On the relevance of regional collections

Biological collections are the basis of the Earth’s biodiversity knowledge and most of them are regional collections. Here we present two collections from the Federal University of Espírito Santo—Mammal Collection (UFES-MAM) and the associated Animal Tissue Collection (UFES-CTA)—which have been the main repository for mammal specimens collected in Espírito Santo, mostly georeferenced (~ 90%), and available in public databases. Thus, our objective with this essay was to point out the contributions of these collections to the knowledge of the diversity of mammals in the Atlantic Forest. At the same time, we present the contributions they return to society and the scientific community, highlighting the main obstacles and challenges those regional collections face. Despite being regional, UFES-MAM and UFES-CTA stand out nationally for having biological material from a wide variety of species—mainly rodents, marsupials, and bats—also counting on a series of primate tissues collected during the outbreak of wild yellow fever in Southeastern Brazil from 2017 to 2018. These collecting efforts contributed to 42 new mammal species records for Espírito Santo, and 25 species that had already been registered in the state but were listed only in out-of-state collections or reported in literature without voucher specimens. We hope that the information reported here are examples of good practices and increase knowledge and visibility of the rich collection that these regional collections house.

Family Legacy: Depicting Diversity-Elevation Relationships of Tropical Tree Communities

Unveiling the ecological processes driving diversity and its relationship to the environment remains a central goal in ecological studies. Here, we investigated the elevation effect on plant diversity patterns of tropical rainforests, using beta-, phylogenetic and alpha diversities. To do so, we compiled a forest dataset with 22,236 trees (DBH ≥ 4.8 cm) from 17 plots of 1 ha each along an elevational gradient (0 – 1,200 m a.s.l) in the Atlantic Forest of Southeastern Brazil. We found high phylogenetic and species rates of turnover – beta-diversity - along the elevational gradient. Alpha phylodiversity showed a monotonic decrease with increasing elevation, including or not fern species (a distantly related clade usually ignored in tropical ecology studies), while the phylogenetic structure was highly affected by the inclusion of fern trees. Species diversity showed a unimodal pattern for the whole community, and different patterns for the richest families. The diversity pattern of the whole community emerges from differences among species distribution of the richest families, while phylogenetic diversity seems to be gradually filtered by elevation. At intermediate elevations, higher species diversification within families might have led to different strategies and cooccurrence in tropical rainforests. We also showed that intricate effects of elevation in species assemblages can be better assessed using both ecological and evolutionary approaches, stressing the importance of species selection in diversity analyzes. Finally, we demonstrate that elevation has different effects on the species distributions of the richest families and warn that these differences should be considered in conservation planning.

Permissivess, guiltiness, anxiety:

Introduction: Studies on procrastination are increasing, studies are aimed at university students, as it is the population that most procrastinates their daily activities, especially academic ones. Most studies fail to explain existing conflicts on the subject, suggesting that there are futures with a qualitative focus, where the researcher is closer to the phenomenon, with no research on the topic with OT students. Objective: To explore and research explanations reported by occupational therapy students at a private university in southeastern Brazil about the behavior of procrastinating schoolwork, considering themselves self-reported as "procrastinators" Methods: Clinical-qualitative design; data collected through in-depth semi-structured findings with open questions; a thematic analysis generated categories discussed in the light of the psychodynamic framework Results: Seven OT students were interviewed and, according to the results of the analysis: procrastination linked to anxiety as productivity, but without the executive drive, imprisoning the individual in a vicious cycle of procrastination; defense mechanisms linked to self-preservation so as not to assume responsibility for tasks and other adversities of adult and university life; ineffective methods are tried by students to try to avoid procrastination, but without resolving the emotional and psychodynamic conflicts related to the activity. Conclusions: Students' procrastination ambivalently affects their daily lives, both positively and negatively, although everyone reported the phenomenon as negative. These studies can contribute to thinking about the clinic in the context of health and education. Therefore, we suggest studies that explore meanings brought by students and even other categories for comparative purposes.

