Repositório RCAAP

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

The Itajaí-Açu river watershed is characterized by moderate agricultural use and rapid urban development. The risks on freshwater resources are notorious, but there is a lack of systematic technical data to qualify the level of degradation and to support decisions and forecasting. The main purpose of the present study was to diagnose the water quality of the lower Itajaí-Açu river and determine its relationship with land use, generating background information to integrated water resources management activities. Three procedures were executed: (a) the generation of land use charts; (b) the monitoring of chemical, biological and ecotoxicological variables in water and, (c) the preliminary characterization of sediments and pollution sources. The land use showed the predominance of forests (59%), followed by pasture/agriculture (27%) and urban areas (7%). The general water quality was regular, with 90% of legal framing for pH, BOD5, heavy metals, inorganic dissolved nutrients, surfactants and faecal coliforms; and about 70% of legal framing to dissolved oxygen and turbidity. Nutrients and other pollution indicators were directly related to rainfall and river discharge before reaching large urban areas and inversely related after these areas. In the estuarine area, physical-chemical processes induced by marine salinity caused the P-PO4 3- and suspended material to diminish in the water column. Regarding pollution sources; chemical industries, domestic wastewater and urban streams generated the highest toxicity levels. An ilustrative approach regarding the budget of nutrients and other materials and the river self purification capability showed four distinct situations or trends: (1) the case of the benchmark station, subjected to only few impacts presenting self purification processes of little importance; (2) the case of urban stations, subjected to many impacts from its contributing area, having a limited capacity to locally neutralize it; (3) the case of rural stations, which receive impacts from the upper river and specific impacts from its contribution area, but show the occurrence of self purification processes and; (4) the case of the estuarine and urbanized stations which receive many impacts, but present considerable conditions of self purification due to the influence of marine processes.

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

This study documents traditional ecological knowledge by a human population living in Chapada Diamantina, Northeast Brazil. The field work was carried out from June 1998 to May 1999 and included: open-ended interviews, structured interviews, direct observation, questionnaires and tours guided by fishermen. Fish and plants species were collected and taxonomically identified. The consistence of fishermen´s knowledge was observed through compared cognition tables. Local knowledge related to spatiotemporal distribution of fish, ethology, feeding behavior and fish reproduction are fundamental for fishing activities. Plant use is extensive: 131 species of plants medicinally, 69 species for food, 44 for firewood, 38 for house building, and 23 for fishing practices. 72 products from 52 species of animals were reported to be used for prevention and cure 40 physically or spiritually derived illnesses. Most of the medicines (55 %) are derived from by-products of animals normally hunted for food intention. Traditional knowledge about fish species was gathered and proved to be consistent with data from scientific literature. Local knowledge is fundamental for fishing activities and should be taken into account in the planning of sustainable management for the area, which has been set aside by government as an APA (Environmental Protection Area).

Environmental analysis and land use dynamics of the landscape northwest area of the Rio Grande do Sul Province. With the growing demand for natural resources the environmental analysis and the periodic diagnosis of the land use started to represent a fundamental aspect for the understanding of the occupation patterns and spatial organization of the landscape, rarely permanent in function of the dynamics of the human activities. In this context, information obtained by orbital sensor, allied to the geocoded techniques constitute a fundamental tool to the landscape structural characterization and for the identification, mapping and environmental diagnosis of the natural resources. This work had as objectives the delimitation, and the environmental analysis and diagnosis of five watershed of the landscape northwest area of the Rio Grande do Sul Province, for the identification of the risks associated to the soil erosion and of the degree of compromising of the environmental quality related to fragmentation and loss of natural areas, that these landscape mapping units were submitted in the period from 1984 to 1999. The Geographical Information Systems (GIS) were essential to obtain information related to the structural characteristics of the landscape represented by the hypsometriy, clinografy, road net, hydrografy, land use types, and critical risks to soil erosion and permanent preservation areas. Agriculture represented the principal land use type in the period among 1984 to 1999, demonstrating the need to promote the control of the agricultural practices, mainly the execution of the environmental legislation toward to the establishment of permanent preservation areas. The application of Principal Components Analysis associated to the software Fragstats allowed to identify the principal parameters to explain the fragmentation process and of the land use spatial and temporal pattern related to forest and capoeira use classes, besides a compromising gradient of the environmental quality of the watershed. The Lajeado Perau and Rio Pardo were considered the minus, and the Lajeado Castelinho and Lajeado Mico the more committed watershed. The cartographic database represents an essential contribution for the watershed environmental management proposal in the perspective of the regional sustainbility.

