Marinêz Isaac Marques

Biodiversity and its conservation in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil

Abstract.The Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil, is famous for its luxurious plant and animal life. We combine a literature review with recent work and show that species diversity is large but that most major plant and animal groups contain a large number of not wetland-specific species that depend on permanently terrestrial habitats within the Pantanal, or are restricted to dry areas during the low water period. These species occur also in the neighbouring biomes of Cerrado, Amazon Forest or Chaco. Until now, very few endemic species have been described, however, there are large populations of species in the Pantanal that are considered rare or endangered in South America. The number of trees adapted to long term flooding is low in comparison with the Amazon River floodplain. We hypothesize that the reason for the lack of local endemisms and the occurrence of a large number of species with a large ecological amplitude is the climatic instability of the region of the Pantanal, which suffered severe drought during glacial periods. The instability of the actual climate, which is characterized by multi-annual wet and dry periods, has a strong impact on distribution, community structure and population size of many plant and animal species and hinders spatial segregation of populations. The dependence of the system on the flood pulse makes the Pantanal very vulnerable to human induced changes in hydrology and the predicted changes in global climate.

Terrestrial arthropods from tree canopies in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil

Terrestrial arthropods from tree canopies in the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil. This study represents a contribution to the knowledge of the diversity of arthropods associated to the canopy of Vochysia divergens Pohl (Vochysiaceae). Three trees individuals were sampled during two seasonal periods in this region: a) by spraying one tree canopy during high water (February); b) by fogging two tree canopies during low water (September/October). The 15,744 arthropods (183.2±38.9 individuals/m2) obtained from all three trees (86 m2) represented 20 taxonomic orders, 87.1% were Insecta, and 12.9% Arachnida. The dominant groups were Hymenoptera (48.5%; 88.9 individuals/m2), mostly Formicidae (44.5%; 81.4 individuals/m2), followed by Coleoptera (14.0%; 25.5 individuals/m2) and Araneae (10.2%; 19.5 individuals/m2), together representing 62.5% of the total catch. Fourteen (70%) of all orders occurred on three trees. Dermaptera, Isoptera, Neuroptera, Odonata, Plecoptera and Trichoptera were collected from only one tree. Of the total, 2,197 adult Coleoptera collected (25.5±11.3 individuals/m2), 99% were assigned to 32 families and 256 morphospecies. Nitidulidae (17.9% of the total catch; 4.6 individuals/m2), Anobiidae (16.7%; 4.3 individuals/m2), Curculionidae (13.2%; 3.4 individuals/m2) and Meloidae (11.4%; 2.9 individuals/m2) dominated. The communitiy of adult Coleoptera on V. divergens indicated a dominance of herbivores (37.8% of the total catch, 127 spp.) and predators (35.2%, 82 spp.), followed by saprophages (16.2%, 32 spp.) and fungivores (10.8%, 15 spp.). The influence of the flood pulse on the community of arboreal arthropods in V. divergens is indicated by the seasonal variation in evaluated groups, causing changes in their structure and composition.

Artrópodos associados à copa de Attalea phalerata Mart. (Arecaceae), na região do Pantanal de Poconé, Mato Grosso, Brasil

Six individuals of the palm A. phalerata, in Pocone floodplains of Mato Grosso, were sprayed with a synthetic pyrethroid (0.25% concentration) in order to study the biomass, diversity, and richness of the canopy arthropods. A total of 17,188 (238.7±80.6 ind./m²) arthropods belonging to 22 Orders, was collected in a 72 m² funnel area. Two hours after spraying, 58.9% of the total number fell into the funnels, 37.6% was obtained by shaking the trees, and finally, 3.5% after cutting and washing all the palm leaves. The Coleoptera (27.4%), Hymenoptera-Formicidae (19.0%), Collembola (13.6%), Psocoptera (10.7%), Diptera (9.0%) and Araneae (6.4%) were the predominant. The total biomass was 15.1 g dry weight (0.4mg/m²; 0.13+0.04/tree). A total of 4,715 beetles representing 48 families and 326 morphospecies were obtained. Tenebrionidae (22.9%), Curculionidae (22.0%), Carabidae (10.9%) and Staphylinidae (7.9%) were the most abundant, while Curculionidae (44 spp.), Staphylinidae (40 spp.) and Chrysomelidae (34 spp.) presented the largest number of morphospecies. Herbivores (37.5%) were the dominant in the trophic guilds of adult Coleoptera, followed by predators (35.4%), fungivores (14.6%), and saprophages (12.5%). Although most arthropod Orders were represented in all the palms sampled, analysis of variance showed no significant differences in their composition, however there was a significant difference in their frequency of occurrence.

