Zoophytophagous insects can feed on a variety of prey, plants and plant products. By studying the interactions between predatory hemipterans and plants harbouring the prey of these insects, scientists have started to establish two potential outcomes: (1) positive effects like the enhancement of their life history characteristics by acquiring plant contents; and (2) negative effects mediated by plant resistance to herbivores or prey ingesting secondary plant metabolites. Despite this research, there is a lack of information about the feeding sites of predatory hemipterans on their host plants, what they ingest from plants, and whether they cause damage to their host plants.The results presented here indicate that the xylem is one of the feeding sites of predatory hemipterans on plants. The dissection of predators that fed on plants with marked vessels and testing insects for the presence of Cry protein constitutively expressed in the cytoplasm of plant cells revealed that bugs are not able to acquire cytoplasm contents from the plant cell. In addition, we demonstrate that systemic insecticide circulating inside plants from soil applications contaminates these predators. Our results are discussed in the context of zoophytophagous feeding behaviour exhibited by predatory hemipterans and the use of systemic insecticides for the conservation of natural enemies. This interaction contradicts the concept of ecological selectivity obtained for natural enemies through the placement of systemic insecticide in the soil as a selective method of deploying chemical control and predatory hemipteran conservation within the integrated pest management framework.

Variations in leaf morphometry and in diameter and height growth of plants may occur due to changes in light and temperature conditions of the forest in order to compensate the stress in the habitat. In this study, we examine the relationship of seedling and juvenile size and leaf area of woody species in forests of different ages ([55 and 19 years) in northeastern Brazil. A total of 600 individuals of four species, seedlings and juveniles that survived a rainy season were evaluated. Seedlings and juveniles of Croton blanchetianus Baill, Poincianella pyramidalis (Tul.) L. P. Queiroz, Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão and Commiphora leptophloeos (Mart.) J.B. Gillett were measured for height and stem diameter in the beginning of the rainy season of 2014. One leaf of each individual was collected in the beginning of the rainy season. Leaves were photographed, and leaf area was measured. Differences in height, diameter and leaf area between forests and the existence of a relationship of diameter and height to leaf area were examined. Leaf area and seedling and juvenile size of C. blanchetianus and C. leptophloeos decreased as succession progressed. However, this was not observed for seedlings of P. pyramidalis and juveniles of M. urundeuva. Leaf area explained 7-26% of the variation in size of individuals in the young forest and 11-39% of the variation in size of individuals in the mature forest. Despite variations in leaf area, significant changes in growth rate were not found with the increase in forest age for most ontogenetic stages and species.

R E S U M OO sensoriamento remoto permite o monitoramento espaço-temporal dos recursos naturais em diversas partes do mundo de maneira eficiente e sistemática, vindo a apresentar grande auxílio nas áreas de agricultura, silvicultura, bem como em previsões meteorológicas e hidrológicas. Deste modo, diversos índices têm se apresentado mais recorrentemente na literatura, como os índices de vegetação e do albedo superficial. Considerando as grandes mudanças espaço-temporais ocorridas em bacias hidrográficas e a influência destas mudanças no ciclo hidrológico das mesmas, este estudo objetiva avaliar mudanças ocorridas espaço-temporalmente na bacia hidrográfica do rio Moxotó-PE, aplicando o NDWI e albedo da superfície, obtidos com imagens orbitais. Foram utilizadas imagens dos satélites Landsat 5 e 7, órbita-ponto 215-66 datadas em 09 de maio de 1987, 20 de abril de 1992, 15 de maio de 2001, 11 de abril de 2003 (ETM+), 02 de maio de 2008 e 24 de maio de 2010, alem de dados de radar SRTM, dados meteorológicos e mapa de uso e cobertura do solo da referida bacia. O Índice de Umidade (NDWI) complementou as cartas de albedo da superfície na análise multitemporal das mudanças de uso e cobertura do solo, auxiliando os planejadores públicos no gerenciamento do uso e cobertura do solo de bacias hidrográficas. A grande variabilidade na quantidade e periodicidade da precipitação indica que o Índice de Umidade e o albedo da superfície detectam grandes mudanças na resposta espectral dos alvos em estudo. A elaboração de perfis do albedo da superfície e do Índice de Umidade auxiliou na avaliação e entendimento do comportamento dos alvos na bacia hidrográfica do rio Moxotó, tornando possível observar grande destaque para as áreas com corpos hídricos, agricultura irrigada e vegetação de porte arbóreo fechado, e valores de umidade mais elevados. Palavras-chave: Semiárido, índices de vegetação, sensoriamento remoto, mudança de cobertura, comportamento da vegetação. Moisture Content (NDWI) and Spatial-Temporal Analysis of the Surface Albedo of the Moxoto-PE Basin River A B S T R A C TRemote sensing allows the spatial and temporal monitoring of natural resources in several parts of the world efficiently and systematically been showing great assistance in the areas of agriculture, forestry, as well as meteorological and hydrological forecasts. Thus, several indexes have been presented more recurrently in the literature, such as vegetation indices and surface albedo. Considering the major changes occurring in space-time river basin and the influence of these changes in the hydrological cycle, this study aims to evaluate changes in space-time river basin Moxotó-PE by applying the NDWI and surface albedo, obtained with orbital images. We used images from Landsat 5 and 7-point orbit at 215