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos

Financiadora de Estudos e Projetos

This study was undertaken at the Lapa microbasin (Itirapina/ Ipeúna), located in the central Cuestas region of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, with the objective to characterize ichthyofauna composition and longitudinal distribution within the basin and to examine the diversity, richness and equability for each of the 12 sample stations. Sampling took place at the Lapa and Cantagalo streamlets and the Passa Cinco River. The characterization of the area was realized with seasonal data of the limnological and morpho-hydrologic variables, in addition of observation of localized, substratum and vegetation conditions. The relationship between the abiotic factors and the ichthyofauna was also verified. The research was realized in two sampling stages: during the first there were four seasonal samplings from April of 2002 to February of 2003; during the second, there were monthly samplings from July of 2003 to June of 2004, but only for the Corumbataia cuestae, a endemic species in this region, selected for the study of reproductive biology. The research on ichthyofauna revealed the presence of 52 species from 5 orders, 15 families and 34 genera. In term of number of species, abundance and biomass, the orders Characiformes and Silurifromes were most representative. Most of the species collected had a constant occurrence (72%); 18% were accidentals and 10% accessories. The succession of species occurs by addition, from the head to the mouth of the river. Discriminate multivariate analysis revealed that some abiotic characteristics of the streams such as depth, velocity, breadth and altitude are more important for the discrimination of the sampling stations, occurring a gradient from the superior portion (Cuesta) to the inferior (Peripheric Depression). This same gradient was evident on the Correspondence multivariate analysis of specie abundance at each sampling station during the dry and rainy seasons showing the degree of association between the species in the microbasin. The analysis of ichthyofauna similarity (Jaccard and Bray-Curtis) confirms the gradient shown in the multivariate analysis. The length characterization of ten most abundant species showed large length amplitude and ample distribution in the environment. Like the "richness" of species, the Shannon Diversity Index goes up in the direction head to mouth, with the highest values in the Passa Cinco River. For the reproductive biology study, the sample consisted of a total of 377 specimens of C. cuestae, 166 female (44%), 146 males (44%) and 47 non-differentiated (12%). The macro and microscopic characteristics of gonads, in addition to the IGS values allowed the establishment of four gonadal maturation stages for females and males: Maturation, In Reproduction, Spent and Resting. The maturation curve obtained by the monthly distribution of the mean IGS values, the monthly frequency of the gonadal maturation stages and the distribution of frequency of oocytes diameter show that there is a continuous reproductive period and spawning intermittently. The significant association between breeding activity and dry and rainy seasons shows greater intensity in reproduction during the rainy. The first gonadal maturation length for female and male was 2.6 cm of the standard length, determined by the length of the smallest specimen in advanced maturation. The macro and microscopic gonadal analysis, the development of eggs and larvae permitted a discussion about the life strategy of this species which, along with other stream species, are adapted to this environment exposed to high instability. The microbasin is a environment still well conserved, with a great richness of species. The distribution of the species is markedly influenced by abiotic factors.

Due to the Brazilian Constitution from 1.988, the Municipalities were born as beings integrating the Brazilian Federation, with the States and the Union itself, setting a new standard for Constitucional Law studies. It depends on investigating the whole new borders for the Municipalities competency on editing and applicating the environmental law to get Knowing of the role the mayor, the local legislators and the citizens may play on acting for the purposes established on Art. 225 of the refered Magna Carta. Upon studies developped at the Country of Luiz Antonio, in the hinterland of Sao Paulo State, by senior and junior researchersfrom Sao Carlos Federal University altogether with elected locals, a proposal was reached consubstanciated in a draft of a proposed to be COMDEMA's Bill, standing COMDEMA for Local Council for Environmental Protection.