Pantanal Ecosystem Research Articles

Candida flosculorum sp. nov. and Candida floris sp. nov., two yeast species associated with tropical flowers

Two ascomycetous yeast species, Candida flosculorum sp. nov. and Candida floris sp. nov., were isolated from tropical flowers and their associated insects. C. flosculorum was isolated from flower bracts of Heliconia velloziana and Heliconia episcopalis (Heliconiaceae) collected from two Atlantic rain forest sites in Brazil. C. floris was isolated from flowers of Ipomoea sp. (Convolvulaceae) growing on the banks of the river Paraguai in the pantanal ecosystem in Brazil and from an adult of the stingless bee Trigona sp. and a flower of Merremia quinquefolia (Convolvulaceae) in Costa Rica. C. flosculorum belongs to the Metschnikowiaceae clade and C. floris belongs to the Starmerella clade. The type strain of C. flosculorum is UFMG-JL13(T) (=CBS 10566(T)=NRRL Y-48258(T)) and the type strain of C. floris is UWO(PS) 00-226.2(T) (=CBS 10593(T)=NRRL Y-48255(T)).

Utilizing SAR imagery and aquatic vegetation to map fresh and brackish lakes in the Brazilian Pantanal wetland

South America's Pantanal, the world's largest tropical wetland, contains hundreds of thousands of geochemically diverse lakes, ranging from dilute to brackish to saline in composition. These lakes form the backbone of the habitat that supports the highly diverse flora and fauna of the Pantanal, yet the natural processes that create and destroy them are largely unknown. The quantities and types of lakes in the Pantanal and their spatial distribution are therefore essential, but missing information required to understand the dynamics of the Pantanal ecosystem. RADARSAT S1 and S7, and JERS-1 imagery were integrated with field measurements of water geochemistry and characteristics of emergent aquatic vegetation for fresh and brackish lakes of the Nhecolândia region of the Brazilian Pantanal. A supervised classification was used to classify forest, pasture, bare soil, and lakes. A mask is then applied to produce an image of only lakes. The radar backscattering values were found to have a strong relationship with the emergent aquatic plant assemblages of the lakes—S1 imagery was the most useful. The plant assemblages, in turn, were observed to be strongly controlled by the total dissolved solids (TDS) and pH of the lakes. The relationships between backscattering values, plant assemblages, and geochemistry were then exploited to map the type and distribution of the lakes in the study area. Threshold rules were used to perform Level 1 and Level 2 classifications of the lakes. For the Level 1 classification, the σ o values of RADARSAT S1 effectively separated brackish (10,000 > TDS > 1000 mg/kg) from fresh water lakes (TDS < 1000 mg/kg) with a total accuracy of 91%. For the Level 2 classification, the σ o values of RADARSAT S1 effectively separated lakes into three geochemical groups: brackish (10,000 > TDS > 1000 mg/kg), hard with only Typha (1000 > TDS > 100 mg/kg), and fresh water lakes (TDS mg/kg < 100 mg/kg) with a total accuracy of 83%. Considering that the area is very remote and the lakes are very numerous, this may be the most feasible way to map lake type in the Pantanal.

&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Briófitos de Cáceres, Pantanal de Matogrosso, Brasil, con nuevos registros para el estado y el País.&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

The Pantanal Ecosystem is still poorly known in its bryoflora, with almost no literature and very few collections. This paper represents a contribution to better understand the bryophyte diversity in the brazilian Pantanal. With a population around 85,857 and 27,462.38 Km2 and located at 16º11’42” S and 57º40’51” W, the Cáceres county is totally inserted in the Pantanal ecosystem. Its bryoflora has never been studied before. Here are presented 5 liverworts and 21 mosses, of which Barbula indica (Hook.) Spreng., Calymperes palisoti Schwägr., Fabronia ciliaris var polycarpa (Hook) W.R.Buck, Taxiphyllum taxirameum (Mitt.) M. Fleisch. are cited for the first time for Mato Grosso. Fissidens dissitifolius Sull. is cited for the first time to Brazil and Tortella lilliputana (Müll. Hal. ex G. Roth) R.H. Zander, is cited for the second time to Brazil. The data suggest how poorly known the area still remains and more studies are in need for the Pantanal and Mato Grosso state.

Phylogenetic relationships within the oliveirai complex (Hemiptera:Reduviidae:Triatominae)

The oliveirai complex is actually composed of nine related species of Triatominae that occur in the Pantanal ecosystem of Mato Grosso, Brazil. In order to confirm their specific status and infer their phylogenetic relationships, we performed a genetic and morphometric comparison concerning seven of the nine species of the complex. Isoenzyme analysis provided broadly similar phylogenetic information to that derived from discriminant analysis of size-free variables. The derived trees reveal two main species groups, one composed of three closed species ( T. jurbergi, T. matogrossensis and T. vandae), and another one subdivided into two different pairs, the T. guazu– T. williami pair and the T. klugi– T. oliveirai pair. The results call the specific status of T. guazu and T. williami into question, support the possibility that the other analyzed species represent distinct taxa and query the existence of the oliveirai complex.

Factors determining the structure of fish communities in Pantanal lagoons (MS, Brazil)

The fish communities of lagoons in the Nhecolândia Pantanal were studied to determine the factors which are responsible for the composition and abundance of species. Fishes were collected in 19 lagoons during August 1997, after their isolation from the River Negro, using beach seines (15 × 1.5 m; 2 mm mesh). A total of 51 species were collected. In the lagoons, or in parts with dense macrophytes, a screened box trap was used. Fishing was also accomplished with hooks of several sizes. Species richness was estimated by the jack‐knife procedure, after adjustment to the log‐normal distribution and with von Bertalanffy’s equation (asymptotic). The most important factors in the community organization were macrophyte cover, piscivore abundance and depth of the lagoons. The role of these habitats in the Pantanal ecosystem was discussed.

Environmental Degradation in the Pantanal Ecosystem

Journal Article Environmental Degradation in the Pantanal Ecosystem: In Brazil, the world's largest wetland is being threatened by human activities Get access Cleber J. R. Alho, Cleber J. R. Alho Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Thomas E. Lacher, Jr., Thomas E. Lacher, Jr. Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Humberto C. Gonçalves Humberto C. Gonçalves Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar BioScience, Volume 38, Issue 3, March 1988, Pages 164–171, https://doi.org/10.2307/1310449 Published: 01 March 1988