Repositório RCAAP

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana

The fluviological analysis is an important tool for planning and managing watersheds once that, by means of the characterization of discharges regime and the pulse of a water curse, it helps to indicate their hydrological state and the contributes to handle the natural resources with focus on ecosystemic services. Using secondary data and knowledge of statistics hydrology, as well computational tools, this study assessed and compared the main discharge variables and the pulse of the rivers situated in the Tietê - Jacaré Water Resources Management Unit. In spite of similar climatic conditions of the basins, the indicators have shown that there is grayer instability of the pulse of River Jaú when compared to the Rivers Jacaré-Pepira; Jacaré-Guaçu and Boa Esperança. The River Jaú has presented the lowest specific minimum discharges and the greatest specific maximum discharges as well as the lowest specific permanence discharges. Also it was the only river to reach, during the study period, the critical drought weather discharge estimates by the Hydrological Regionalization Method for São Paulo State. Furthermore, the fluvial diagram of the River Jaú was most instable and the least predictable, showing a greater number of pulses, the greatest maximum tension and the lowest average amplitude. The environmental analysis has indicated that greater instability of the pulse of the River Jaú is directly related to the poor index of natural vegetal cover and to the high level of risk of the consumption uses of its water. Therefore, based on the method of analysis of multiple criteria with the aid of a Geographic Information System, the present study suggests a proposal of prioritization of areas for Legal Forest within the watershed.

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

The central argument of this thesis is to promote the importance of observing peoples’ understanding of their environment in order to develop a popular environmental education programme with rather than for them, one that fosters participatory solidarity. As such, ecofeminismo and the theory of social representations have been explored as possible theories and practices to assist environmental educators in this task. This has been approached in three articles the first of which is about the theory and practice of ecofeminismo as possible directions for environmental education. As ecofeminism offers elements to understand the complex power interrelations and the increasing environmental inequalities that exist in contemporary society. Furthermore it proposes the deconstruction of the dualities that permeate our society and feed such inequalities. In the same direction, in the second article we present a research paper that applied the theory of social representations to assist in interpreting of the lifestyles, perceived needs and environmental activities, with a group of 10 urban women from Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. The interpretation of the environmental social representations revealed some of the women's environmental practices and understanding, and that religion, situation, media, identity and cultural heritage are five mediators that influence the production of such representations. The results offered important information on the participants' theoretical frameworks; the final task was to verify if such data would assist in planning a popular environmental education intervention. The third article is a report on such a verification, which occurred during a workshop with a larger number of residents from the same neighbourhood. In which three themes detected in the research results were presented to the participants for them to choose one for the educational intervention. Handicrafts were selected and the intervention is at the present moment in full activity. This confirms, that although the theory of social representations cannot solve all the difficulties that environmental education faces in an unsustainable society; it can, assist in understanding people better and from this promote the construction of solidarity. The expected outcome is that the three papers bring elements to be debated within environmental education. Also that the group the women formed will flourish permitting them to grow together.

Currently, the mangrove oyster Crassostrea sp. is one of the most important fishery resources exploited by the artisanal fishery setor of the Cananéia estuary, responsible for the livelihood of 60 families of extractivists for some decades. The production system can be characterized as rudimental, involving the extraction in mangrove and its direct marketing or previous fattening in structures like trays. The oyster is marketed exclusively in natura and depuration is the only form of improvement, involving a few extractivists. The socioecological system of the oyster extractivism has been target of several interventions, since actions promoted by government agencies, to organize the production chain, till external pressures, like the market ones, which act on the management and commercial practices, affecting the sustainability of the activity. The objective of the present exertion was from the study of characteristics, management and marketing practices of the oysters extractivists groups from Cananéia, to identify the factors that affect the sustainability and to provide subsides to support the management of the activity. For that the socio-economical and productive profile of the users was studied, and the production of oysters in Cananéia, the local commercialization processes, the natural stock of oysters and the productive areas were analyzed. The identified groups of extractivists were compared, and the trends relating to the sustainability of the activity in the ecological, economic, social, technological and ethical dimensions were analyzed. The Mandira group, beneficiary of a considerable number of public interventions, was the group whose performance in the analysis of sustainability was comparatively better. In the extreme opposite, the Porto Cubatão group presented the worst performance in almost all dimensions studied, a fact associated with the small group experience in the activity. As the Porto Cubatão group much as all others located in intermediate position, even though tend to sustainability in specific dimensions, are more susceptible to crises caused by unexpected changes in the system. In the Mandira group, in spite of a better structure, the progress is fragile and it is necessary to consolidate it. The social, technological and ethical dimensions had negative influence on the trends of sustainability and should be considered as priorities in the actions of management. The aspects identified as strategic to improve the possibilities of sustainability of the activity were: encouraging the "fattening" activity of fattening of oysters as well as the replacement of the forms of sale box and desmariscada by production of oysters in dozens ; limiting the entry to the activity; restrainting the illegal commercialization and the processing technology and expanding the user s participation in the management of the activity.

