The goal of this study was to document the distribution and establishment A. fulica such as their feeding preference and behavior in situ. The study was carried out at the city of Lauro de Freitas, Bahia state, Brazil, between November 2001 and November 2002. We used catch per unit effort methods to determine abundance, distribution, habitat choice and food preferences. The abundance and distribution of A. fulica was most representative in urban area, mainly near to the coastline. Lots and house gardens were the most preferred sites during active hours. The results indicated that A. fulica started their activity at the end of the evening and stopped in mid-morning.

The length-weight relationship and condition factor have been broadly investigated in snails to obtain the index of physical condition of populations and evaluate habitat quality. Herein, our goal was to describe the best predictors that explain Achatina fulica biometrical parameters and well being in a recently introduced population. From November 2001 to November 2002, monthly snail samples were collected in Lauro de Freitas City, Bahia, Brazil. Shell length and total weight were measured in the laboratory and the potential curve and condition factor were calculated. Five environmental variables were considered: temperature range, mean temperature, humidity, precipitation and human density. Multiple regressions were used to generate models including multiple predictors, via model selection approach, and then ranked with AIC criteria. Partial regressions were used to obtain the separated coefficients of determination of climate and human density models. A total of 1.460 individuals were collected, presenting a shell length range between 4.8 to 102.5 mm (mean: 42.18 mm). The relationship between total length and total weight revealed that Achatina fulica presented a negative allometric growth. Simple regression indicated that humidity has a significant influence on A. fulica total length and weight. Temperature range was the main variable that influenced the condition factor. Multiple regressions showed that climatic and human variables explain a small proportion of the variance in shell length and total weight, but may explain up to 55.7% of the condition factor variance. Consequently, we believe that the well being and biometric parameters of A. fulica can be influenced by climatic and human density factors.Keywords: Achatina fulica, alien species, gastropoda, condition factor, invasiveness species. Variáveis ambientais e humanas afetam o comprimento da concha, peso total e fator de condição de Achatina fulica (Gastropoda: Pulmonata)?Resumo A relação peso comprimento e o fator de condição têm sido bastante explorados em pesquisas envolvendo caracóis para obter o índice de condição física em populações e avaliar a condição do habitat. Neste trabalho, nosso objetivo foi descrever que variáveis influenciam os parâmteros biométricos e o bem estar de Achatina fulica em uma recente introdução. De novembro de 2001 a novembro de 2002, amostras mensais desses caracóis foram coletadas na cidade de Lauro de Freitas (Bahia), Brasil. Em seguida, os caracóis foram acondicionados em laboratório e foram obtidos o tamanho da concha e o seu peso. A partir desses dados a curva potencial e o fator de condição foram calculados. Cinco variáveis ambientais foram consideradas: amplitude de temperatura, temperatura média, humidade, precipitação e densidade humana. Regressões múltiplas foram usadas para gerar modelos preditivos através do critério de seleção e logo foram ordenados utilizando o critério de Akaíke. Regressões parciais foram usadas para obter os coeficientes de determinação do clima e fatores humanos. Um total de ...

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Herein we identified the geographic location of protected areas (PAs) critical for strengthening mammalian conservation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest Biosphere Reserve (RMBA) by assessing sites of particular importance for mammal diversity using different biodiversity criteria (richness, rarity, vulnerability) and a connectivity index. Although 95% of mammal species were represented by PAs, most of them had less than 10% of their distribution range protected by these areas. A total of 94 critical areas for mammal conservation-representing 49.60% of the total PAs were identified. Most of these areas were located at endangered ecoregions. We recommend that conservationists and policy makers should identify critical areas in order to guarantee biodiversity fluxes among landscapes, and enhance the connectivity between PAs to increase biodiversity protection and conservation. Knowledge about the location of critical areas may encourage managers and policy makers to develop specific programs to strengthen mammal biodiversity protection, especially for threatened species.

There is much evidence to support that Mocis latipes larvae (Guenèe, 1852) are the most dangerous pasture pest and usually cause large environmental losses. However, no studies have been carried out to identify the instars during which this moth causes the most damage to the environment. Here we calculate M. latipes larval energy budget to assess its consumption across all instars and estimate the consumption/amount of plant biomass required to complete its larval development. Assimilation, respiration, consumption, excretion, gross growth efficiency and net growth efficiency were calculated. Pearson correlations were used to identify the best predictors that influenced larval growth and weight. Across all instars consumption increased exponentially, especially during the last phase. M. latipes larvae consumed ca 13.8% of total food from the first to the fifth instar, whereas during the sixth instars these larvae consumed ca 72.6%. Results also show that the best gross growth and net growth efficiency were obtained when larvae reached the fifth instar. The results also show that one larva of Mocis latipes consumes 1.02 g (dry weight) of Paspalum maritimum (Trin) in 19 days. Overall, our results indentified the sixth instar as the most destructive instar of this insect. Thus, once we know the most destructive instars of this pest, measures can be taken to disable M. latipes larval development and consequently stop their increase in plant consumption, reducing ecological and economic damage. This knowledge may eventually lead to reduced agricultural damage and contribute to sustainable farming strategies.Keywords: moths, energy balance, pasture plagues, Noctuidae. Utilizando o balanço energético de

Abstract. We identified high-value biodiversity areas (HVBAs) of terrestrial vertebrates according to a combined index of biodiversity (CBI) for each major taxon and a standardized biodiversity index (SBI) for all taxa in 2195 cells of 50 × 50 km in Western Europe to evaluate whether these areas are included in the current protected area networks. The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) and NATURA 2000 protected area network were used to assess the protected area cover in HVBAs. WDPA and NATURA 2000 were geographically quite complementary as WDPA is more densely represented in Central and Northern Europe and NATURA 2000 in the Mediterranean basin. A total of 729 cells were identified as HVBAs. From the total of these HVBA areas, NATURA 2000 network was present in more cells (660) than the WDPA network (584 cells). The sum of protected land percentages across all the HVBA cells was 28.8 %. The identified HVBA cells according to the SBI included 603 or 78.2 % of all vertebrate species in the study region, whereas the identified HVBA cells according to the SBI for individual taxa included 47 (90.4 %) species of amphibians, 79 (74.5 %) of reptiles, 417 (88.5 %) of birds, and 130 (91.5 %) of mammals. However, neither network was present in 7 or 3 % of the identified HVBA cells. Thus, we recommend expanding protected areas in Europe to fill this gap and improve coverage of vertebrate species to strengthen biodiversity conservation.