Repositório RCAAP

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

This work aimed to bring a summary of all the actions and practices of organic farming and differential ecological management in a production system of sugarcane. Extensive literature review, consultation with specialized technical and scientific collections, observations and field inspection, were used. Available information were analyzed, such as documents, diagnoses, reports, primary and secondary data. The results of the actions and practices implemented were positive and beneficial in the environmental, economic and social spheres, unlike those practiced in conventional systems. The evaluated system showed up important and effective in the recovery, conservation and biodiversity maintenance, beyond showed up as minimization instrument of social impacts associated with the sector. The system showed a higher level of sustainability when compared to conventional.

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Ecological indicators are useful tools for forest monitoring. It is known that most restoration projects are doomed to failure due to factors of multiple spheres, and lead to a succession challenge course desirable. The practical relevance of the concept of ecological integrity objectives directed this study that, in general seeks to define practical indicators that can express the conditions of the areas restored in the early stages of restoration (up to 5 years). The indicators were rated from 0 to 3, according to criteria such as ease of measurement, degree of variation of response, ability to predict changes in the system, and weights of 1 to 3, given the degree of importance of each attribute of the indicators . The product of the note by the weight of each indicator expressed a measure of its efficiency (EF). In relation to indicators of composition, structure and function in each area, the AE2 was the one that appeared in better health. In relation to indicators of composition, structure and function of the area Itu (AE2) which was presented in a better position when compared to AE1. Among the indicators of composition, richness, diversity (H ') and the presence of exotic species were the most effective attributes, in relation to the structure, attributes were more effective tree density, the average annual increment of the variables and the dendrometric the indicator function, land cover, competition and sanity were more efficient in detecting changes and changes in areas so fast, convenient and understandable.

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

The APA of Itupararanga has been created in 1998 and brougt together the following municipailities areas´s: Alumínio, Cotia, Votorantim, Vargem Grande Paulista, Mairinque, São Roque, Piedade e Ibiúna. It is a very important conservation unit in the regional context, because it was created to conserve the main source of fresh water of almost 1 million people, Itupararanga Reservoir. The following research aims to measure the APA´s effectiveness and their effects in the local public s policies. For this were evaluated the municipal master plans and its intersections with the APA´s management plan, the plan´s process of elaboration and the conflicts with the zonig of the conservation unit. Moreover, the search intended to evaluate the impacts of APA´s deployment in the region using some indicators as: population growth, sewage treatment, water quality, use and land cover, environmental crimes and the hidrology of the reservoir. The municipal master plan´s elaboration showed little popular participation and interrelationship with the APA, that resulted in 12 conflicts of use and land cover between the APA´s zoning and that proposed in the master plans that covers 20% of APA´s area. The environmental indicators allow us to conclude that the APA did not exert positive influence on environmental quality in the region. The historical analysis of the APA situation allowed us to elaborate proposals for revision of master plans and mechanisms for environmental management in the region to achieve the maintenance of environmental quality and sustainable development development.

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Animals may influence the spatial distribution and survivorship of plants with which they interact. For instance, the Janzen-Connell model predict that the probability of seed and seedling survivorship is reduced around the parental plant because of the intense seed predation and herbivory in this place, which suggests the role of seed dispersal in plant regeneration. The hunting and habitat fragmentation threaten the regeneration of many plant species that depend on large animals to disperse their seeds. In this study I investigated the relationship between seed dispersion, predation and the spatial distribution and survival of seedlings of the palm Attalea dubia in native forest preserved, evaluating the importance of mammals for plant regeneration. In a second part I compared the pre-dispersal seed predation of A. dubia in three habitats: a continuous forest area, a forest fragment and a pasture. This study was undertaken in Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho , and adjacent areas in south-west of São Paulo State. The flowering and fruiting phenology of the palm was observed during a year (October 2010 to November 2011). Focal observations of fruiting palms and cameras traps allowed us to verify which species of mammals included fruits or seeds of A. dubia in the diet. Seed predation and removal experiments combined with the mapping of the spatial distribution of seedling and adult plants were taken to evaluate the importance of mammals in regeneration and test the Janzen-Connell hypothesis. Fruiting of Attalea dubia occurs throughout the year. The mammal species recorded interacting with A. dubia fruits and seeds were: Cebus nigritus, Guerlinguetus ingrami, Philander frenatus and sigmodontineous rodents. Seeds away from the parent palm were more likely to survive than seeds around the parent palm. The spatial distribution seedlings and juveniles also agree with the Janzen-Connell hypothesis. Small mammals removed most seeds to short distances, around 4 meters. Seed predation by rodents was higher in the fragment than in continuous forest and much reduced in the pasture. Predation by invertebrates was reduced in continuous forest and higher in the fragment. There was no compensation of the seed predation: seed predation by invertebrates did not increase in the absence of rodents. Mammals seems to be not essential to the palm regeneration, but they may be important for the spatial distribution of A. dubia. I suggest that the importance of small mammals, such as squirrels, to seed dispersal and plant regeneration of large-seeded plants has been underestimated. Changes in seed predation among habitats may lead to the dominance of some plant species, reducing plant diversity in the long term. The increase in abundance of A. dubia that occurs in highly disturbed areas and edges of fragments can be the result of the lower seed predation in these areas.

The availability of food resources in different degrees of regeneration of a forest may contribute to possible variations in species abundance and composition of bird communities. The main objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between the structure of frugivores and nectarivores bird communities and the availability of food resources - flowers and fruit - in two successional stages of regeneration (initial-secondary and advanced) of the Atlantic Forest. To reach this goal, frugivores and nectarivores birds were monitored in representative sites of these stages, considering seasonality and production of flowers and fruits at each stage over a year. The frugivores and nectarivores were compared in richness, species composition, relative abundance and diversity. We used fixed point counts for sampling birds, and to estimate the production of flowers and fruits, we delimited three replicates of four plots (10x10m) at each stage of succession. The two studied successional stages differed significantly in most of the analyzed vegetation structure variables. The composition and relative abundance of some bird species also showed differences between the two stages of regeneration, but not quantitative parameters as richness and diversity. There were variations in plant community phenological curves and in the amount of the floral production between the two successional stages. The relative abundance of frugivores had a significantly positive relationship with the amount of available ripe fruits. In the advanced stages, the relative abundance of nectarivores birds had a significantly positive relationship to the number of individuals of flowering epiphytic plant species; while in secondary stages of regeneration there was no change in the abundance of nectarivores birds in response to floral resource availability. Thus, in areas that are not continuous to primary forests may occur in a declining population of frugivorous and nectarivorous birds in response to variations in the phenological curves and food shortages causing changes in the processes of breeding and selection of plant species, which can bring significant implications for the conservation of birds and plants.

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos