DIVERSIDADE E USO DE PLANTAS EM QUINTAIS DO BAIRRO NOSSA SENHORA APARECIDA EM CUIABÁ, MATO GROSSO

Os quintais urbanos têm sido suprimidos das moradias, alterando a qualidade de vida das pessoas. Em Cuiabá, além da destruição das casas antigas que possuíam extensos quintais, parte expressiva das novas moradias não apresentam espaços destinados ao cultivo de plantas. Objetivou-se neste estudo levantar as espécies vegetais mantidas nos quintais do bairro Nossa Senhora Aparecida em Cuiabá, Mato Grosso. Foram selecionados pela técnica de bola de neve 15 quintais, entrevistados os mantenedores e realizadas turnês guiadas com os mesmos para a coleta e identificação das espécies. A maioria dos entrevistados foi do sexo feminino e, as plantas foram obtidas com parentes e vizinhos. Mais de 60 % das espécies são exóticas, mas, estão presentes plantas obtidas no Cerrado como bocaiúva (Acrocomia aculeata), mama-cadela (Brosimum gaudichaudii), assa-peixe (Vernonia polyanthes) e imbaúba (Cecropia pachystachya). Os quintais do bairro Nossa Senhora Aparecida têm grande diversidade vegetal, representada por 125 espécies pertencentes a 58 famílias botânicas. As famílias mais frequentes foram Lamiaceae, Asteraceae e Euphorbiaceae, com destaque para as espécies Annona squamosa L., Carica papaya L., Malpighia glabra L. e Mangifera indica L., todas frutíferas que contribuem para a segurança alimentar. O uso medicinal da maioria das espécies indica a importância do incentivo à manutenção da diversidade nos quintais. Palavras-chave: diversidade; plantas medicinais; uso popular; segurança alimentar. Diversity and use of plants in homegardens in Nossa Senhora Aparecida district in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, State, Brazil ABSTRACT: Homegardens have been removed from housing, altering people's quality of life. In Cuiabá, in addition to the destruction of the old houses that had extensive homegardens, a significant part of the new houses do not have spaces for plants. The aim of this study was to survey the plant species kept in the homegardens of the Nossa Senhora Aparecida neighborhood in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso. 15 homegardens were selected by the snowball technique, the maintainers were interviewed and guided tours were held with them to collect and identify the species. Most of the interviewees were female and the plants were obtained from relatives and neighbors. More than 60% of the species are exotic, but there are plants obtained in the Cerrado such as bocaiúva (Acrocomia aculeata), mama-cadela (Brosimum gaudichaudii), assa-peixe (Vernonia polyanthes) and imbaúba (Cecropia pachystachya). The homegardens of the Nossa Senhora Aparecida neighborhood have great plant diversity, represented by 125 species belonging to 58 botanical families. The most frequent families were Lamiaceae, Asteraceae and Euphorbiaceae, with emphasis on the species Annona squamosa L., Carica papaya L., Malpighia glabra L. and Mangifera indica L., all of which contribute to food security. The medicinal use of most species indicates the importance of encouraging the maintenance of diversity in homegardens. Keywords: diversity; medicinal plants; popular use; food security.

Microsatellite DNA Polymorphism Studies in Mudhol Hound Dog Native of India

Background: Mudhol Hound the popular dog breed of Karnataka State, India has a long historical association with wars, hunting, social bondage, guarding and recently with the Indian army as a part of army’s sniffer dog squad. Despite its unique qualities, the number of animals is getting reduced gradually. Hence the present study was aimed at molecular characterization of the Mudhol Hound which will be useful in maintenance of diversity of the breed. Methods: In this study, 26 microsatellite markers were used for the characterization of Mudhol Hound dog. A total of 50 blood samples were screened. Microsatellite loci were analyzed by running the PCR products on 6.5 per cent polyacrylamide gels followed by silver staining. Genotyping was done based on the banding patterns. Result: A total of 221 alleles were observed from the 26 microsatellites. The number of alleles ranged from 5 (AHTk211) to 12 (INU055, PEZ12) with a mean of 8.5±1.9442 alleles. The average H0 and He were 0.7685±0.2122 and 0.8326±0.0397, respectively. The percentage of polymorphic loci obtained was 100 as all the loci studied were found to be polymorphic having the PIC values more than 0.5. All the 26 loci showed significant deviation from Hardy - Weinberg equilibrium (P less than 0.001).

