Bioindicators of Behavior and Regeneration of a Caatinga Area in the Brazilian Semi-Arid - A Review

Studies that allow the understanding of the nutrient cycling processes and maintenance of soil fertility in the caatinga biome are necessary to assist in the proposal of possible management forms, in view of the sustainability of this ecosystem, to provide data in an area of knowledge the quantification of glomalin can be a good indicator of changes caused by the use of the soil and, in turn, therefore, it can become a good indicator of its recovery because it is correlated with important attributes of the soil. In addition to providing data of this process for a better understanding of the soils of the country, a study on this subject will also contribute with a new database for global monitoring. Research that can follow the regeneration rate of Caatinga forests in the Semi-arid will allow the development of models relating to several variables, not currently available for the semi-arid tropical region.

Beetroot and radish production under different doses of green manures

Green manuring with spontaneous species from Caatinga biome has become an important strategy in production vegetables. One of the great challenges in tuberous vegetables production is to define an optimized quantity that provides a high productive yield with economic efficiency of production system. The objective of this study was to optimize agronomically and economically the production and its components of tuberous crops of beetroot and radish when manured with different amounts of green manures biomass, Merremia aegyptia and Calotropis procera from Caatinga biome, in two cropping seasons. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with five treatments and five replications. Treatments consisted of green manures amounts (16, 26, 36, 46, 56 t ha-1). The maximum agronomic efficiency of beetroot and radish was obtained with incorporation of 49.87 and 39.43 t ha-1 of M. aegyptia and C. procera, respectively, and the production maximum economic efficiency was reached when 36.14 and 36.48 t ha-1, respectively, of biomass of these green manures were added to the soil. The returns rate obtained in beetroot and radish cultivation using the manures optimized amounts were 1.42 and 1.32 reais obtained for each real invested in the production of these tuberous.

Tillandsia oliveirae (Bromeliaceae): a new species from an inselberg in Bahia, Brazil

The authors describe, discuss, and illustrate Tillandsia oliveirae, a new species from the inselbergs of the Caatinga biome in the municipality of Itatim, Bahia, Brazil. The new species is similar to T. hofackeri, differing by morphological characters such as larger size of the plant, longer peduncle, more laxly arranged leaves, which are more numerous, and whitish petals. It is an endemic species with a restricted area of distribution, being considered critically endangered (CR) due to illegal extractivism, specifically for regional and international trade.

The Brazilian Caatinga protected areas: an extremely unbalanced conservation system

Summary The semiarid Caatinga is the largest Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest and Woodland (SDTFW) in the Neotropics. Yet the vast majority of the Caatinga is unprotected, with severe chronic anthropogenic use, exotic species and global warming among its most immediate threats. Here, we contrast the current Caatinga protected areas (PAs) scenery with that of other SDTFWs in the Neotropics. We also analyse the growth process of the PAs in the Caatinga over time across Brazilian PA categories and jurisdictions. The percentage of Caatinga that is protected is average among the SDTFWs. Caatinga has more state than federal PAs; however, the size of the PAs is greater under a federal jurisdiction. Nonetheless, in both jurisdictions, Environmental Protected Areas, one of the least restrictive categories, are more representative in terms of total area, corresponding to nearly 80% of the Caatinga PA system. Our results are relevant for international conservation goals because they depict the current PA scenery and clarify the challenges for achieving the actual preservation of the unique Caatinga biome.

