Conservation value of an exotic species: the case of coconuts on the Kayapo indigenous lands, south-eastern Amazonia

In a meeting between FUNAI (the Brazilian Indian National Foundation) and the Kayapo in the Kayapo village of Aukre, in October 2005, the Kayapo Indians requested support to increase the culture of coconuts (Cocos nucifera) in their lands. The introduction of exotic species is a cause of biological diversity loss throughout the world. However, this is by no means applicable to all kinds of exotic species. We argue that the culture of coconuts may actually be a useful tool for the conservation of this country’s indigenous lands, despite criticism to the contrary. It may also be useful as source for raw material for the indigenous people who are presently experiencing a population boom. For the Kayapo of south-eastern Amazonia, such a demographic explosion, coupled with their increasing dependence on money to purchase industrialized goods, tend to substantially increase the pressure on their lands, which still contain a substantial amount of well-preserved seasonally-dry Amazonian forests. We investigated the actual economic relevance of coconuts for the Kayapo by measuring human and coconut populations and found that this exotic palm is not important for the subsistence of these Indians, due to coconut scarcity, and that such importance is not forthcoming. In the Amazon, coconuts may be particularly useful for the Indians’ nutrition due to the high energetic value of the solid endosperm of the mature fruit. Therefore, given the importance of indigenous lands for the conservation of the Amazonian forests, the encouragement of subsistence coconut cultures in indigenous lands is defensible as a measure for the conservation of biodiversity.     

Population genetic structure of North American <Emphasis Type="Italic">Ophiactis</Emphasis> spp. brittle stars possessing hemoglobin

With the discovery of previously unreported populations of hemoglobin-possessing Ophiactis from the Texas coast in the Gulf of Mexico, an investigation into its population structure, including populations of O. simplex from the Pacific coast of California and O. rubropoda from the Atlantic coast of Florida, was undertaken using DNA sequence data from the mitochondrial COI gene. The reconstructed haplotype network suggests that California populations contain the ancestral source of mtDNA variation, and there is no evidence of recent introductions into Texas. Population genetic analyses reveal the California, Florida, and Texas Ophiactis populations to each be significantly differentiated from one another. Sequence divergence among the three areas is shallower than would be predicted given biogeographic history. Texas and Florida populations are equally genetically diverged from California populations as they are to one another, despite the greater potential for gene flow between these areas. The genetic distinctiveness of the Texas populations and the concordance of this pattern with phylogeographic patterns in other brittle star systems indicate an isolated and independent evolutionary history and we hypothesize that the three geographic regions included in this study each serve as hypotheses of population-level lineages that remain to be tested with independent sources of data.     

Bioaccumulation of cadmium,lead and zinc in liver and kidney of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) from NW Spain: influence of gender and age

Cd, Pb, and Zn were quantified in liver and kidney of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) which were hunted during the 2003–2011 hunting seasons in Galicia (NW Spain). The effects of age and gender were evaluated to determine whether these variables should be included in future biomonitoring studies. The concentrations of hepatic and renal Cd (average 0.6 and 1.3 µg/g) and Pb (0.8 and 0.06 µg/g, respectively) were similar to background levels, with no known toxicological relevance. Similarly, the average levels of Zn in liver and kidney (77 and 17 µg/g) were in the range of physiological levels for canids. Although no significant gender-dependent variations were observed, the effect of aging was evident: the levels of hepatic Pb and both hepatic and renal Cd were higher in adults than in juveniles. Age should be included as a parameter during future biomonitoring programs focusing on trace metal bioaccumulation in red foxes.     

The potential of marine live-bait introductions into oceanic islands

The likely introduction of non-indigenous species into the coastal ecosystems of oceanic islands through live-bait utilizations was studied. A store survey identified the species that are traded as live fishing-bait. Only Polychaeta species were identified as imported live-bait on São Miguel Island and all specimens were identified as Perinereis linea. Reponses to surveys of 77 anglers showed that: 44 % harvest from native sources, 44 % buy live-bait and 12 % do both; 56 % of the anglers’ fish on a weekly basis; 31 % dispose of the bait into the sea. A field survey at five sites where fishing rods are routinely utilized was developed to investigate if the non-indigenous polychaetes sold as fishing-bait are already established in the natural environment of the Azores archipelago. Three species of Nereididae were identified: the native Neanthes nubila and P. oliveirae and the cryptogenic P. cultrifera. The escalating utilization of live-bait argues for a change in the habits of fishermen with respect to the discarding of leftover bait, as the higher the volume of discards the higher becomes the probability of non-indigenous species establishment successes, especially on oceanic islands characterized by vulnerable ecosystems with simpler trophic webs.