Floresta Nacional De Research Articles

<i>Catasetum tavaresii</i> (Catasetinae), a new species from Central Brazilian Amazon

A new Catasetum species from Brazilian Amazon, more specifically from the “Floresta Nacional de Saracá-Taquera” (State of Pará), is proposed, described and illustrated. This new taxon belongs to the subgenus Catasetum, section Isoceras, subsection Isoceras, whose representatives have symmetrical and parallel antennae. It is compared with C. nhamundaense, C. garnettianum and C. barbatum, all with the same antennae characteristics and belonging to the "C. cristatum alliance". Among related species, C. tavaresii differs mainly in the lip structure. We also give data on geographical distribution, habitat, phenology, flower visitors, and preliminary conservation status.

UPDATED DISTRIBUTION MAP OF Amphisbaena mitchelli PROCTER, 1923 (SQUAMATA: AMPHISBAENIDAE) WITH A NEW RECORD IN MARANHÃO, BRAZIL

Amphisbaena mitchelli is a small-sized worm lizard species described from Ilha de Marajó, state of Pará, Brazil. After its description, few publications brought new distribution records for A. mitchelli, all in eastern Amazonia. In this paper we report a new record of the species in municipality of Imperatriz, state of Maranhão, Brazil. The new record is the first in the Cerrado ecoregion and is 300km northeast in straight line to the closest record in Floresta Nacional de Carajás, municipality of Parauapebas, state of Pará, Brazil, and fills a gap of 530 km.

Phenology of Araucaria Forest fern communities: comparison of the influence of natural edge, artificial edge, and forest interior.

The edge effect, triggered by habitat fragmentation, alters forest microclimates and influences the life cycle of plants. Phenology may indicate the first changes in phenological patterns in response to the effects of climate change. Climate regulates the phenology of ferns and climatic triggers influence plants in tropical and subtropical regions differently. This study analyzed and compared the phenology of fern communities of three sub-areas - natural edge, artificial edge, and forest interior - of a fragment of Araucaria Forest in the Floresta Nacional de São Francisco de Paula, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and its relationship with meteorological, astronomical, and edaphic variables. Abiotic and edaphic data were monitored concomitantly with phenological data (leaf renewal and senescence and sporangia formation) in each sub-area over a biennium. Temperature, air humidity, and soil moisture, which undergo changes with the edge effect, influenced edge plants. Leaf renewal was the main phenophase showing strong indication of changes in vegetative patterns in natural and artificial edge communities. Among the communities, that of the artificial edge signaled phenological changes that could compromise the development of ferns if effects intensify over time. In this respect, the phenology of artificial edge ferns differed from that of plants growing in originally natural formations (natural edge and forest interior), showing that exogenous transformations represent a new environmental situation for ferns to develop.

The first two blind troglobitic spiders of the genus Ochyrocera from caves in Floresta Nacional de Carajás, state of Pará, Brazil (Araneae, Ochyroceratidae)

The first two anophthalmic species of spiders of the genus Ochyrocera Simon, 1892, are described for caves located in the iron formation of Floresta Nacional (FLONA) de Carajás in southeastern Pará State, Brazil. The caves are located in the municipalities of Parauapebas and Canaã dos Carajás, in the eastern portion of the Amazon Forest domain. Ochyrocera ritxocosp. nov. and O. ritxoosp. nov. are described based on males and females. The species have similar body characteristics with the total absence of eyes and complete depigmentation, characteristics that indicate possible evolution in subterranean environments , and thus are classified as troglobites. Each species is associated with a single geomorphological unit (mountain range), with Ochyrocera ritxocosp. nov. being restricted to caves of Serra Norte (North Mountain) and O. ritxoosp. nov. to caves of Serra Sul (South Mountain). Both species were collected in aphotic zones of the caves. Small and tangled webs of O. ritxocosp. nov. were observed under blocks of stone in the soil or in cracks of the walls.

Mapeamento de córregos e nascentes na Floresta Nacional de Ibirama-SC

Este projeto oferece ao leitor uma visão sobre a pesquisa intitulada “Mapeamento de Córregos e Nascentes da Floresta Nacional de Ibirama-SC”, desenvolvida na região do Alto Vale do Itajaí, Santa Catarina. Justifica-se pela ausência de dados sobre alguns desses córregos pelo Plano de Manejo da Unidade de Conservação. Traz informações geográficas coletadas em campo em outubro de 2020, e expõe preliminarmente a qualidade ambiental do entorno de algumas dessas águas desconhecidas. Como resultado, expõe um padrão espacial leste-oeste de degradação/conservação observados para os córregos, nascentes e confluências percorridos no interior da Floresta Nacional.

