Monitoring the feeding and parental care behavior of a pair of free-living owls (Tyto furcata) in the nest during the reproductive period in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The American Barn Owl (Tyto furcata) lives in urban, periurban and wild environments and feeds mainly on small rodents, meaning it has great importance in the biological control of pests. The aim of this work was to describe the reproductive, parental and eating habits of a pair of American barn owls naturally living outside a residence in the urban area of the municipality of Campos dos Goytacazes, Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. A wood box was installed on an outside wall of the home, monitored by a video camera. A spreadsheet was created to keep track of the observations recorded. The female laid four eggs, and after an incubation period of 30-32 days all the eggs hatched, but only two chicks survived after cannibalism among the chicks. Initially, the male provided the food to the chicks and the female remained in the nest caring for the brood. After approximately a month, the female also began to leave the nest and return with prey, which was offered to the chicks, with the male also continuing this behavior. The chicks left the nest in September, 2017. The data obtained show the existence of cooperation and division of tasks between male and female owls during the reproductive period.

Diversity of Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) in the Bom Retiro Private Natural Heritage Reserve, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

This study registers the diversity of Culicidae in the Bom Retiro Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPNBR), Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil, based on the collection of the immature stages in natural and artificial larval habitats. Larvae and pupae were collected monthly at two sites of the RPPNBR from May 2014 to July 2015 using dippers and aquatic pipettes. The diversity of the mosquito community was described using the Shannon–Wiener Diversity Index (H′), as well as diversity, richness, and dominance of species found in different larval habitats (lake, bamboos, bromeliads, and artificial vessels). The Mann–Whitney test was used to calculate differences between the two natural and artificial habitats. Overall, 15,659 specimens belonging to 25 species, ten genera, and two subfamilies were collected. The most abundant species collected at sites that were reforested recently were Culex pleuristriatus Theobald, 1903, Limatus durhamii (Theobald, 1901), Aedes albopictus (Skuse, 1895), Culex neglectus (Lutz, 1904), and Culex retrosus (Lane & Whitman, 1951). In a forest preserved site, the most abundant species were Cx. neglectus, Culex iridescens (Lutz, 1905), Sabethes identicus (Dyar & Knab, 1907), Wyeomyia arthrostigma (Lutz, 1905), and Li. durhamii. With respect to larval habitats, 0.1% of the specimens were collected along the edge of a lake, 5.5% in bamboos, 35.9% in bromeliads, and 58.4% in artificial containers. Only 5.5% of the specimens were collected in the forest preserved site, with the remaining samples from the site with altered vegetation. A greater species richness and diversity were found in forest-altered sites compared to the forest preserved site. Several species were collected in the water accumulated in the nylon lids of plastic water tanks. Such vessels can promote an increase in mosquito population density in the environment surrounding the study area.

103 butterflies (Papilionoidea) from Ilha Grande and Ilha da Marambaia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Here we show a list of 103 butterflies (Papilionoidea) found at Ilha Grande and Ilha da Marambaia, Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. To our knowledge, this is the first butterfly inventory conducted in these islands. The species richness, the collecting methods utilized, endemism, and the mimicry rings found in the islands are discussed. Moreover, we emphasize the importance and the utilization of butterflies as suitable models to assess community ecology patterns.

Rural teachers and social movements under formation: political struggles for rural schools in northweestern Rio de Janeiro state

Closing rural schools is a scene that has become usual in many Brazilian states, a fact that forces rural communities to quit life in the country as the place for both living and existence reproduction. Rural schools in Northwestern Rio de Janeiro State take the same path of other Brazilian realities; in other words, they are the victims of activity canceling, which is an injustice supported by economic arguments. However, the implementation of the course named Interdisciplinary Major Degree in Rural Education, also known as LEdoC, at Fluminense Federal University (UFF), in Santo Antônio de Pádua City, RJ, opened room for a whole series of popular movements to cope with the rural exodus reality. Accordingly, the aim of the present study is to describe the path opened between 2015 and 2019 by UFF’s LEdoC and Santo Antônio de Pádua’s community for the Alternation Pedagogy in order to defend rural schools, based on the research-action methodology. The main results have highlighted the importance of the research-action methodology to reinforce the local demands and the process of reporting the alienation of rural populations from their right to education. Moreover, they have pointed towards the fact that popular social movements reinforce rural teachers’ formation by repairing public policies to question oppression situations in and outside education institutions.

