Roadkill of wild vertebrates along GO-060, Brazil. Roads represent an old and constant cause of accidental death of wildlife. From May 2004 to November 2005, we recorded the roadkills of vertebrates in the GO-060 road between Goiânia and Iporá. For each road-killed animal we wrote down the species and location along the road. We found 308 animals roadkilled from at least 25 vertebrate species: 86% mammals, 11% birds and 3% reptiles. Tamandua tetradactyla, Cerdocyon thous and Myrmecophaga tridactyla were, in decreasing order, the species with the largest number of road-killed individuals. Among mammals, the number of road-killed individuals was not related to species weight. The number of species and road-killed animals was constant throughout the 17 months of the research. The average frequency of animal roadkills in the dry season (April to September) is slightly higher than the frequency in the rainy season (October to March). The average frequency of species victim to accidents, however, is constant throughout the dry and rainy seasons. The incidence of species and individuals of road-killed animals per 10 km was not influenced by the number of forest fragments along the sides of the road. We suggest that speed reducers could decrease the number of animals killed on the road.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a scientometric analysis of the global climate change (GCC) literature to identify the patterns, trends and biases in this research field. Data were obtained using the Thomson ISI database. A total of 5,444 articles on GCC were recorded, showing a temporal increase in the number of articles (r = 0.84; P < 0.0001). Most the articles look at the impact of climate change on geophysical variables, humans and vegetation. Few studies look at fungi, amphibians or reptiles (H = 24.6; P < 0.0001, N = 27). Principal component analysis revealed a temporal difference in the keywords associated with each article. In the first years we observed that the most frequent keywords indicated worry about the main causes of global climate change, but this shifted in more recent years towards keywords indicating concern with the effects of climate change on biodiversity. We argue that this scientometric study can help guide future climate change research and contribute to our understanding of several poorly studied areas.

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Fire management is an important issue in the Brazilian Cerrado, since both anthropogenic high intensity fires and complete fire suppression can reduce the biodiversity in this biome. In this paper, we highlight the trends in scientific literature about fire effects in the Cerrado, aiming to detect possible gaps and to indicate directions of future scientific research. We searched for articles in the periodic database Web of Knowledge from 1991 to 2016, and observed an increase in the number of publications throughout the years. Most articles were associated with Brazilian institutions (58%), followed by those with collaboration between Brazilian and international institutions (33%), and those published by authors exclusively from international institutions (9%). Most articles addressed the effects of fire on biodiversity (77%), followed by articles about abiotic environment (19%), and then biotic interactions or interactions between organisms and environment (4%). The most studied taxonomic group was plants (75%), followed by mammals (8%) and insects (6%), with the remaining taxa comprising about 11% of publications. The Federal District was the federative unit with the greatest number of studies (31%). The majority of studies was conducted in areas with fewer fire events, whereas areas with major incidence of fires are poorly studied. Our data shows that studies on the effect of fires on the Brazilian Cerrado are geographically and taxonomically biased. This lack of knowledge limits the extrapolations about the effects of fire on this biome. Therefore, we emphasize the need for investment in research in areas with high fire frequency and also for an increase in knowledge about these effects on the biota, especially on the fauna. This action is fundamental to support the development of public policies for effective and directed fire management in the Cerrado.

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ABSTRACT. Constrictotermes cyphergaster (Silvester, 1901) builds arboreal nests in Brazilian Cerrado stricto sensu, which are frequently cohabited by inquilines termites and by termitophiles. In a study made at the Parque Estadual da Serra de Caldas Novas, Goiás, Brazil, there were four nests with multiple reproductives, and secondary reproductives were found in 26 nests. Nymphs of Inquilinitermes were more abundant (9,47%) than nymphs of C. cyphergaster (0,78%).