A new local scale prediction model of Amazonian landscape domestication sites

Amazonia has drawn the interest of researchers over the last few decades as a region with evidence for extensive ancient/past indigenous landscape domestication. Among the major issues surrounding the nature of landscape domestication of pre-Columbian Amazonians, its scale is critically connected with other major problems in the history of Amazonia such as forms of urbanism, land engineering and agriculture. In recent years, some research in historical ecology has focused on developing methods to calibrate landscape domestication by interpreting the effects of human activity on the formation of the modern Amazonian landscape. This paper presents regional-scale research in the Floresta Nacional de Caxiuanã (FNC) to provide a method to trace and calibrate long-term forest management. With the data collected from the FNC and satellite images, the relationship between soils, an Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and landscape domestication are explored. The data are interpreted as indicating that zones of anthropogenic enrichment of the soil due to forest management over the last 2000 years have a positive correlation with high EVI values. The research methods have potential to be applied broadly in tropical rainforest environments where pedestrian survey is difficult to undertake.

Natural history and population dynamics of the subsocial tortoise beetle Omaspides (Paromaspides) brunneosignata Boheman 1854 (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae)

ABSTRACT Herbivorous insects have their density limited by biotic and abiotic factors, which influence their survival. For subsocial tortoise beetles (Chrysomelidae: Cassidinae) little is known about natural history and what factors affect their densities, although they are promising models for ecological and evolutionary studies. We described (1) the biology, behaviour and natural enemies of Omaspides (P.) brunneosignata Boheman 1854 (Cassidinae: Mesomphaliini); (2) its population density, and (3) the possible correlation between its density and climatic factors (temperature and precipitation) and host plant, Ipomoea syringifolia Meisn. 1869 (Convolvulaceae). The study was conducted in the Floresta Nacional de Passa Quatro, Minas Gerais, Brazil, from: October/2010 to May/2011, to investigate the species life cycle and the population dynamics, correlating the density to the climatic variables and from October/2016 to January/2018, when population dynamics was monitored again, and the density was correlated to the climatic variables and phenology of the host plant. Parental care was observed only by the female of O. (P.) brunneosignata, which cares for the offspring for approximately 48 days, the total duration of immature development. Maternal care was fundamental in the egg stage, because in the absence of the female, all the egg masses were predated, mainly by ants. Immatures were predated and/or parasitised by Hymenoptera (ants, wasps) and Coccinellidae beetles. Omaspides (P.) brunneosignata is a bivoltine species, being abundant during the hot and rainy months and not being observed in the dry and cold season, a similar pattern to that of other cassidines of mountainous tropical areas in Brazil. The density did not correlate with the climatic variables or with the leaf density of the host plant. Other factors are discussed as possible causes for the population fluctuation of the species.

Poroid fungi (Agaricomycetes, Basidiomycota) from Floresta Nacional de Silvânia – a conservation unit of Brazilian Savanna

We present a taxonomic inventory, including ecological aspects, of poroid fungi from the Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, a conservation unit representative of the Brazilian Savanna (Cerrado) biome. Basidioma collection was sampled randomly (active search), between 2005 to 2012, considering the conservation unit area, and occurred along or outside pre-existing trails, mainly within forest formations. Totally we found 27 species, distributed into 22 genera, 9 families and 3 order. The α diversity (Hꞌ) was 2.86; the maximum diversity estimated (H max) was 3.29 and the Pielou equability (Jꞌ) was 0.87. These data, added to species accumulation curve, indicate that the number of species of poroid fungi found has not yet exhausted the real diversity of the area and it may increase with the increase in collections (sampling effort). About 37% of the species were found in both living and decaying wood; 33% exclusively in dead and 22% exclusively in live wood. Among these, 44% were classified as rare in the area, 33% occasional, 15% common and 7% abundant. The most frequent species were those that occurred in both living and decaying wood, while the rare ones occurred exclusively in one type of wood (living or dead). The present work is one of the pioneers in the study of poroid fungi in Central Brazil, increasing the knowledge of this biodiversity in the Brazilian Savanna, which can be used as support to update the management plan of the conservation unit.