New records of avian nasal mites (Mesostigmata: Rhinonyssidae) to Southeastern Brazil

The avian nasal mites are a group of Mesostigmata, belonging to the family Rhinonyssidae, Trouessart, 1895, obligate endoparasites of the respiratory system of birds. In Brazil, seven of the eight genera of this family have been recorded. After examining the Acarological Collection of the Instituto Butantan, the species Rallinyssus gallinulae Fain, 1960 and Rhinoecius bisetosus Strandtmann, 1952 were identified from Gallinula galeata (Lichtenstein, 1818) (Gruiformes: Rallidae) and an unidentified owl, respectively. In this study, we are recording for the first time R. gallinulae from Brazil (Rio de Janeiro State), while R. bisetosus is recorded for the second time to this country (São Paulo State), however from a different specific locality.

Potencial, atributos e variáveis condicionantes da fragilidade das terras de uma microbacia na serra dos orgãos, estado do Rio de Janeiro / Potential, attributes and variables conditioning the fragility of the land of a microbasin in serra dos orgãos, Rio de Janeiro state

A avaliação de áreas sujeitas aos riscos ambientais constitui-se em prática indispensável no planejamento de uso e manejo do solo, e contribui para a solução de problemas que afetam a sustentabilidade. O trabalho buscou avaliar o potencial de fragilidade e vulnerabilidade ambiental na microbacia, por meio da análise integrada de informações temáticas do meio físico, suas variáveis e atributos que favorecem os riscos ou induzem a estabilidade. Com apoio de SIG realizou a superposição dos temas com atribuição de valores específicos a cada um, segundo o seu grau de importância, de seus componentes de legenda e fatores. Esses procedimentos possibilitaram determinar a intensidade, quantificar a distribuição e estratificar a área de estudo, segundo seu potencial de fragilidade e vulnerabilidade em 7 classes. Sendo elas baixa, moderada, alta, alta a muito alta, muito alta e extremamente alta e nula. O resultado final mostra que a classe baixa ocorre em 2,83% da área, a moderada em 16,05%, a classe alta em 24,60%, 1,87% classe alta a muito alta, 41,43% classe muito alta, 12,96% classe extremamente alta, apenas 0,26% da área é de classe nula. Os resultados produzidos contribuem para o planejamento conservacionista de uso do solo na microbacia.

Conservation Policy Changes in Protected Areas on Hilltops: Effects on Hydrological Response in A Small Watershed.

Public policies affecting land use/land cover also have an impact on water resource availability, and hilltop protected areas are a relevant factor in ensuring continued availability of water resources. The legislation ruling the delimitation of protected areas on hilltops has changed at the national level in 2012 and in Rio de Janeiro state in 2014. However, these environmental legislation changes did not take into account the feedback effects of restricting protected areas to hilltops on the regularity of hydrological responses in watersheds. As such, this manuscript sought to analyze the contribution of hilltop-only protected areas to continued water availability. We analyzed hydrological responses in the São João river watershed, which provides water for domestic, industrial, and agricultural uses in the Região dos Lagos municipalities of Rio de Janeiro state. Our results show that designating only hilltops as protected areas, as prescribed under the new pieces of legislation, does not prevent abrupt changes in hydrological responses that can lead to changes in streamflow volume and regularity as well as increases in sediment flows, which may compromise drainage systems and continued water supply due to reservoir silting. Therefore, we conclude that protecting hilltops only, as established under current Brazilian legislation, is not sufficient to safeguard the environmental function of maintaining water resource availability.