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

The great diversity of insect species is perceived, classified, known, and used in different ways by many different human cultures. Considering the affective, cognitive and behavior aspects of the complex relationship that human beings maintain with these animals, an ethnoentomological research has been carried out with the dwellers of a small community from Bahia State countryside. Fieldwork was done from February to May 2001 in the village of Pedra Branca, which belongs to the town of Santa Terezinha. This town is located in the central-west region of the state. Data were obtained through open and semi-structured interviews, as well as by behavior observation by using the usual techniques of ethnographic recording. Most of the interviews were tape recorded. A total of 74 males and 79 females, whose ages ranged from 4 to 108 years old, were interviewed. Key-specialists were identified through the evidence of consolidated ethnoentomological knowledge. Results show the feelings, thoughts (knowledge and beliefs), and behaviors that intermediate the relationship between the dwellers of Pedra Branca and the local entomofauna. The following aspects were seen in the affective dimension: the perception and the emic construction of the ethnozoological dominion insect ; the negative impacts of the direct action of insects on human health; the ethnospecies considered as plagues; and the association of these animals to beneficial and/or harmful events. As for the cognitive dimension, the following aspects were observed: ethnoontogeny, biotransformation, and the natural history of those ethnospecies that were considered culturally important, such as wasps, bees, cicadas, ants, and spider wasps; an emphasis was given to the knowledge about ethnotaxonomy, distribution, phenology, ethology, abundance, seasonality, food ecology, and habitat. The behavioral dimension dealt with the usage of insects as medicines, food, toys, decorative pieces, and in rituals. It can be concluded that insects fulfill a significant meaning in the social-cultural life of the inhabitants of the Serra da Jibóia region. Their ethnoentomological knowledge manifests itself as a valuable resource that is sufficient to be taken into account in the developing process of the region, as well as in studies concerning the inventory of the local fauna.

