Marta Pereira da Silva

Distribuição e quantificação de classes de vegetação do Pantanal através de levantamento aéreo

An aerial survey was adapted and used for the first time to elaborate maps of distribution and quantification of vegetation classes in the Pantanal wetland, per sub-region. Sixteen vegetation classes where identified based on phytophysiognomic aspects, the most important being grassland (31.1%), cerradao woodland (22.1%), cerrado (14.3%), marshes (7.4 %), semideciduous forest (4.0%), gallery forest (2.4%) and floating mats (2.4%). These informations can support decisions in the conservation or selection of preserved areas, as well as to help to monitor vegetation over a vast and remote region.

Marsh Deer (Blastocerus dichotomus) Distribution as a Function of Floods in the Pantanal Wetland, Brazil

The marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus, Cervidae) inhabits floodplains and marshlands of South America and is threatened with extinction. We conducted two aerial surveys in the central southern region of the Pantanal to evaluate population distribution at the end of the dry season and the peak of the flooding season. Our results show an aggregated distribution during the dry season and a relatively diffused distribution in the flooding season. Population density estimates are 0.382 ± 0.362 deer/km2 in the dry season, and 0.395 ± 0.144 deer/km2 in the flooding season. Population size remained essentially unchanged between the seasons. In the study area, the marsh deer moved up to 20 km between the dry and flooding seasons. The design of protected areas should consider migration distances to offer enough area to protect marsh deer populations throughout the year.

Veda e vermifugação como alternativas de manejo para desmama de bezerros Nelore em pastagem nativa do Pantanal

The aim of this study was to investigate the integrated effects of native pastures sealing with strategic control of gastrointestinal nematodes on body development of weaned Nellore calves, studied between March 1992 and January 1993 in the Pantanal region, Brazil. Two homogeneous groups of weanling calves were put on contiguous paddocks of native pastures with the same physiognomic characteristics and sealed for three and a half months. The paddock where the non-treated group was put, was previously used by cows that were rearing a calf for contamination of the pasture. The treated group remained with low levels of eggs per gram of feces (EGF) during the whole experimental period. In the non-treated group, the EGF diminished during the assay, ending with similar levels of the treated group. On body development, it was observed a lower body weight loss of the treated group during the dry season and a compensatory weight gain of the non-treated group on the subsequent rainy season. The mean body weight of the two groups was similar at the end of the trial.

Alternative management for weaned nelore calves in the Pantanal's native pastures

The aim of this study was to investigate the integrated effects of native pastures sealing with strategic control of gastrointestinal nematodes on body development of weaned Nellore calves, studied between March 1992 and January 1993 in the Pantanal region, Brazil. Two homogeneous groups of weanling calves were put on contiguous paddocks of native pastures with the same physiognomic characteristics and sealed for three and a half months. The paddock where the non-treated group was put, was previously used by cows that were rearing a calf for contamination of the pasture. The treated group remained with low levels of eggs per gram of feces (EGF) during the whole experimental period. In the non-treated group, the EGF diminished during the assay, ending with similar levels of the treated group. On body development, it was observed a lower body weight loss of the treated group during the dry season and a compensatory weight gain of the non-treated group on the subsequent rainy season. The mean body weight of the two groups was similar at the end of the trial.