INFLUENCE OF FOREST COVERAGE IN THE SURFACE ALBEDO

The surface albedo controls the energy balance between the surface and the atmosphere, being a primordial variable to identify climatic variations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the changes of the surface albedo in different Land Use and Land Cover in the Atlantic Forest biome from images TM/Landsat 5 and OLI/Landsat 8, verifying its variation in 30 years. The images used were path-row 221-080, which covered the Floresta Nacional de São Francisco de Paula on the dates of 1987 and 2017. The albedo was obtained by the method of the Surface Energy Balance Algorithm for Land, while the mapping of Land Use and Land Cover was performed by the Bhattacharyya algorithm, identifying four thematic classes. Finally, the albedo was crossed with the thematic classes, evidencing their variation in function of the changes in the land cover. The surface albedo ranged from 6 to 22%, but the year 1987 concentrated albedo values higher than in 2017. The native forest presented superior albedo to the Forest Plantations in both dates due to the structure of the canopy of this class. The spatial analysis of the albedo exposes the relation of this climatic variable to the cover of the terrestrial surface. Thus changes in the vegetation cover cause alterations in the albedo, influencing changes in the radiation and atmospheric fluxes.

Edaphic Endemism in the Amazon: Vascular Plants of the canga of Caraj\xe1s, Brazil

Amazonia is one of the most diverse biomes worldwide, and, as well as luxuriant forest, it includes mountain areas which, despite their small surface area, display fascinating endemism. In these regions, the specificity of edaphic factors is mirrored by a highly specialised, isolated flora adapted to survive adverse conditions. The Serra dos Carajás in the Brazilian state of Pará is one of world’s largest iron ore reserves. Known locally as canga, this ironstone formation occupies an area of 115.9 km2, and supports campo rupestre of canga vegetation on outcrops that are mostly in the Floresta Nacional de Carajás (FLONA of Carajás) and Parque Nacional dos Campos Ferruginosos (PNCF). The recent publication of the Flora of the cangas of Carajás lists 856 species of seed plants and 186 species of ferns and lycophytes. This project assessed the canga endemic species growing in the region, and further expeditions guided by SDM were carried out in order to ascertain their distribution outisde the area. Departing from an initial list of 58 putative endemics, the final list comprises 38 species of vascular plants (c. 4% of the local flora). These are distributed in 31 genera and 22 families, including three monotypic genera: Carajasia (Rubiaceae), Monogereion and Parapiqueria (Asteraceae). From these, 24 are classified as Rare Species for Brazil and seven as Highly Restricted Endemic (EEO < 100 km2). An illustrated account is provided, as well as further SDM to detect other possible areas of distribution based on the studied species. The knowledge generated is aimed at directing appropriate conservation plans for the area.

Distribution extension of Phimophis guerini (Serpentes: Dipsadidae: Xenodontinae) in the Brazilian Amazon

Phimophisguerini Duméril, Bibron &amp;amp; Duméril, 1854 is a Xenodontinae snake distributed in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. In Brazil, the species is broadly distributed, occurring mainly in open areas of the Cerrado, but also in the Amazon, Atlantic forest and Caatinga. We provide a new record for this species from the municipality of Santarém in the western portion of the state of Pará (Brazil). Five specimens were collected in a small area covered with Amazonian Savanna vegetation. We also provide the description of the morphological variation for the collected specimens. The new record extends the northern limit of the distribution by some 640 km (from Floresta Nacional de Carajás, Parauapebas municipality, eastern Pará). The record from Santarém provides a third locality for P.guerini within the Amazon biome and supports the hypothesis of a past ecological corridor linking the Cerrado and the open habitats within the Amazon.

First record of albinism for the doglike bat, Peropteryx kappleri Peters, 1867 (Chiroptera, Emballonuridae)

Albinism is a type of deficient in melanin production could be the result of genetic anomalies that are manifest as the absence of coloration of part or the entire body of an organism. This type of chromatic disorder can affect several vertebrate species, but is rarely found in nature. Among bats, more than 450 cases of total or partial loss of body pigmentation have been reported. Herein we provide the first report of albinism for the bat species Peropteryxkappleri (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae) with two such specimens being observed from iron formation caves in a conservation unit “Floresta Nacional de Carajás”, Amazon forest, northern of Brazil.

A name for the nurse-frog (Allobates, Aromobatidae) of Floresta Nacional de Carajás, Eastern Brazilian Amazonia.

