Rural fences in agricultural landscapes and their conservation role in an area of caatinga (dryland vegetation) in Northeast Brazil

Fences are very common in rural areas, and represent important landscape elements in both tropical and temperate climate regions. In spite of their marked presence and importance, fences have been little studied, principally in Brazil. The present study examined the types of fences, the diversity of species used in their construction, as well as the diversity of their uses in a rural community in the municipality of Caruaru, Pernambuco State, northeastern Brazil. Fifty meters of fence-line in each of 50 rural properties in the community were examined, noting the diameter, height and identity of all vegetation elements used in their composition. Semi-structured interviews were also held with their builders in order to obtain information concerning fence uses. In the total of 2,500 linear meters of fence-line, 4,953 individual plant elements were identified, belonging to 51 different species. A majority of the fence elements were non-living fence posts, although the number of living posts was high. Of the total number of fence elements, 66.7% were native to the caatinga region. The large number of native species used as non-living fence posts indicates an intensive use of the caatinga vegetation and suggests the need to stimulate the use of living fence posts for conservation purposes.     

Bushmeat consumption and its implications for wildlife conservation in the semi-arid region of Brazil

Hunting plays an important socioeconomic role in the semi-arid region of Brazil, by supplying meat and other products. Nevertheless, there is a lack of information on which species are most used by the local populations and what are the implications for conservation of exploited animals. This paper explores the bushmeat consumption in the Brazilian Caatinga region, where wild animals comprise an important protein source. A questionnaire was used to gather information from hunters, and the consumption of bushmeat by their families was monitored. Interviews revealed that 58 vertebrate species could potentially be consumed as bushmeat, but the samples provided by the monitored families comprised only 28 species. Birds were the animals most consumed, followed by mammals, although the biomass of both groups was similar. The consumption of bushmeat was not correlated with hunters’ socioeconomic data (income, age or schooling). Hunters recognized that the populations of some game species appeared to be declining, showing that bushmeat consumption, together with the cultural, economic and social aspects of the human populations involved in hunting, should be considered when discussing the conservation of animal resources in the Caatinga region.     

The ecological apparency hypothesis and the importance of useful plants in rural communities from northeastern Brazil: an assessment based on use value

The ecological apparency hypothesis in ethnobotanical studies predicts that the apparent plants (i.e., the most easily found in the vegetation) would be the most commonly collected and used by people. To test this hypothesis, it has been used the concept of use value (VU), which measures the relative importance of useful plants for a group of people. However, the use value has got some limitations, including the fact that it does not distinguish "current use" (plants which are effectively used) from "potential use" (well known plants, however not used). Therefore, this study has tested whether the obtained results through three different use value calculations could be useful in testing the ecological apparency hypothesis. These calculations have included the current use value, the potential use value, and the general use value. It has been carried out a vegetation survey and an interview for residents from the rural communities from Barrocas and Cachoeira (Soledade, Paraíba, Brazil). It has been used Spearman's coefficient to correlate phytosociological and ethnobotanical data. It has been observed that phytosociological parameters in Cachoeira were not correlated with any of the use values calculations, except the relationship between the current use value and the relative dominance (r(s)?=?0.57; p?相似文献   

Particulate matter in the indoor and outdoor air of a gymnasium and a fronton

An indoor/outdoor monitoring programme of PM₁₀ was carried out in two sports venues (a fronton and a gymnasium). Levels always below 50 μg m^?3 were obtained in the fronton and outdoor air. Due to the climbing chalk and the constant process of resuspension, concentrations above 150 μg m^?3 were registered in the gymnasium. The chalk dust contributed to CO₃ ^2? concentrations of 32?±?9.4 μg m^?3 in this sports facility, which represented, on average, 18 % of the PM₁₀ mass. Here, the carbonate levels were 128 times higher than those registered outdoors. Much lower concentrations, around 1 μg m^?3, were measured in the fronton. The chalk dust is also responsible for the high Mg²⁺ concentrations in the gym (4.7?±?0.89 μg m^?3), unfolding a PM₁₀ mass fraction of 2.7 %. Total carbon accounted for almost 30 % of PM₁₀ in both indoor spaces. Aerosol size distributions were bimodal and revealed a clear dependence on physical activities and characteristics of the sports facilities. The use of climbing chalk in the gymnasium contributed significantly to the coarse mode. The average geometric mean diameter, geometric standard deviation and total number of coarse particles were 0.77 μm, 2.79 cm^?3 and 28 cm^?3, respectively.     

Dibenzothiophene desulfurization by Gordonia alkanivorans strain 1B using recycled paper sludge hydrolyzate

Enzymatic hydrolyzates of recycled paper sludge were tested as suitable feedstock for biological desulfurization by Gordonia alkanivorans strain 1B. Only the hydrolyzate obtained after enzymatic mixture dialysis (dialyzed hydrolyzate) allowed dibenzothiophene (DBT) desulfurization, in spite of faster bacterial growth did occur on non-dialyzed hydrolyzate. For dialyzed hydrolyzate, 250microM DBT was consumed after 96h displaying a maximum specific productivity of 2-hydroxybiphenyl of 1.1micromol g(-1)(dry cell weight) h(-1). A comparison of the kinetics of biodesulfurization was assessed according to the type of hydrolyzate supplementation. Complete consumption of DBT was observed upon the addition of only phosphates and ammonia although further addition of zinc did increase the 2-hydroxybiphenyl production by 14%. Strain 1B was able to desulfurize a model oil containing DBT, 4-methylDBT and 4,6-dimethylDBT, reducing by 63% the total sulfur content in 168h.     

Kinetics assessment and modeling of biogas production by anaerobic digestion of food wastes and acclimated sewage sludge

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - In this work, food wastes (FWs) and domestic sewage sludge (DSS) were used as raw materials for energy recovery by anaerobic digestion (AD). AD was...     

Geologic materials and gamma radiation in the built environment

Human exposure to natural ionizing radiation is due to both internal sources such as ingestion and inhalation of radioactive isotopes, and external sources from cosmic radiation and primordial radionuclides present in the Earth crust. Primordial radionuclides are ⁴⁰K and radioisotopes of the decay series of ²³⁸U and ²³²Th, which emit gamma radiation at low doses. Gamma emission can occur both in outdoor, due to background geologic radiation, and in indoor spaces, due to the use of geologic materials in dwellings. This radiation has received less attention than man-made sources because it contributes less to the total doses that affect humans, on the average. However, there are geographical areas and rocks used as building materials that contain high concentrations of radionuclides, thus being a source of relatively high gamma dose exposures. Assessing exposure is difficult, especially in indoor situations where there are marked variations regarding materials application. Nonetheless, some measures and regulations to control such dose exposures on building materials have been suggested. This article reviews gamma radiation in geologic materials used for buildings. We discuss: (1) procedures that relate radionuclide contents in building materials to external gamma radiation, considering namely indoor applications and that are used for establishing restrictions on building materials commerce; (2) relation of rock radionuclide contents with their geologic history that can lead to listing of some geologic materials as potentially hazardous in terms of gamma radiation; and (3) the implications for the European regulation, which has an universal criteria that might be excessively restrictive for the commerce of geologic materials used in small amounts, and does not have provisions regarding existing structures where geologic materials are used in extended amounts.