José Flávio Morais Castro

Testing the relationship between human occupancy in the landscape and tadpole developmental stress.

Amphibian population declines are widespread; the main causal factors are human related and include habitat fragmentation due to agriculture, mining, fires, and urban development. Brazil is the richest country in species of amphibians, and the Brazilian regions with the greatest amphibian diversity are experiencing relatively high rates of habitat destruction, but there are presently relatively few reports of amphibian declines. It is thus important to develop research methods that will detect deterioration in population health before severe declines occur. We tested the use of measurements of fluctuating asymmetry (FA) taken on amphibian larvae to detect anthropogenic stress. We hypothesized that greater human occupancy in the landscape might result in more stressful conditions for amphibians. We conducted this study at the Espinhaço mountain range in southeastern Brazil, using as a model an endemic species (Bokermannohyla saxicola, Hylidae). We chose two tadpole denticle rows and eye-nostril distance as traits for FA measurement. We measured percent cover of human-altered habitats in the landscape around tadpole sampling points and measured FA levels in sampled tadpoles. We found FA levels to differ among localities but found no relationship between human modification of the landscape and tadpole FA levels. Levels of FA in the traits we examined may not be strongly affected by environmental conditions, or may be affected by local variables that were not captured by our landscape-scale measures. Alternatively, populations may be genetically differentiated, affecting how FA levels respond to stress and obscuring the effects of anthropogenic disturbance.

INTERSEÇÕES GEOGRÁFICAS: UMA ANÁLISE DA CARTOGRAFIA FILATÉLICA BRASILEIRA

The intersections between Philately and Cartography in Brazil have generated over 350 stamps throughout history. This study analyzes the Brazilian philatelic cartography and the geographic intersections taking place within Brazilian postal stamps, intersections deeply related to Cultural Geography. Geographic intersections materialized in the symbolic representation of postal stamps are intimately related to culture and its relationship with space. The analysis of postal stamps carrying maps and other cartographic elements identified the presence of topo- logical, distance, and location relationships, as well as trajectories and flows. On the other hand, maps and projections also carry strong symbolic appeal, bringing information that

Georreferenciamento e Cartometria dos mapas da capitania de Minas Gerais elaborados por José Joaquim da Rocha em 1778 e 1793

The accuracy of historical maps is being evaluated in research Historical Cartography through the use of geospatial technologies. This research aims to apply general techniques geocoding and cartometric maps in the province of Minas Gerais, drawn by Jose Joaquim da Rocha in 1778 and 1793, especially the overlay layer, the displacement vector and distortions of the grid over the map current.