Covert signaling is an adaptive communication strategy in diverse populations

Identity signals are those common components of communication transmissions that inform receivers of the signaler’s membership (or non-membership) in a subset of individuals. Such signals may be overt, broadcast to all possible receivers, or covert, encrypted so that only similar receivers are likely to perceive their identity-relevant meaning. Here we present an instrumental theory of covert signaling, based on the function of identity signals in social assortment. We argue that covert signaling is favored when signalers are generous toward strangers, when costs of being discovered as dissimilar are high, and when the ability to assort only with preferred partners is restricted. We further argue that covert signaling should be more common among members of "invisible" minorities, who are less likely to encounter similar individuals by chance. We formalize this theory with an evolutionary model to more rigorously explore the consequences of our assumptions. Our results have implications for our understanding of numerous aspects of social life, including communication, cooperation, social identity, humor, pragmatics, politics, hate speech, and the maintenance of diversity.

Why is cyclic dominance so rare?

Natural populations can contain multiple types of coexisting individuals. How does natural selection maintain such diversity within and across populations? A popular theoretical basis for the maintenance of diversity is cyclic dominance, illustrated by the rock-paper-scissor game. However, it appears difficult to find cyclic dominance in nature. Why is this the case? Focusing on continuously produced novel mutations, we theoretically addressed the rareness of cyclic dominance. We developed a model of an evolving population and studied the formation of cyclic dominance. Our results showed that the chance for cyclic dominance to emerge is lower when the newly introduced type is similar to existing types compared to the introduction of an unrelated type. This suggests that cyclic dominance is more likely to evolve through the assembly of unrelated types whereas it rarely evolves within a community of similar types.

Why is cyclic dominance so rare?

Natural populations can contain multiple types of coexisting individuals. How does natural selection maintain such diversity within and across populations? A popular theoretical basis for the maintenance of diversity is cyclic dominance, illustrated by the rock-paper-scissor game. However, it appears difficult to find cyclic dominance in nature. Why is this case? Focusing on continuously produced novel mutations, we theoretically addressed the rareness of cyclic dominance. We developed a model of an evolving population and studied the formation of cyclic dominance. Our results showed that the chance for cyclic dominance to emerge is lower when the newly introduced type is similar to existing types, whereas the introduction of an unrelated type improves these chances. This suggests that cyclic dominance is more likely to evolve through the assembly of unrelated types whereas it rarely evolves within a community of similar types.

Pollinator niche partitioning and asymmetric facilitation contribute to the maintenance of diversity

Mechanisms that favor rare species are key to the maintenance of diversity. One of the most critical tasks for biodiversity conservation is understanding how plant–pollinator mutualisms contribute to the persistence of rare species, yet this remains poorly understood. Using a process-based model that integrates plant–pollinator and interspecific pollen transfer networks with floral functional traits, we show that niche partitioning in pollinator use and asymmetric facilitation confer fitness advantage of rare species in a biodiversity hotspot. While co-flowering species filtered pollinators via floral traits, rare species showed greater pollinator specialization leading to higher pollination-mediated male and female fitness than abundant species. When plants shared pollinator resources, asymmetric facilitation via pollen transport dynamics benefited the rare species at the cost of the abundant ones, serving as an alternative diversity-promoting mechanism. Our results emphasize the importance of community-wide plant–pollinator interactions that affect reproduction for biodiversity maintenance.

The Role of Traditional Livelihood Practices and Local Ethnobotanical Knowledge in Mitigating Chestnut Disease and Pest Severity in Turkey

The European chestnut population is enduring multiple compounding exotic pest and disease outbreaks across Turkey. The deeply held value of the chestnut species for the Turkish public is reflected in substantial government conservation programming. Chestnut is predominantly found on state land managed by Turkey’s General Directorate of Forestry (GDF), which generally upholds restrictive policies for chestnut-related livelihood practices other than nut collection and beehive placement. Such policies are justified by a government position that human activities and presence is likely to worsen disease dynamics. Conversely, a growing body of research findings testify that small-scale livelihood practices maintain biological diversity and, furthermore, that this traditional maintenance of diversity has been correlated with decreased pathogen pressure within agroecosystems. However, few studies have investigated this phenomenon in the context of agroforestry systems. At a global ecological moment of increasingly pervasive and severe exotic forest pathogen impact, this paper investigates the influence of diverse small-scale livelihood practices and knowledge on chestnut tree health across the highly heterogenous geography of Turkey. We conducted ethnobotanical questionnaires with 96 chestnut-utilizing households, and chestnut tree health evaluations in georeferenced forest areas they identified, throughout Turkey’s Black Sea, Marmara, and Aegean regions. Using data from 1500 trees, we characterized the effects of subsequently recorded environmental, physiological, and anthropogenic factors on tree health using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), multiple factor analysis (MFA), and mixed models. Our results show that the traditional human management of tree physiology and ecology has a significant positive effect on tree health, especially through the acts of grafting and culling as well as the maintenance of diversity. We argue that conceptualizing such livelihood systems as human niche construction and maintenance can help forest management agencies to better understand and conserve valuable landscapes, even in increasingly common periods of severe pathogenic pressure.