What Determines the Number of Juvenile Instars in the Tropical Grasshopper Cornops aquaticum (Leptysminae: Acrididae: Orthoptera)?

Cornops aquaticum (Bruner) is host specific on Eichhornia spp. and Pontederia spp. (Pontederiacae). Its present distribution ranges from Mexico to Argentina. The number of juvenile instars (5-7) apparently mirrors the photoperiod and temperature pulses of different climatical conditions in the respective geographical regions. Based on life-history data, three working hypotheses are proposed for forthcoming studies. These will test whether the varying number of juvenile instars represents a phenotypic plasticity of a single genotype or an adaptation that is genetically fixed, due to an evolutionary relationship of the host with its host-plant.

Vertical and time distribution of Diplopoda (Arthropoda: Myriapoda) in a monodominant forest in Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil.

In this study different sampling techniques for Diplopoda in soil, tree trunks and canopies were applied in an integrated way in the northern region of the Pantanal of Mato Grosso, Brazil. This was done in order to assess the relationship within the fauna in each forest strata, as well as its richness and temporal distribution. In all these habitats there were a total of 1,354 diplopods, distributed in four taxonomic orders, with Polyxenida being predominant over Polydesmida, Spirostreptida and Spirobolida. The largest representation was found on the trunks of the Vochysia divergens (721 ind.), intercepted by tree photoecletors, whereas in the canopies sampling reached only 65 specimens. In the edaphic stratum 568 diplopods were captured, most with the use of the Winkler extractor, followed by pitfall traps and soil photoecletors. In spite of being an important group in these environments, both in terms of richness and diversity, this was less than has been observed in other Neotropical areas. However, due to seasonal changes in the Pantanal the existence of a relationship between the soil and the tree fauna was found as well as different survival strategies observed during the flood period. Regarding vertical distribution, the greatest richness and variety of taxonomic groups was found in the forests edaphic environment demonstrating its association mainly with this forest stratum.

Audio parameterization with robust frame selection for improved bird identification

Audio parameterization method with robust frame selection.Automated acoustic recognition of 40 bird species.HMM-based bird identification. A major challenge in the automated acoustic recognition of bird species is the audio segmentation, which aims to select portions of audio that contain meaningful sound events and eliminates segments that contain predominantly background noise or sound events of other origin. Here we report on the development of an audio parameterization method with integrated robust frame selection that makes use of morphological filtering applied on the spectrogram seen as an image. The morphological filtering allows to exclude from further processing certain audio events, which otherwise could cause misclassification errors. The Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (MFCCs) computed for the selected audio frames offer a good representation of the spectral information for dominant vocalizations because the morphological filtering eliminates short bursts of noise and suppresses weak competing signals. Experimental validation of the proposed method on the identification of 40 bird species from Brazil demonstrated superior accuracy and faster operation than three traditional and recent approaches. This is expressed as reduction of the relative error rate by 3.4% and the overall operational time by 7.5% when compared to the second best result. The improved frame selection robustness, precision, and operational speed facilitate applications like multi-species identification of real-field recordings.

Arthropod biodiversity in the canopy of Vochysia divergens (Vochysiaceae), a forest dominant in the Brazilian Pantanal.