Rediscovery of the rare Phrynomedusa appendiculata (Lutz, 1925) (Anura: Phyllomedusidae) from the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil

The genus Phrynomedusa Miranda-Ribeiro, 1923 comprises rare and little known phyllomedusid species from southern Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Phrynomedusa appendiculata (Lutz, 1925) is known from three localities since its description and considered a “lost species” because it was last sighted 51 years ago. This pervasive lack of knowledge raised a significant concern about its threat status. Here, we present the rediscovery of P. appendiculata from a breeding population in the Atlantic Plateau forests of the state of São Paulo. This new record allowed the gathering of novel ecological, acoustic and morphological data for this species. Most of the novel data agreed with the variation historically reported for the species, but we found subtle divergences that we interpret as intraspecific variation. Moreover, this record also allowed a reassessment of geographic distribution of the species, and the first inference of its phylogenetic relationships based on molecular data (mitochondrial and nuclear DNA). The resulting phylogeny corroborated the generic placement and evolutionary distinctiveness of P. appendiculata, evidencing the species as sister to the clade P. marginata + P. dryade. Based on novel and historical data, we discuss some putative factors influencing the rarity of P. appendiculata and its congeners, and provide conservation perspectives. We expect that the novel data can support further assessments of threat status for this rare species, as well as initiatives aiming its conservation.

Ecological Impacts of the African Catfish Clarias Gariepinus at Environmental Protection Area in Southeastern Brazil

The African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) is considered one of the most important species of catfish for aquaculture. It has a great capacity to withstand several stress factors, such as harsh abiotic conditions, in addition to wide feeding flexibility. However, the species was detected in the Guapimirim Environmental Protection Area in southeastern Brazil, threatening native fish diversity and ecosystem functioning of this ecosystem. In 2018, during the dry and wet seasons, samples of the fish community were collected at thirty-two sites of the Guapi-Macacu River, in addition to abiotic variables (salinity, pH, temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, and transparency) to diagnose which factors influence the distribution of the alien species along the river. Multivariate analyses indicated that African catfish dominate the region in the buffer zone to the Environmental protection area, benefiting from higher levels of dissolved oxygen and temperature. However, C. gariepinus does not dominate yet the most protected area of Guapimirim, where the highest percentage of native fish species inhabit. Climate change associated with changes in abiotic factors might significantly contribute to the dominance of the invasive alien species in this protected area, which might colonize the entire river.

Benthic Cyanobacterial Diversity and Antagonistic Interactions in Abrolhos Bank: Allelopathy, Susceptibility to Herbivory, and Toxicity

Benthic cyanobacterial mats (BCMs) are conspicuous components of coral reef communities, where they play key ecological roles as primary producers among others. BCMs often bloom and might outcompete neighboring benthic organisms, including reef-building corals. We investigated the cyanobacterial species composition of three BCMs morphotypes from the marginal reef complex of Abrolhos Bank (Southeastern Brazil). Also, we assessed their allelopathic effects on coral zooxanthellae, their susceptibility to herbivory by fish, and their toxicity to brine shrimp nauplii. Morphology and 16S rDNA sequencing unveiled the cyanobacteria Moorena bouillonii, Okeania erythroflocculosa, Adonisia turfae, Leptolyngbya sp., and Halomicronema sp. as components of BCMs from Abrolhos. BCMs cell-free filtrates and extracts exerted an allelopathic effect by reducing the growth of the ex hospite Symbiodinium sp. in culture. BCMs-only treatments remained untouched in field susceptibility assays in contrast to macroalgae only and mixed BCMs-macroalgae treatments that had the macroalgae fully removed by reef fish. Crude aqueous extracts from BCMs were toxic to brine shrimps in acute assays. Besides unveiling the diversity of BCMs consortia in Abrolhos, our results cast some light on their allelopathy, antiherbivory, and toxicity properties. These antagonistic interactions might promote adverse cascading effects during benthic cyanobacteria blooms and in gradual shifts to BCMs-dominated states.