O desmatamento no Cerrado para a formação de pastagens e criação de rebanhos bovinos tem prejudicado a diversidade e a conservação das espécies de cupins. A presença de cupinzeiros em pastagens está associada a solos degradados, mas a maioria das espécies atua como consumidores primários e decompositores, auxiliando na ciclagem de nutrientes, aeração e formação do solo. Se os cupinzeiros correspondem a “ilhas” inseridas na matriz da pastagem, então, diferentes tamanhos de cupinzeiros podem agrupar diferentes números de espécies. O objetivo desse trabalho foi estimar a relação espécie-área em cupinzeiros epígeos de uma pastagem em uma área periférica do município de Goiânia-GO. O estudo foi executado em um hectare da pastagem, todos os cupinzeiros foram contados e mensurados (circunferência da base) para calcular a área da base (m²). Outras espécies habitantes do ninho foram amostradas em 10% dos cupinzeiros. A maioria dos cupinzeiros era de Cornitermes snyderi Emerson, que abrigava outras espécies de cupins inquilinos e de termitófilos. Nos cupinzeiros maiores e mais antigos da pastagem há uma tendência em encontrar um maior número de espécies de cupins e de termitófilos, em uma relação de cerca de cinco espécies para quase 3m² (S= 5,13*A2,8). Embora visualmente as pastagens estejam repletas de cupinzeiros, a maioria das espécies que habitam os cupinzeiros colabora com a decomposição de matéria seca e reciclagem de nutrientes para a pastagem. Por isso, a presença de cupinzeiros na paisagem contribui para a preservação de diferentes espécies do bioma. Specie-Area Relationship of Termite Nests of the Pasture, Goiânia-GO, Brazil Abstract. Deforestation in the Cerrado for pastures and livestock raising cattle has damaged the diversity and conservation of the termite species. The presence of termite nests in pastures is associated with degraded soils, but most species acts as primary consumers and decomposers, assisting in the cycling of nutrients, aeration and soil formation. If termites are “islands” inserted in the matrix of pasture, so, different sized termite nests can group different numbers of species. The aim of this study was to estimate the species-area relationship in termite nests of the pasture in a peripheral area of the municipality of Goiânia-GO. The study was performed on one hectare of pasture, all termite nests were counted and measured (circumference of the base) to calculate the base area (m²). Other species inhabiting the termite nests were sampled in 10% of the nests of the pasture. Most of the nests were of Cornitermes snyderi Emerson, which sheltered other inquiline termite species and termitophiles. In oldest and largest termite mounds of the pasture there is a tendency to find a superior number of species of inquiline termites and termitophiles, at a ratio of about five species for almost 3m² (S= 5.13*A2, 8). Although visually the pastures are full of termite nests, the majority of species inhabiting the nest collaborates with the decomposition of dry matter and recycling nutrients to the pasture. Therefore, the presence of termites in the landscape contributes to the preservation of various species of the biome.

The global Climate change may affect biodiversity and the functioning of ecosystems by changing the appropriate locations for the development and establishment of the species. The Hancornia speciosa, popularly called Mangaba, is a plant species that has potential commercial value and contributes to rural economic activities in Brazil. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of global climate change on the potential geographic distribution, productivity, and value of production of H. speciosa in Brazil. We used MaxEnt to estimate the potential geographic distribution of the species in current and future (2050) climate scenarios. We obtained the productivity and value of production for 74 municipalities in Brazil. Moreover, to explain the variation the productivity and value of production, we constructed 15 models based on four variables: two ecological (ecological niche model and the presence of Unity of conservation) and two socio-economic (gross domestic product and human developed index). The models were selected using Akaike Information Criteria. Our results suggest that municipalities currently harvesting H. speciosa will have lower harvest rates in the future (mainly in northeastern Brazil). The best model to explain the productivity was ecological niche model; thus, municipalities with higher productivity are inserted in regions with higher environmental suitability (indicated by niche model). Thus, in the future, the municipalities harvesting H. speciosa will produce less because there will be less suitable habitat for H. speciosa, which in turn will affect the H. speciosa harvest and the local economy.