We describe a new species of nurse-frog (Aromobatidae, Allobates) from Floresta Nacional de Carajás, southeastern Brazilian Amazonia. Allobates carajas sp. nov. is distinguished from similar congeneric species by the combination of the following characters: body-size range (snout-to-vent length 16.5-19.1 mm), dorsal color pattern with a dark brown hourglass-shaped mark, by the absence of a pale dorsolateral stripe and presence of a pale ventrolateral stripe, absence of a pale paracloacal mark, by overall bright yellow ventral colors of live male and female specimens, and by the posterior labium of tadpoles, with a single row of pyramidal papillae medially. The advertisement call of the new species is highly variable, with four possible temporal arrangements of notes (continuous emission of notes separated by regular silent intervals, continuous emission of notes separated by irregular silent intervals, emission of discrete note trills, and sporadic emission of single notes). Duration of notes range between 0.020-0.060 s, and the dominant frequency of notes range from 4.75 to 5.38 kHz. The new species is currently known only from forested habitats within Floresta Nacional de Carajás.

Ferns and lycophytes from Serra dos Carajás, an Eastern Amazonian mountain range

Abstract In the state of Pará (Brazil), until the beginning of last decade little was known about the composition of the fern and lycophyte flora. The ferruginous mountains of Carajás are located in Southeastern Pará, mostly inserted in the Floresta Nacional de Carajás. The objective of this work is to present a complete and updated list of fern and lycophyte species occurring in all vegetation types from Carajás ferruginous mountains as a contribution to the knowledge of these plant groups from the Brazilian Amazon. The species list was based on specimens collected between 2007 and 2013. About 1068 specimens deposited in the BHCB Herbarium were studied. A total of 186 species of pteridophytes were recorded, 175 species of ferns distributed in 22 families and 68 genera, and 11 species of lycophytes distributed in three families and four genera. The fern and lycophyte flora of Serra dos Carajás region corresponds to 64% of the Pará state flora of these groups and 34% of the Brazilian Amazon fern and lycophyte flora. Seven taxa are presented as new records for Pará state: Asplenium abscissum, A. otites, A. praemorsum, Blechnum lanceola, Elaphoglossum minutum, Doryopteris collina, and Hemionitis tomentosa. Three species are endemic to Serra dos Carajás, Isoetes cangae, I. serracarajensis, and Selaginella stomatoloma.

Seven new species of the spider genus Ochyrocera from caves in Floresta Nacional de Carajás, PA, Brazil (Araneae, Ochyroceratidae).

Seven new species of the spider genus Ochyrocera from cave areas in Floresta Nacional de Carajás (state of Pará, northern Brazil) are described: Ochyrocera varys sp. n., Ochyrocera atlachnacha sp. n., Ochyrocera laracna sp. n., Ochyrocera aragogue sp. n., Ochyrocera misspider sp. n., Ochyrocera charlotte sp. n., and Ochyrocera ungoliant sp. n. Two groups of the species are discussed, the quinquivittata group that include specimens with an apparently bifid retrolateral apophysis in the cymbium of the male palp and the arietina group, here proposed, that include those specimens with an entire cymbium, with no retrolateral apophysis, in the male palp. Although these species were abundant inside caves, the examined specimens do not have troglomorphic characteristics and can be classified as edaphic troglophile species, capable of completing its life cycle in soil, shallow subterranean habitats, or caves.

Distribution of insect galls in xeric and mesic habitats of Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, Brazil

ABSTRACT We investigated the insect gall distribution along savanna (xeric) and forest (mesic) vegetation in the Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, Goiás, Brazil. We tested if the insect gall diversity is higher in the xeric vegetation than in the mesic vegetation, as predicted by the hygrothermal stress hypothesis. The insect gall fauna was surveyed between December 2009 and June 2010 in two transects established each vegetation type. In total we found 186 insect gall morphotypes, distributed on 35 botanical families and 61 plant species. Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) induced the most insect galls (34.1%), and the plant family Fabaceae had the greatest richness of insect gall morphotypes (18). We recorded 99 insect gall morphotypes in the forest and 87 morphotypes in the savanna vegetation, being that none insect gall morphotype occurred in both habitats. We found that the insect gall richness and abundance did not differ between forest and savanna transects. On the other hand, the estimated insect gall richness was higher in the forest than in the savanna. Our findings contrary the hygrothermal stress hypothesis possibly because forest habitats have higher plant architecture complexity and occurrence of super-host taxa than the savanna habitats.

