Science has a critical role to play in guiding more sustainable development trajectories. Here, we present the Sustainable Amazon Network ( Rede Amazônia Sustentável , RAS): a multidisciplinary research initiative involving more than 30 partner organizations working to assess both social and ecological dimensions of land-use sustainability in eastern Brazilian Amazonia. The research approach adopted by RAS offers three advantages for addressing land-use sustainability problems: (i) the collection of synchronized and co-located ecological and socioeconomic data across broad gradients of past and present human use; (ii) a nested sampling design to aid comparison of ecological and socioeconomic conditions associated with different land uses across local, landscape and regional scales; and (iii) a strong engagement with a wide variety of actors and non-research institutions. Here, we elaborate on these key features, and identify the ways in which RAS can help in highlighting those problems in most urgent need of attention, and in guiding improvements in land-use sustainability in Amazonia and elsewhere in the tropics. We also discuss some of the practical lessons, limitations and realities faced during the development of the RAS initiative so far.

0.05). It has been demonstrated that most of the species found in native vegetation occur also in the eucalypt plantations, although these ones present a drastic diminution of the species density, suggesting that the ant regional richness do not depend on the complexity of the habitat, because the cerrado ant fauna is well conserved in the eucalypt plantations, contradicting most of the literature on this subject.]]>

Brazilian forest producers have developed integrated management programs to increase the effectiveness of the control of leaf-cutting ants of the genera Atta and Acromyrmex. These measures reduced the costs and quantity of insecticides used in the plantations. Such integrated management programs are based on monitoring the ant nests, as well as the need and timing of the control methods. Chemical control employing baits is the most commonly used method, however, biological, mechanical and cultural control methods, besides plant resistance, can reduce the quantity of chemicals applied in the plantations.

The red gum lerp psyllid, Glycaspis brimblecombei Moore, has been introduced from Australia into several countries, mostly in the Americas and Europe. It was first discovered in Brazil in 2003 and has continued to spread there. Today, the species is a major pest in eucalypt plantations and often requires expensive control measures. Ecological modelling is used here to estimate the potential spread of G. brimblecombeii, worldwide and particularly in Brazil, based on environmental variables from 502 records of G. brimblecombei around the world. Distribution data from Australia were obtained from the literature and recent field surveys. For the first time, G. brimblecombei is recorded from Western Australia. Through the Openmodeller® program interface, 22 bioclimatic variables were used to test the efficacy of the following models: BIOCLIM, Climate Space Model, Envelope Score, Environmental Distance, GARP with best subsets (new Openmodeller implementation), GARP new Openmodeller implementation, GARP best subsets (Desktop GARP implementation), Niche Mosaic and Support Vector Machines. Among these models, Environmental Distance was the best predictor for the potential distribution of G. brimblecombei in new regions. Temperate areas appeared to be more favourable for G. brimblecombei. Regions with highest probability of occurrence in Brazil, in hierarchical order are: the southern part of the Atlantic Forest, Pampa, Caatinga and Cerrado. This modelling procedure provides a useful tool that should be incorporated in future strategies for pest management in eucalypt plantations.

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ABSTRACT. Litter ants richness (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) in remnants of a semi-deciduous forest in the Atlantic rain forest, Alto do Rio Grande region, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The community of Formicidae (Insecta, Hymenoptera) in semideciduous seasonal forest of the Atlantic rain forest biome was studied in remnants ranging from 2.99 to 45.45 ha, in the region of the Alto do Rio Grande, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The ants collected in 15 samples of litter of one square meter each, using Winkler extractors method, in each forest fragment. Each sample were taken at intervals of 50 meters. A total of 142 species of ants, were distributed into 40 genera, 23 tribes and 10 subfamilies. The communities showed a high richness and diversity indices values. The size of the fragments did not influence the ant richness. KEYWORDS.

Termos para indexação: Atta, formicídeos, população de insetos, controle de insetos. INFLUENCE OF THE CULTIVATED SPECIES AND OF THE NATIVE VEGETATION ON LEAF-CUTTING ANT NESTS DENSITY IN EUCALYPTUS PLANTATIONSABSTRACT -The effects of eucalyptus species and ages, as well as the native vegetation around the eucalyptus plantation, on leaf-cutting ant nests density was studied in a reforested area of V & M Florestal Co., in João Pinheiro, MG, Brazil. Data were obtained from the leaf-cutting ant monitoring program (Simfor) of the company, from the entire planting fields, with different ages, from 1991 to 1996. As a result, the number of leaf-cutting ant nests increased from the beginning up to three years of age of the forest, but maintained the same number afterwards. Native vegetation strips reduced the number of nests in the reforested areas, while native forest fragments showed an opposite effect.

Avaliou-se a eficiência do combate sistemático de formigas-cortadeiras em áreas de reforma de eucalipto com cultivo mínimo, na Celulose Nipo-Brasileira S.A., em Belo Oriente, Minas Gerais, de setembro a dezembro de 1996. Os tratamentos consistiram na aplicação de uma isca granulada com sulfluramida (0,3%) de forma sistemática, a granel ou com microporta-iscas, na dosagem de 5 g a cada 6 m² e 10 g a cada 12 m², respectivamente. A mortalidade das colônias de formigas-cortadeiras foi avaliada 30 dias após a aplicação da isca. Foram encontradas até 396,3, 285,2, 59,3, 55,6, 29,6 e 14,8 colônias de Mycocepurus goeldii, Sericomyrmex sp., Acromyrmex subterraneus molestans, Atta spp., Acromyrmex balzani e Acromyrmex niger (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) por hectare, respectivamente. A eficiência da isca granulada no combate sistemático variou com o método empregado e com a espécie de formiga-cortadeira. A maior eficiência foi obtida para A. subterraneus molestans, com 69,2% de suas colônias mortas com a isca aplicada a granel e 62,5% com microporta-iscas, o que indica que a distribuição entre dois pontos com isca nos plantios de eucalipto foi maior que a área de forrageamento das formigas-cortadeiras encontradas e, ou, que a dosagem aplicada por ponto foi insuficiente.