Produced natures through the lens of biodiversity conservation and tourism: the Ponta Negra Caiçara in the Atlantic Forest Coast of Brazil

Understanding nature as an outcome of organising discourses generated through relative experiences of our surroundings has been the groundwork of a political ecology that deals with the distribution of environmental justice among people with different degrees of power. In this paper, we examine how the environmental legislation and the tourism industry have constructed the term Caiçara as a way to categorise the inhabitants of the Atlantic Forest Coast of Brazil, in ways that meet their goals, but in turn occludes the discourse of the Caiçara themselves. Ethnographic research conducted in Ponta Negra, a small coastal community located at the heart of the Juatinga Ecological Reserve (Paraty, Rio de Janeiro State), as well as a review of key legislation, management plans and tourism materials form the empirical basis of this research. First, we offer a critical examination of the historical origin of the term Caiçara. We then compare contradictory ideas of Caiçara produced by Brazilian environmental legislation and the tourism industry. While the environmental legislation has characterised the Caiçara as fallen angels who are no longer conservation allies, the tourism industry has profited by selling them as ecologically noble savages who still live in harmony with the environment. Our analysis shows how Ponta Negra people have become objects of powerful discourses of nature that hinder the recognition of their collective rights and weaken their position to negotiate for their own desires and aspirations related to their identity and livelihoods.     

Optimisation and application of the voltammetric technique for speciation of chromium in the Patos Lagoon Estuary—Brazil

The chemical speciation analysis of chromium in one of the most important South American Estuary was performed for the first time. Samples were collected in Patos Lagoon Estuary (Brazil) and were analysed by adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry, with the following analytical figures of merit: limit of detection, 0.1 nmol L(-1); precision RSD?=?3%, n?=?7; linearity, from limit of quantitation up to 20 nmol L(-1); and accuracy of 99.8%, expressed as recovery. No labile chromium forms were identified in samples, beside industries and a city were near the study area. It is pointed out a reverse correlation between total and non-active chromium and salinity, which could be explained by biogeochemical processes.     

Phthalates and perfluorinated alkylated substances in Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) specimens from Mediterranean Sea (Sardinia,Italy): Levels and risks for human consumption

Atlantic blue fin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is a species of great importance for Mediterranean Sea area, from both ecological and commercial points of view. The scientific literature reports few data on the contamination of this fish by emerging organic compounds such as perfluorinated alkylated substances(PFASs) and phthalates, being the latter never been studied in tuna. This study therefore investigated the presence of the PFASs perfluorooctane sulphonate (PFOS) and perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA) and the phthalate di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), also monitored by its metabolite mono-2-ethylhexyl phthalate(MEHP), to assess both the state of contamination of Atlantic bluefin tuna specimen and the risk due to the toxicity of these compounds for human consumption. While PFOA was never found, detectable levels of PFOS (0.4–1.88 ng/g), DEHP (9–14.62 ng/g) and MEHP (1.5–6.30 ng/g) were found. The results were elaborated relating the accumulation to the size and age of the individuals and showed a correlation between the levels of different pollutants investigated.     

Fungal-bacterial network in PAH–contaminated coastal marine sediment

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Fungal microbiome interacts with the other biotic components in coastal sediment playing a key role in the overall coordination of the whole microbial...