This work aimed to study the biochemical and physiological changes, with emphasis on alpha-galactosidase enzyme, which occur during the germination of Platymiscium pubescens, Tachigalia multijuga and Caesalpinia peltophoroides seeds submitted to different treatments. Platymiscium pubescens seeds were osmoconditioned in polyethilenoglycol (PEG, m.w. 6,000) and the alterations in water content, embryonic axis growth, germination, cellular wall, protein carbohydrate mobilization and alpha-galactosidase were analyzed. Moisture of seeds maintained in water stabilized after the moisture of those maintained in PEG. The germination of water-maintained seeds, which were regarded as control, reached 30% in 120 h. While the fresh mass and embryonic axis length increased significantly during permanence in the PEG solution, fresh mass did not alter significantly. Arabinose was found to be the main constituent of the membrane surrounding the embryo and, together with xylose, showed significant decreases during permanence in the PEG solution. Alpha-galactosidase activity underwent significant changes during the 120 h period in the PEG solution. Rhamnose, arabinose and xylose contents altered significantly in the pectic fraction, while rhamnose was the only one found in the hemicellulosic fraction of the embryonic axis wall. Glucose contents reduced significantly both in the embryonic axis and in the cotyledons during osmocondioning. Stachyose and raffinose contents had no significant alterations in the cotyledons while sucrose content reduced significantly. Protein contents decreased significantly during the 120h osmoconditioning. It was concluded that osmoconditioning potentialized seed germination during the imbibing process, resulting in cellular wall changes due to the deposition of reducing sugars. In view of the significant alterations observed in alpha-galactosidase activity in P. pubescens seeds during osmoconditioning and its likely involvement in the germination process, this work was developed to characterize the enzyme in the embryo and in the cotyledons of seeds of this species. The seeds were placed to imbibe in water and samples withdrawn for biochemical and kinetic characterization in the embryonic axis and cotyledons. While the specific activity in the axis increased during 96 h, cotyledon activity showed a small increase. Alpha-galactosidase activity in the axis was maximal during the pH interval from 4.5 to 6.0 and cotyledon activity at 6.0. The 55 oC temperature stimulated enzyme activity the most in both compartments. The thermo-stabilities of the axis and cotyledon enzymes were maintained for 1,500 h at 40 oC. The Alpha-galactosidase activity in the embryonic axis was inhibited by melibiosis, CuSO4 and SDS whereas that of the cotyledons was inhibited by all the effectors. KM values for the embryo and cotyledons were 3.37 and 0.26 mM, respectively, showing that the alphagalactosidases are different and have activities at different times during imbibition. Similarly, the alpha-galactosidase of the embryo and cotyledons of Caesalpinia peltophoroides seeds was characterized, aiming to establish the relationship between its activity and the alterations in the cellular wall of the micropyle in the seeds. During the 114 h imbibition, samples were withdrawn for quantification of alpha-galactosidase activity, protein and sugars. Germination took place after 96 h imbibition, without any changes occurring in the cellular wall of the micropyle, where a greater proportion of arabinose, with a tendency to increase during imbibition, was observed. Enzyme activity was detected in dry seeds, in the embryonic axis and in the cotyledons, increasing in the first after 24 h imbibition. Protein content decreased continuously in the embryonic axis, after 24 h imbibition, while maintaining itself stable in the cotyledons. Alpha- galactosidase activity was maximal at temperatures of 55 oC for the embryonic axis and 50 oC for the cotyledons. The pH that stimulated enzyme activity the most was in the range of 5.5 - 6.0 for the embryonic axis and 4.5 - 5.0 for the cotyledons. Melibiosis, CuSO4, SDS and galactose inhibited the alphagalactosidases of the embryonic axis and cotyledons. On the other hand, mercaptoethanol stimulated the activity of the cotyledons. Thermo stability was also shown to be high at the temperature of 50 oC. The KM for the substrate r - NPGal for the alpha-galactosidase of the embryo and cotyledons was 1.74 and 2.64, respectively. The alpha-galactosidases of the two species were also found to be different from each other, with specificities and distinct behaviors characteristic of the ecotype of each species. Aiming to study the effect of the pre-germinating treatments on the activities of the enzymes alpha-galactosidase and beta-mannanase, in the imbibition percentage, germination percentage and velocity, protein synthesis and alteration of the membrane surrounding the embryo in seeds of Tachigalia multijuga, seeds of three selected trees were collected and sulphuric acid, snipped of seeds testa at micropyle end or at the other end and boiling water treatments were applied. No seed germination occurred in the boiling water treatment. Except for the sulphuric acid for 10 min, all the other treatments resulted in germination percentage greater than the control. On the other hand, germination velocity in the various treatments was different from that of the control only in one of the trees. Seeds water percentage of the ones treated in acid for 20 min. and boiling water for 60 sec differed statistically from the control. The enzyme activities and protein contents during imbibition were statistically different between the water and acid treatments. While the alpha-galactosidase remained constant in the boiling water treatment, during imbibition, those in the sulphuric acid increased during the 96 h period, followed by a decrease. In contrast, beta-mannanase activity was not detected after 96 h. in the hot water treatment, increasing significantly in the sulphuric acid treatment. It was verified that, overall, the contents of all the sugar components of the seed teguments in the control, were significantly lower than those in the two pre-germinating treatments, especially during 144 h imbibition. It was concluded that there is no relation between the activity of either enzyme and the alterations in the seed teguments, with the likelihood of both enzymes acting on mobilization of reserves rather than on the weakening of the tegument in the pre-germinating phase.

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos