Marisa Dantas Bitencourt

Aedes albopictus em área rural do Brasil e implicações na transmissão de febre amarela silvestre

Larvae and adult forms of Aedes albopictus were found during ecological study of anopheline mosquitos in the rural zone of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil. This occurrence was registered, for the first time in Brazil, in an enzoootic area if sylvatic yellow fever virus. This implies a potential risk of the transfer of this virus to an urban area infested with Aedes aegypti.

Spacial modeling of cutaneous leishmaniasis risk zones

OBJETIVO: Delimitar espacialmente as zonas de risco de contato (ZoRCs) entre o homem e o vetor da leishmaniose tegumentar americana (LTA), usando sensoriamento remoto e tecnicas de geoprocessamento. METODOS: Foram estudados 27 casos de LTA ocorridos entre 1992 e 1997 no municipio de Itapira, SP. A influencia de algumas variaveis ambientais relacionadas a LTA foram analisadas para cada ZoRC, como altitude e densidade de vegetacao. Esta ultima foi medida pelo indice de vegetacao de diferenca normalizada (IVDN). RESULTADOS: Os resultados mostraram que cerca de 50% das casas onde houve LTA se encontravam em uma distância menor que 200 metros da borda de algum fragmento de mata; mais de 70% das areas totais das ZoRC em cada distância se localizavam em altitudes menores que 750 metros; e cerca de 50% das ZoRC, em cada distância, apresentavam uma area verde muito densa (IVDN variando de 0,45 a 1,00). CONCLUSOES: As analises concordam que pode haver tres tipos de transmissao na area: intraflorestal; extraflorestal (neste caso, influenciada pela densidade de vegetacao ao redor dos fragmentos); ou domiciliar.

Cerrado vegetation study using optical and radar remote sensing: two Brazilian case studies

The amount of phytomass is a crucial parameter in ecology as a whole. Conventional methods to estimate phytomass parameters are often prohibitive in terms of time, environment, and manpower. Seasonality in Brazilian savanna physiognomies is marked by green leaves lost during the dry season and regrowth during the wet season. Branches and trunks remain the same through the seasons. The amounts of the phytomass components can be estimated by nondestructive methods using remote sensing. This paper presents case studies where the abilities to predict vegetation variation are tested using optical and radar images. The foliar component leaf area index (LAI) obtained in the field is related to the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) obtained from satellite images, and both methods present a strong relationship with green leaves biomass. Japanese Earth Resources Satellite (JERS-1) images are used to estimate the aboveground woody biomass. Campo cerrado physiognomy showed the highest seasonal variation in NDVI, and cerradão the lowest variation in NDVI. During August, the lower the NDVI values, the lower the solar albedo and the higher the photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) albedo. During November, the higher the NDVI values, the lower the PAR and the higher the solar albedo. The same proportion in seasonal variation was observed with LAI values. A significant equation is proposed to estimate trunk and branch biomass using allometric parameters and JERS-1 backscattering.

Riqueza e abundância de Culicidae (Diptera) em área impactada, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brasil

The damming of Parana River for the construction of Porto Primavera Hydroelectric Power Plant, between the states of Mato Grosso do Sul, Midwestern Brazil and Sao Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, has changed the ecological relationships in the area. The objective of the study was to describe the fauna that can be potential vectors in this reservoir, 2 km away from its right bank, in Bataguassu, Mato Grosso do Sul, before flooding. Mosquitoes were monthly captured in different environments from July 1997 to November 1999. During this period 16,553 adult specimens and 1,795 immature forms were collected with richness of 86 different species of adults and 44 different species of immature forms. The fauna presented a richness that included species of epidemiological importance, as Anopheles darlingi and other mosquitoes with potential for arbovirus transmission.

Ecological zoning of an Andean grasslands (puna) at the manu biosphere reserve, Peru

In the Andean transition area the Manu Biosphere Reserve (MBR), in Peru, located within the Amazon basin, there are natural grasslands which are suffering from human impact, due to heavy grazing activities, jeopardising their Carrying Capacity (CC). To minimise this impact, it was found necessary to understand the participation of the environmental variables and the anthropogenic activities generating zone of homogeneous areas so as to ultimately form a management plan. To achieve this goal, those variables were combined, taking into account their spatial arrangement, using geoprocessing techniques. Remote Sensing images were used to produce the land use thematic map and topographic maps were also used to produce a Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Biotic and abiotic parameters were transformed into maps within a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) environment to produce an ecological zoning map. The zoning classes were related to CC and sustainability of the grasslands, and were expressed in maps with 23 sampling units.

Alterations in the herbaceous vegetation along a tourist trail in the Serra do Mar, São Paulo, Brazil

O estudo analisou a vegetacao herbacea ao longo de uma trilha de uso publico intensivo nos parques Natural Municipal Nascentes de Paranapiacaba (PNMNP) e Estadual da Serra do Mar (PESM). Foram analisados os valores de cobertura vegetal, riqueza e numero de individuos do estrato herbaceo. A metodologia permitiu amostrar 76 unidades (adjacentes a trilha, a 2 m e a 10 m da trilha). Os tres parâmetros da vegetacao analisados apresentaram valores menores a medida que se afasta perpendicularmente a trilha. Na analise dos individuos registrou-se maior numero de morfoespecies, maiores cobertura e riqueza nas unidades amostrais adjacentes a trilha. Duas especies foram detectadas como dominantes, especialmente nas unidades amostrais proximas a trilha: Parodiolyra micrantha e Impatiens wallerianna. Esta ultima especie encontra-se na lista oficial de especies invasoras do municipio de Sao Paulo.

Spatial analysis of a coastal area for conservation and fishery of mangrove edible crab (Ucides cordatus)

ABSTRACT Santos, L. C. M.; Rollo, M.M.; Costa, T.M.; Pinheiro. M.A.A.; Dahdouh-Guebas, F. and Bitencourt, M.D., 2016. Spatial analysis of a coastal area for conservation and fishery of mangrove edible crab (Ucides cordatus). In: Vila-Concejo, A.; Bruce, E.; Kennedy, D.M., and McCarroll, R.J. (eds.), Proceedings of the 14th International Coastal Symposium (Sydney, Australia). Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue, No. 75, pp. 685–689. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208. Mangroves are productive ecosystems of tropical coastal landscapes, constituting habitat for many commercial fisheries, as the crab Ucides cordatus. In Brazil this crab holds a major socio-economic importance for artisanal fishery, but with obvious decline on their productivity. In this study we determined and mapped the more suitable mangrove areas for the conservation and fishery of this crab in the São Francisco River Estuary (Northeastern Brazil). We applied a Multi-Criteria Evaluation (MCE) in a GIS environment. Ten criteria in total were used, including crab biotic parameters, land use/cover and social factors. Maps of each criterion were produced by GIS techniques with CBERS and SPOT images and by field data. Mangroves more suitable for the conservation of U. cordatus (9.4 km2) are near to the river mouth, due to high density and frequency of non-commercial size crabs (NCSC), low density of commercial size crabs (CSC), small crabs and low degree of use for fishery. On the other hand, the mangroves for the crab fishery occurred with a similar area (10.2 km2) located farther away from the river mouth, with a high density and frequency of CSC, low density of NCSC, big crabs, medium-high degree of use for fishery and near to the villages. These information and thematic maps can aid government agencies in delineating extractive and fishery exclusion areas, thus contributing to the management plan for this species.