by PCR for Leishmania in at least one tissue. Seven animals were infected only with L. (L.) infantum, whilst two displayed a mixed infection of L. (L.) infantum and L. (V.) braziliensis. Isoenzymatic characterisation identified L. (L.) infantum parasites isolated from the bone marrow of two dogs. Of the 97 small mammals captured, 24 tested positive for Leishmania by PCR. The results showed that L. (V.) braziliensis, L. (L.) infantum and L. (V.) guyanensis are circulating among wild and synanthropic mammals present in the Xakriabá Reserve, highlighting the epidemiological diversity of ATL in this region.

Ecosystem Services Modeling as a Tool for Defining Priority Areas for Conservation.

Conservationists often have difficulty obtaining financial and social support for protected areas that do not demonstrate their benefits for society. Therefore, ecosystem services have gained importance in conservation science in the last decade, as these services provide further justification for appropriate management and conservation of natural systems. We used InVEST software and a set of GIS procedures to quantify, spatialize and evaluated the overlap between ecosystem services—carbon stock and sediment retention—and a biodiversity proxy–habitat quality. In addition, we proposed a method that serves as an initial approach of a priority areas selection process. The method considers the synergism between ecosystem services and biodiversity conservation. Our study region is the Iron Quadrangle, an important Brazilian mining province and a conservation priority area located in the interface of two biodiversity hotspots, the Cerrado and Atlantic Forest biomes. The resultant priority area for the maintenance of the highest values of ecosystem services and habitat quality was about 13% of the study area. Among those priority areas, 30% are already within established strictly protected areas, and 12% are in sustainable use protected areas. Following the transparent and highly replicable method we proposed in this study, conservation planners can better determine which areas fulfill multiple goals and can locate the trade-offs in the landscape. We also gave a step towards the improvement of the habitat quality model with a topography parameter. In areas of very rugged topography, we have to consider geomorfometric barriers for anthropogenic impacts and for species movement and we must think beyond the linear distances. Moreover, we used a model that considers the tree mortality caused by edge effects in the estimation of carbon stock. We found low spatial congruence among the modeled services, mostly because of the pattern of sediment retention distribution.

Mixed infection of Leishmania infantum and Leishmania braziliensis in rodents from endemic urban area of the New World

BackgroundIn Brazil Leishmania braziliensis and L. infantum are the principal species responsible for cutaneous and visceral leishmaniases, respectively. Domestic dogs are the main reservoirs of visceral leishmaniasis, while rodents and marsupials are the main reservoirs for cutaneous leishmaniasis. It has also been suggested that dogs could play a role in transmission of cutaneous leishmaniasis. The identification of the species of Leishmania, the reservoirs, and the vectors involved in each particular transmission cycle is critical for the establishment of control activities. Belo Horizonte has emerged as an endemic region for leishmaniases, however, epidemiological studies assessing the contribution of wild reservoirs to transmission are scarce in the area. The aim of this study was to investigate Leishmania spp. infection in possible reservoirs of an urbanized area.ResultsA high rate of infection was found in small mammals (64.9%) and dogs (DG1 30.4% and DG2 48.6%). The presence of L. infantum and L. braziliensis was detected in small mammals and dogs, and mixed infections by both species were detected in rodents which, to the best of our knowledge, is the first description of this phenomenon in an urban area. Additionally, L. amazonensis was detected in the canine samples.ConclusionThe possible role of these animals as a source of infection of the vector of each species of Leishmania identified should not be overlooked and should be taken into account in future control activities. The results of mixed infection by L. braziliensis and L. infantum in cosmopolitan rodents as M. musculus and R. rattus, may have important implications in the context of the control of leishmaniasis in urban areas, especially when considering that these rodents live in close relationship with human dwellings, especially those in more precarious conditions.

Biodiversity conservation gaps in the Brazilian protected areas

Although Brazil is a megadiverse country and thus a conservation priority, no study has yet quantified conservation gaps in the Brazilian protected areas (PAs) using extensive empirical data. Here, we evaluate the degree of biodiversity protection and knowledge within all the Brazilian PAs through a gap analysis of vertebrate, arthropod and angiosperm occurrences and phylogenetic data. Our results show that the knowledge on biodiversity in most Brazilian PAs remain scant as 71% of PAs have less than 0.01 species records per km2. Almost 55% of Brazilian species and about 40% of evolutionary lineages are not found in PAs, while most species have less than 30% of their geographic distribution within PAs. Moreover, the current PA network fails to protect the majority of endemic species. Most importantly, these results are similar for all taxonomic groups analysed here. The methods and results of our countrywide assessment are suggested to help design further inventories in order to map and secure the key biodiversity of the Brazilian PAs. In addition, our study illustrates the most common biodiversity knowledge shortfalls in the tropics.

