Knowledge of blood parasites in Brazilian chelonians is limited, since they have been recorded in only six species. Mesoclemmys vanderhaegei (Bour) is a freshwater turtle with a wide geographic distribution in Brazil, but there is little information about its natural history. This paper reports on a study of the prevalence and infection intensity of a haemogregarine in two subpopulations of M. vanderhaegei. The study was conducted in two areas of Cerrado in the Upper Paraguay River basin in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, between November 2010 and August 2013. Ninety-five (53%) of the 179 turtles captured were positive for haemogregarine parasites. The parasitic forms observed were two morphotypes of intraerythrocytic gametocytes. The prevalence differed between size classes, increasing significantly according to the animals' body size. There was no significant difference between prevalence and sex, or between sampling periods. The mean parasite intensity was 9 parasites/2,000 erythrocytes (0.45%) and the parasite population presented an aggregated distribution, with an aggregation index of 19 and discrepancy of 0.772. This is the first record of a hemoparasite in the freshwater turtle M. vanderhaegei., Vinícius C. Goes, Elizângela S. Brito, Rafael M. Valadão, Camila O. Gutierrez, Amanda M. Picelli, Lúcio A. Viana., and Obsahuje bibliografii
Bats of the family Phyllostomidae are common hosts to streblids known as bat flies. Here, we discuss the component community, prevalence and intensity of infection with species of Streblidae on an assemblage of phyllostomid bats in the Cafuringa Environmental Protection Area (APA Cafuringa) in the core area of the Cerrado in Central Brazil. A total of 1 841 streblid individuals of 24 species occurred on 752 bats of 14 species. Ten species of streblids infected Glossophaga soricina (Pallas), whereas seven or fewer streblid species infected the other bat species. Nine bat fly species presented a prevalence of more than 50%, whereas some differences in the abundance of bat flies among hosts were observed. Strebla wiedemanni Kolenati, 1856 and Trichobius furmani Wenzel, 1966 were more host-specific compared to the other streblids, and they occurred in greater abundance on their preferred hosts. Trichobius uniformis Curran, 1935 and Strebla mirabilis (Waterhouse, 1879) were the least host-specific, occurring on five and six hosts, respectively., Ludmilla M. S. Aguiar, Yasmine Antonini., and Obsahuje bibliografii
High irradiance promotes decreases in the quantum yield in plants, which reduce the photosynthetic rate. The excess of light in combination with water deficit can intensify the response of plants to stress, especially in species susceptible to those factors. The aim of the present study was to characterize the photosynthetic activity of young jatobá-do-cerrado (Hymenaea stigonocarpa Mart. ex Hayne) trees under different irradiance conditions, both alone and/or in combination with water deficit. Four irradiances [45, 230, 510, and 1,700 μmol(photon) m-2 s-1] and two levels of water in soil (90% and 50% of field capacity) were used. Gas exchange, water potential, and chlorophyll a fluorescence were measured. The highest rates of photosynthesis were observed under irradiances of 230 and 510 μmol(photon) m-2 s-1. Irradiance of 1,700 μmol(photon) m-2 s-1 led to the photoinhibition of photosynthesis, as indicated by a reduced maximum quantum yield of PSII, effective quantum yield ratio, and electron transport rate, as well as higher nonphotochemical quenching. The most stressful to young H. stigonocarpa plants was high irradiance, while water deficit did not intensify the response to light stress., A. C. Costa, S. L. Rezende-Silva, C. A. Megguer, L. M. F. Moura, M. Rosa, A. A. Silva., and Obsahuje bibliografii