Aplicação de frutas do semiárido brasileiro em produtos alimentícios à base de kefir: uma revisão sistemática

O objetivo deste estudo foi compilar e analisar publicações que aplicaram frutas reconhecidas como nativas e/ou cultivadas no semiárido brasileiro no desenvolvimento de produtos obtidos a partir da fermentação dos grãos de kefir. Trata-se de uma revisão sistemática que utilizou os descritores “kefir”, “fruit”, “Northeastern Brazil”, “semi-arid”, “Caatinga biome” nas bases de dados Google Acadêmico, LILACS, Periódicos CAPES, Science Direct, SciELO e PubMed, indexados de forma isolada e associados com os operadores booleanos “and” e “or”, nos idiomas português, inglês e espanhol. A busca identificou 15.017 artigos, analisados utilizando um conjunto de critérios que considerou, previamente, o título e palavras-chave, resumo, metodologia e posteriormente, a leitura integral. A revisão contemplou um total de 22 artigos que atenderam os critérios de elegibilidade, dos quais 50% (n=11) estavam na língua portuguesa, sendo 27,3% (n=6) com locus na região Nordeste. Todos os estudos selecionados apresentaram resultados entre média e alta qualidade metodológica. As frutas aplicadas foram abacaxi, açaí, banana, cacau, coco, goiaba, graviola, jabuticaba, limão, manga, mangaba, mamão e umbu, nas formas de polpa, suco, extrato, açúcar, geleia e farinha. Os estudos fazem inferências sobre as contribuições resultantes da adição das frutas nas características apresentadas nos produtos, além de apontar um elevado potencial de mercado. Dessa forma, a utilização de frutas do semiárido brasileiro em produtos fermentados de kefir é recente e progressiva, o quantitativo de estudos evidencia que sua aplicação está em expansão e que, portanto, devem ser alvo de novos estudos como alternativa promissora no mercado de alimentos potencialmente funcionais.

Occurrence of Amblyomma rotundatum Koch, 1844 on Epicrates assisi Machado, 1945 in João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil

The Caatinga rainbow boa (Epicrates assisi Machado, 1945) is a snake belonging to the order Squamata, family Boidae, and subfamily Boinae. It has a wide distribution in Brazil and can be found in the Caatinga biome. The present study aims to report the first occurrence of Amblyomma rotundatum on E. assisi in the municipality of João Pessoa, Paraíba State (PB). On March 3, 2020, a tick collection was performed on the dorsal region of the head of an E. assisi, which was captive at the Arruda Câmara Zoobotanical Park, João Pessoa-PB. After collecting the tick, it was transferred to a flask containing 70º alcohol and sent to the Laboratory of Animal Parasitology of the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid (UFERSA) for analysis. Identification was done with the aid of a stereomicroscope using a taxonomic key. The result identified this specimen as a nymph of A. rotundatum. The occurrence of this tick species on E. assisi is reported for the first time and constitutes new data applicable to the ectoparasites that occur in this host species in Brazil.

Spectral responses in rangelands and land cover change by livestock in regions of the Caatinga biome, Brazil

This study aimed to analyze fragments of rangelands through spectral responses and land cover change by livestock in regions of the Caatinga biome through remote sensing. For spectral behavior, the surface reflectance bidirectional (SRB) and spectral indexes of vegetation were used to verify the ragelands seasonality. Land cover change detection of Ouricuri and Tauá through Landsat-8 images with a 16-day revisit interval, were processed in the Google Earth Engine platform (GEE) and software Quantum GIS version 2.18 (QGIS). In the GEE platform, annual mosaics and stacking of the spectral bands were generated for the classification of images, and in sequence the production of thematic maps in QGIS. The analysis of land cover change considered the classes: thinned Caatinga, conserved Caatinga, herbaceous vegetation, bare soil, water and others. The analysis of the spectral responses showed that the vegetation monitored in Ouricuri presented higher SRB in the infrared band and lower SRB in the red and blue bands, and that caused the pasture to produce higher vegetation indexes than the other locations. Through validation, it was observed that in Tauá, there was an overall accuracy of 91% and Kappa index of 89%, and in Ouricuri there was an overall accuracy of 90% and Kappa index of 86%, indicating excellent correctness of the classification model. The classification model proved to be effective in verifying the temporal and spatial land cover change, making it possible to identify places with the vegetation that was most affected and susceptible to degradation and generation of political support to minimize damage to the Caatinga Biome.