Serologic and Molecular Evidence of Vaccinia Virus Circulation among Small Mammals from Different Biomes, Brazil

Vaccinia virus (VACV) is a zoonotic agent that causes a disease called bovine vaccinia, which is detected mainly in milking cattle and humans in close contact with these animals. Even though many aspects of VACV infection have been described, much is still unknown about its circulation in the environment and its natural hosts/reservoirs. To investigate the presence of Orthopoxvirus antibodies or VACV DNA, we captured small rodents and marsupials in 3 areas of Minas Gerais state, Brazil, and tested their samples in a laboratory. A total of 336 animals were tested; positivity ranged from 18.1% to 25.5% in the 3 studied regions located in different biomes, including the Atlantic Forest and the Cerrado. Analysis of nucleotide sequences indicated co-circulation of VACV groups I and II. Our findings reinforce the possible role played by rodents and marsupials in VACV maintenance and its transmission chain.

Mining undermining Brazil's environment

On 5 November 2015, two mining dams jointly owned by Vale and BHP Billiton collapsed in Brazil. The toxic sludge wiped out whole villages, leaving 19 dead and suffocating 600 km of one of Brazils most valuable rivers ([ 1 ][1]). One might expect increased scrutiny on the mining sectors social

Assessing changes in the conservation status of threatened Brazilian vertebrates

Threatened species assessments are one of the tools used to evaluate the degree of human impact on biodiversity, particularly in the assignment of extinction probabilities to individual species. Heavily altered habitats or biomes harbor a high proportion of the threatened species that have been assessed globally—80% of all of threatened species in IUCN’s Red List owe their poor status at least partly to the loss of habitat. Some taxonomic groups, however, may be well represented in the Red Lists either because they are naturally more sensitive to the most pervasive threats, or simply because they have been better studied. Here we look at the threat patterns on a temporal scale of Brazilian animal species included in the IUCN Red List, evaluating the hypotheses that directions of changes in red list status can be explained by the increase in scientific knowledge or by actual changes in threat factors. We analyzed changes in patterns of threatened vertebrates in IUCN’s list between 2002 and 2006. During that period, 120 species changed their status. 42 of these changes referred to inclusions and 78 to changes of threat category. For the latter group, 23 had their status upgraded to categories of higher threat, and 55 downgraded to others of lower threat. Most of the downgrades were caused by increase in scientific knowledge, while most of the upgrades resulted from the deterioration of the environmental conditions.

Short-term toxicity of ammonia, sodium Hydroxide and a commercial biocide to golden mussel Limnoperna fortunei (Dunker, 1857)

Macrofouling bivalves are considered an ecological and technological problem worldwide. Control measures have been researched with Limnoperna fortunei, but without success. The aim of the manuscript is to test some alternatives to regulate this harmful invasive mollusk. Mortality and behavioral response (shell gaping) of Limnoperna fortunei exposed to three chemical compounds were evaluated. Values for LC50 96h were: 0.25 (0.24-0.27)mg/L NH3-N, 11.10 (7.45-16.55) mg/L MXD-100 and 88.51 (74.61-105.01)mg/L NaOH. Reduced gaping was observed beginning at concentrations of 0.31mg/L (NH3-N), 100mg/L (MXD-100) and 160mg/L (NaOH) and increased above these values. The percentage of individuals gaping after two hours at LC50 96h differed significantly (χ(2)=79.9; DF=3; p<0.001) in MXD-100 (50%), NaOH (0%), NH3-N (96.7%) and the controls (93.3%). This study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between toxicity and behavioral effects of some toxicants in L. fortunei.

ATLANTIC‐CAMTRAPS: a dataset of medium and large terrestrial mammal communities in the Atlantic Forest of South America

Our understanding of mammal ecology has always been hindered by the difficulties of observing species in closed tropical forests. Camera trapping has become a major advance for monitoring terrestrial mammals in biodiversity rich ecosystems. Here we compiled one of the largest datasets of inventories of terrestrial mammal communities for the Neotropical region based on camera trapping studies. The dataset comprises 170 surveys of medium to large terrestrial mammals using camera traps conducted in 144 areas by 74 studies, covering six vegetation types of tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of South America (Brazil and Argentina), and present data on species composition and richness. The complete dataset comprises 53,438 independent records of 83 species of mammals, includes 10 species of marsupials, 15 rodents, 20 carnivores, eight ungulates and six armadillos. Species richness averaged 13 species (±6.07 SD) per site. Only six species occurred in more than 50% of the sites: the domestic dog Canis familiaris, crab-eating fox Cerdocyon thous, tayra Eira barbara, south American coati Nasua nasua, crab-eating raccoon Procyon cancrivorus and the nine-banded armadillo Dasypus novemcinctus. The information contained in this dataset can be used to understand macroecological patterns of biodiversity, community, and population structure, but also to evaluate the ecological consequences of fragmentation, defaunation, and trophic interactions.

Medium and large-sized mammals of RPPN Estação Veracel, southernmost Bahia, Brazil

One of the largest private reserves in the Atlantic Forest is the RPPN Estacao Veracel, which along with the contiguous forested area of the Pau-Brasil Ecological Station, is an important part of the remaining Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia. We carried out an inventory of medium and large mammals in the Reserve during a 16-month camera trap survey, as well as conducted interviews with park rangers and searched for direct/indirect records, which revealed 33 species belonging to nine different Orders. Among the species recorded, six are categorized as threatened in the national list and four in the IUCN global list. The RPPN harbors species which are crucial to the ecosystem, many of which are in decline and threatened by high hunting pressure and reduction of habitat. The results confirm the relevance of the RPPN as a Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) for globally threatened species.