Amazonian soil fungi are efficient degraders of glyphosate herbicide; novel isolates of Penicillium, Aspergillus, and Trichoderma

Pesticide residues that contaminate the environment circulate within the hydrological cycle can accumulate within the food chain and cause problems to both environmental and human health. Microbes, however, are well known for their metabolic versatility and the ability to degrade chemically stable substances, including recalcitrant xenobiotics. The current study focused on bio-prospecting within Amazonian rainforest soils to find novel strains fungi capable of efficiently degrading the agriculturally and environmentally ubiquitous herbicide, glyphosate. Of 50 fungal strains isolated (using culture media supplemented with glyphosate as the sole carbon-substrate), the majority were Penicillium strains (60%) and the others were Aspergillus and Trichoderma strains (26 and 8%, respectively). All 50 fungal isolates could use glyphosate as a phosphorous source. Eight of these isolates grew better on glyphosate-supplemented media than on regular Czapek Dox medium. LC-MS revealed that glyphosate degradation by Penicillium 4A21 resulted in sarcosine and aminomethylphosphonic acid.

Description of a new flower fly species of the Copestylum vagum group (Diptera: Syrphidae) from pristine Amazonian rainforests of Colombia and Suriname

The adult stage of a new flower fly species, Copestylum enriquei sp. nov. (Diptera: Syrphidae) is described based on a single male collected in pristine rainforest in the Amazonian region of Colombia (type-locality: Florencia, Caquetá) and two females from a conserved forest in Suriname (Para and Brokopondo). Copestylum enriquei sp. nov. belongs to the C. vagum species group and is similar in appearance to Copestylum vagum (Wiedemann), C. musicanum (Curran), C. tenorium Ricarte & Rotheray, and C. chapadensis (Curran) from which it differs by the gena and face separated by a very broad brown vitta; scutum orange except for the wide medial vitta, which is dark and metallic, ending before the prescutellar region, with the apical margin M-shaped; tibiae dark-brown, except yellow on basal 1/4. The male genitalia of C. enriquei sp. nov. are unique and striking among the C. vagum species group, characterized by the epandrium and cercus black, contrasting with the colour of hypandrium and surstylus, which are orange; epandrium with a dorsal extension, a novel character among this species group, in addition to the L-shaped surstylus, with two pairs of rounded ridges in the dorsal edge, similar to a small deer antler in velvet. Images of type material, including photographs of male genitalia are provided. A comparison of the diagnostic characters is provided as well as modifications to the previous keys to distinguish C. enriquei sp. nov. from the other species of the C. vagum group. The species Copestylum araceorum Ricarte & Rotheray and C. tenorium Ricarte & Rotheray are recorded for the first time in the Amazonian rainforest in Colombia.

Three new species of Androdeloscia Leistikow, 1999 (Oniscidea: Philosciidae) from the Brazilian Amazonia

Three new species of Androdeloscia Leistikow, 1999 from the Brazilian Amazonian rainforest are described. Androdeloscia bicornuata sp. nov., A. paraleilae sp. nov., and A. micropunctata sp. nov. were distinguished from the 26 other species of the genus mainly based on the shape of male pleopod I endopod. Androdeloscia bicornuata sp. nov. differs from all the species in the genus by the complex morphology of the distal portion of the male pleopod I endopod bearing hyaline lamella and two horn-like tips. Androdeloscia paraleilae sp. nov. is characterized by the male pleopod I endopod with simple distal portion, without hyaline lamella, and apex represented by a curved tip and inner margin serrate proximally; and by the concavity on the lateral margin of the first maxilla (except for the A. leilae that is related to other listed characteristics). Androdeloscia micropunctata sp. nov. differs from the remaining species of the genus by the male pleopod I endopod with simple distal portion, without hyaline lamella, and apex truncate bearing a small acute tip in the outer corner; and 5+5 teeth on the first maxilla. Some characters related to the genus are later discussed.

Climate trends and behavior of an avian forest specialist in central Amazonia indicate thermal stress during the dry season

Rainforest loss threatens terrestrial insectivorous birds throughout the world’s tropics. Recent evidence shows these birds to be declining in undisturbed Amazonian rainforest, possibly due to climate change. Here, we first addressed whether Amazonian terrestrial insectivores were exposed to climate change using 38 years of climate data. We found that climate has changed in central Amazonia, especially in the dry season, which was ∼1.3°C hotter and 21% drier in 2019 than in 1981. Second, to test whether birds actively avoided hot and dry conditions, we used field sensors to identify ambient extremes and prospective microclimate refugia within undisturbed rainforest from 2017 – 2019. Simultaneously, we examined how tagged Black-faced Anthrushes (Formicarius analis) used this space. We collected 1.4 million field measurements quantifying ambient conditions in the forest understory, including along elevation gradients. For 11 birds, we obtained GPS locations to test whether birds adjusted their shelter use (n = 2,724) or elevation (n = 640) across seasonal and daily cycles. For four additional birds, we collected >180,000 light and temperature readings to assess exposure. Field measurements in the modern landscape revealed that temperature was higher in the dry season and highest on plateaus. Thus, low-lying areas were relatively buffered, providing microclimate refugia during hot afternoons in the dry season. At those times, birds entered shelters and shifted downslope, reducing their thermal exposure by 50%. Because climate change intensifies the hot, dry conditions that antthrushes avoid, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that climate change lowers habitat quality for terrestrial insectivores. This sensitivity may be related to their declines within ‘undisturbed’ Amazonian rainforest.

Mediterranean Landscape Re-Greening at the Expense of South American Agricultural Expansion

The stabling of livestock farming implies changes in both local ecosystems (regeneration of forest stands via reduced grazing) and those located thousands of kilometers away (deforestation to produce grain for feeding livestock). Despite their importance, these externalities are poorly known. Here we evaluated how the intensification and confinement of livestock in Spain has affected forest surface changes there and in South America, the largest provider of soybeans for animal feed to the European Union. For this purpose, we have used Spanish soybean import data from Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and a land condition map of Spain. The area of secondary forest in Spain that has regenerated as a result of livestock stabling has been ~7000 kha for the decade 2000–2010. In the same period, 1220 kha of high value South American ecosystems (e.g., Chaco dry Forest, Amazonian rainforest or Cerrado) have been deforested. While these figures may offer a favorable interpretation of the current industrial livestock production, it is not possible to speak of compensation when comparing the destruction of well-structured ecosystems, such as primary South American forests, with the creation of secondary forest landscapes in Spain, which are also prone to wildfires. Our results highlight how evaluating land use change policies at a national or regional level is an incomplete exercise in our highly telecoupled and globalized world.

Mapping the local dielectric constant of a biological nanostructured system

The aim of this work is to determine the varying dielectric constant of a biological nanostructured system via electrostatic force microscopy (EFM) and to show how this method is useful to study natural photonic crystals. We mapped the dielectric constant of the cross section of the posterior wing of the damselfly Chalcopteryx rutilans with nanometric resolution. We obtained structural information on its constitutive nanolayers and the absolute values of their dielectric constant. By relating the measured profile of the static dielectric constant to the profile of the refractive index in the visible range, combined with optical reflectance measurements and simulation, we were able to describe the origin of the strongly iridescent wing colors of this Amazonian rainforest damselfly. The method we demonstrate here should be useful for the study of other biological nanostructured systems.