No abstract

RESUMO.Avaliaram-se a composição química, o teor de compostos secundários, a degradabilidade in situ, a anatomia e a degradabilidade dos tecidos do feno de maniçoba, a partir de plantas em início de frutificação, oriundas de uma vegetação de caatinga em Ibimirim, Estado do Pernambuco. O caule apresentou células com variados graus de lignificação, destacando-se a presença de fibras gelatinosas, parênquima medular lignificado e espessas paredes celulares no xilema. As folhas se destacam pela presença da estrutura girder, caracterizam-se pela grande quantidade de mesofilo, constituído por células com paredes delgadas, contribuindo para a degradabilidade de matéria seca. Idioblastos contendo drusas de oxalato foram encontrados nos tecidos vasculares, na nervura principal da folha. Eles funcionam como mecanismos de defesa do vegetal contra herbívoros e podem afetar a disponibilidade de minerais para o animal. O feno de maniçoba, apesar de obtido de planta em avançado estágio de maturidade (início da frutificação), possui adequada composição química e baixos teores de ácido cianídrico e taninos. Os principais limitantes à degradabilidade são o espessamento e a lignificação das paredes celulares, especialmente nos tecidos do caule. Adicionalmente, os diversos aspectos aqui relatados induzem à continuidade de pesquisas em diversos focos e visam ao melhoramento e à utilização desta espécie como forrageira.Palavras-chave: parede celular, lignina, microscopia vegetal, digestibilidade, forrageira nativa. ABSTRACT. Anatomy and kinetics of degradation of Manihot glazioviiHay. This study the structural components of cell wall with its degradability, chemical composition, secondary compounds, in situ degradability, anatomy and tissue degradability of the hay of "maniçoba" (wild cassava) from plants in early fruiting, from savanna vegetation in Ibimirim, Pernambuco. The stem showed cells with varied degrees of lignification, highlighting the presence of gelatinous fibers, lignified pith parenchyma and thick cell walls inside the xylem. The leaves were highlighted by the presence of a girder structure, characterized by the great quantity of mesophyll, constituted by cells with thin walls, contributing to the degradability of dry matter. Idioblasts with druses of oxalate were observed around the vascular tissues, in the midrib. It works like defense mechanisms of plant against herbivores and can affect the availability of minerals for animals. "Maniçoba" hay, in spite of its advanced maturity stage (early fruit development), presents adequate chemical composition and low concentration of cianidric acid and tannins. The mains limits to degradability are cell wall thickness and lignification, particularly in stem tissue. Additionally, several aspects reported here induce to the continuity of studies in several focuses and aim to improve the use this specie as forage.Key words: cell wall, lignin, plant microscopy, digestibility, native forage. IntroduçãoA vegetação nativa do semiárido brasileiro possui grande biodiversidade em seu ex...

The characteristics of petal epidermal conical cells affect the quality of the signals perceived by various pollinators. This study aimed to identify variations in micromorphological characteristics of flower petals and their relationship to melittophily, ornithophily and chiropterophily pollination systems. The petals of 11 species were analysed using scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy and the micromorphological traits were described, measured and compared using Tukey's test, PCA and cluster analysis. Unlike chiropterophily, all melittophilous and some ornithophilous species possessed adaxial epidermal conical cells. Cluster grouping separated chiropterophilous flowers from melittophilous and ornithophilous. PCA analysis showed that the two morphometric profile of conical cells was the attribute that most strongly influenced the grouping of species. When considering the data set of the three pollination systems, melittophilous and ornithophilous plants were more similar to each other than they were to chriopterophilous species. The distance between conical cell apices is an important parameter in interactions with pollinators. This study facilitated recognition of smoothing pollinator resource access through petal micromorphological characteristics. Further research regarding the biometry of micromorphological traits related to pollination is required.

No abstract

No abstract