Occurrence and characterization of insect galls in the Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, Brazil

In the present paper we investigated the insect gall distribution along savanna and forest sites in the Floresta Nacional de Silvânia, Goiás, Brazil. The insect gall fauna was surveyed bi-monthly between December 2009 and June 2010. In total we found 186 insect gall morphotypes, distributed on 35 botanical families and 61 plant species. Ninety-nine insect gall morphotypes were recorded in the forest and 87 in the savanna. Gall-inducing insects belonged to Coleoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Lepidoptera and Thysanoptera, with highlight to Cecidomyiidae (Diptera) that induced 34.1% of the gall morphotypes. Parasitoids and/or inquilines were recorded in 38 morphotypes, mainly from the families Eulophidae, Eurytomidae and Torymidae (Hymenoptera). Fabaceae was the botanical family with the greatest richness of galls, followed by Asteraceae and Sapindaceae, being Protium (Burseraceae), Siparuna (Siparunaceae) and Serjania (Sapindaceae) the main host genera. This is the first systematic survey of insect galls realized in the Flona-Silvânia, which result in six plant species are recorded for the first time in Brazil as host of insect galls.

Juventude extrativista como sujeito de participação e fortalecimento comunitário

The youth and the younger generations have been gaining increasing recognition in the development of nations. In Brazil youth-related issues have been on the rise throughout the twenty-first century. A range of programs have been introduced by the federal government in order to create youth leaderships and value the youth. Although we are enjoying a good moment of demographic potentialities for the youth, there is a need for participatory research aimed at strengthening youth participation in protected areas. The aim of this article was to analyze the participation of the youth from Tefé National Forest (Floresta Nacional de Tefé), in the State of Amazonas, Brazil, regarding the educational challenges for popular participation. Thus, we believe that we can engage in dialogue with a view to finding viable alternatives that make training conditions possible as well as encouraging autonomy in the youth, which will help in strengthening the protected areas through collective youth empowerment.

Rediscovery of the enigmatic fungus-farming ant "Mycetosoritis" asper Mayr (Hymenoptera: Formicidae): Implications for taxonomy, phylogeny, and the evolution of agriculture in ants.

We report the rediscovery of the exceedingly rarely collected and enigmatic fungus-farming ant species Mycetosoritis asper. Since the description of the type specimen in 1887, only four additional specimens are known to have been added to the world's insect collections. Its biology is entirely unknown and its phylogenetic position within the fungus-farming ants has remained puzzling due to its aberrant morphology. In 2014 we excavated and collected twenty-one colonies of M. asper in the Floresta Nacional de Chapecó in Santa Catarina, Brazil. We describe here for the first time the male and larva of the species and complement the previous descriptions of both the queen and the worker. We describe, also for the first time, M. asper biology, nest architecture, and colony demographics, and identify its fungal cultivar. Molecular phylogenetic analyses indicate that both M. asper and M. clorindae are members of the genus Cyphomyrmex, which we show to be paraphyletic as currently defined. More precisely, M. asper is a member of the Cyphomyrmex strigatus group, which we also show to be paraphyletic with respect to the genus Mycetophylax. Based on these results, and in the interest of taxonomic stability, we transfer the species M. asper, M. clorindae, and all members of the C. strigatus group to the genus Mycetophylax, the oldest available name for this clade. Based on ITS sequence data, Mycetophylax asper practices lower agriculture, cultivating a fungal species that belongs to lower-attine fungal Clade 2, subclade F.

Biology of the relict fungus-farming ant Apterostigma megacephala Lattke, including descriptions of the male, gyne, and larva

Fungus-farming “attine” ant agriculture consists of five distinct agricultural systems characterized by a remarkable symbiont fidelity in which five phylogenetic groups of ants faithfully cultivate five phylogenetic groups of fungi. Across-system garden switching experiments result in colony decline and death, indicating that attine ant-fungus symbiont fidelity is enforced by poorly understood biological constraints. The most dramatic violation of this pattern of symbiont fidelity occurs in the relict species Apterostigma megacephala, the only lower-attine ant known to cultivate a higher-attine fungus. Apterostigma megacephala is the sole surviving representative of an ancient lineage that diverged from all other Apterostigma fungus-farming ants ~39 million years ago, yet it cultivates Leucoagaricus gongylophorus, a highly domesticated fungal species that originated in the gardens of the recently evolved leaf-cutting ants 8–11 million years ago. Understanding the biology of A. megacephala, therefore, may provide important clues about the biological mechanisms that constrain the otherwise seemingly obligate ant-fungus associations that characterize attine ant agriculture. Here, based on field work in the Floresta Nacional de Carajas in the state of Para in Brazil, we report the previously unknown biology of A. megacephala, including nest architecture, colony demography, foraging behavior, and the morphologies of the previously undescribed gyne, male, and larva.