The canopy of an invasive tree species in the Pantanal floodplains, Vochysia divergens Pohl (Vochysiaceae; height 12 m) was sprayed once with 5% synthetic pyrethrum during the dry, non-flooded season near Poconé, Mato Grosso. About 4200 arthropods collected (43.7 ind./m 2) represented 14 orders. The Hymenoptera dominated (21.4 ind./ 2 ; mostly ants), followed by Coleoptera, Araneae and Diptera (85% of the total catch). Of the 26 Coleoptera families (6.2 ind./ 2) the Curculionidae, Scolytidae, Elateridae and Dryopidae were most abundant (70% of the total catch), and on trophic level the herbivores dominated (42%). This is the first quantitative canopy study of a tree species in the northern Pantanal floodplains. The type of data needed on arthropods from tree canopies in future studies to aid in the management and conservation of Pantanal floodplains is discussed.

Características do adulto, genitália e formas imaturas de Gonipterus gibberus Boisduval e G. scutellatus Gyllenhal (Coleoptera, Curculionidae)

Adults and immature forms of G. gibberus Boisduval, 1835 and G. scutellatus Gyllenhal, 1833 are redescribed briefly. A morphologic study of male and female genitalia with illustrations and keys for the identification of these species are included. The records on the female genitalia are presented for the first time.

Comunidade de artrópodes associada à copa de Attalea phalerata Mart. (Arecaceae) durante o período de cheia no Pantanal de Poconé, MT

Six trees of the palm species Attalea phalerata Mart. were sampled during high water (aquatic phase) of the Pantanal of Mato Grosso (February 2001), by canopy fogging. The composition, structure, and biomass of the arthropod community associated with their canopies were analysed, as well as the influence the flood pulse renders on it. Each tree was fogged once, followed by three consecutive collections. A total of 63,657 arthropods (643.0 ± 259.87 ind/m2) were collected, representing 25 orders in the classes Insecta, Arachnida, Diplopoda and Crustacea. The dominant groups were Acari (40.0%; 257.2 ± 116.50 ind./m2), Coleoptera (12.0%; 77.5 ± 64.93 ind./m2), Psocoptera (9.2%; 59.0 ± 38.00 ind./m2), Diptera (8.4%; 54.1 ± 18.72 ind./m2), Collembola (8.3%; 53.4 ± 26.24 ind./m2) and Hymenoptera (7.9%; 50.6 ± 21.40 ind./m2), the latter mostly represented by Formicidae (49.2%). Arthropod biomass amounted to 8.86 g dry weight and 0.18 mg/m2. Coleoptera, Blattodea, Orthoptera, Araneae and Hymenoptera were the most representative taxa. The hydrological regime (flood pulse), as well as seasonality, appear to strongly affect the composition and structure of this canopy community.

Automated Sound Recognition Provides Insights into the Behavioral Ecology of a Tropical Bird

Computer-assisted species recognition facilitates the analysis of relevant biological information in continuous audio recordings. In the present study, we assess the suitability of this approach for determining distinct life-cycle phases of the Southern Lapwing Vanellus chilensis lampronotus based on adult vocal activity. For this purpose we use passive 14-min and 30-min soundscape recordings (n = 33 201) collected in 24/7 mode between November 2012 and October 2013 in Brazil’s Pantanal wetlands. Time-stamped detections of V. chilensis call events (n = 62 292) were obtained with a species-specific sound recognizer. We demonstrate that the breeding season fell in a three-month period from mid-May to early August 2013, between the end of the flood cycle and the height of the dry season. Several phases of the lapwing’s life history were identified with presumed error margins of a few days: pre-breeding, territory establishment and egg-laying, incubation, hatching, parental defense of chicks, and post-breeding. Diurnal time budgets confirm high acoustic activity levels during midday hours in June and July, indicative of adults defending young. By August, activity patterns had reverted to nonbreeding mode, with peaks around dawn and dusk and low call frequency during midday heat. We assess the current technological limitations of the V. chilensis recognizer through a comprehensive performance assessment and scrutinize the usefulness of automated acoustic recognizers in studies on the distribution pattern, ecology, life history, and conservation status of sound-producing animal species.