The UFRGS fish collection database is available online

The UFRGS fish collection database is available online at:
http://www6.ufrgs.br/fishcollection/occResource.html?resourceId=18

Enter catalog number in the white box at the upper right corner to search for a given lot.

Navigate Taxonomy or Geography to get a list of lots of a given genus or locality.

To view individual records press the mouse on the selected record to get further information for each lot and a mapped record of the locality of collection.

For more information regarding the UFRGS collection, contact Dr. Luiz Roberto Malabarba.

XIX Encontro Brasileiro de Ictiologia - Manaus, 30/01 a 04/02/2011

O XIX Encontro Brasileiro de Ictiologia - Fronteiras do conhecimento em Ictiologia

Local
Centro de Convenções do Studio 5 Mall em Manaus - AM, Brasil, de 30 de janeiro a 04 de fevereiro de 2011

INSCRIÇÕES
O prazo final para inscrições antecipadas é até 30 de Julho de 2010

Submissão de Trabalhos
A data limite para submissão de resumos será 29 de Outubro de 2010

Informações
http://xixebi.org

Toxicity Pathway-Based Risk Assessment - Free Book

In 2007, the National Research Council envisioned a new paradigm in which biologically important perturbations in key toxicity pathways would be evaluated with new methods in molecular biology, bioinformatics, computational toxicology, and a comprehensive array of in vitro tests based primarily on human biology. Although some considered the vision too optimistic with respect to the promise of the new science, no one can deny that a revolution in toxicity testing is under way. New approaches are being developed, and data are being generated. As a result, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) expects a large influx of data that will need to be evaluated. EPA also is faced with tens of thousands of chemicals on which toxicity information is incomplete and emerging chemicals and substances that will need risk assessment and possible regulation. Therefore, the agency asked the National Research Council to convene a symposium to stimulate discussion on the application of the new approaches and data in risk assessment.

The symposium was held on May 11-13, 2009, in Washington, DC, and included presentations and discussion sessions on pathway-based approaches for hazard identification, applications of new approaches to mode-of-action analyses, the challenges to and opportunities for risk assessment in the changing paradigm, and future directions.

XI Congresso Brasileiro de Ecotoxicologia

A Sociedade Brasileira de Ecotoxicologia (ECOTOX-BRASIL) anuncia a décima primeira edição do Congresso Brasileiro de Ecotoxicologia – XI ECOTOX, que será realizada entre os dias 19 a 23 de setembro de 2010 na cidade de Bombinhas - SC. A sede do XI ECOTOX será na Pousada Vila do Farol.

Visite o site do evento para obter mais informações.

Review of the WATERS Network Science Plan - Free Book

One of the most critical issues facing the United States today is the proper management of our water resources. Water availability and quality are changing due to increasing population, urbanization, and land use and climate change, and shortages in water supply have been increasing in frequency in many parts of the country. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has entertained the Water and Environmental Research Systems (WATERS) Network as one possible initiative whereby NSF could provide the advances in the basic science needed to respond effectively to the challenge of managing water resources.

The WATERS Network, a joint initiative of the Engineering, the Geosciences, and the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences directorates at NSF, is envisioned as an integrated national network of observatories and experimental facilities supporting research, outreach, and education on large-scale, water-related environmental problems. The proposed observatories would provide researchers with access to linked sensing networks, data repositories, and computational tools connected through high-performance computing and telecommunications networks.

This book, the final of a series about the WATERS project, provides a more detailed review of the Science Plan and provides advice on collaborating with other federal agencies.

Climate change adaptation UN-Water policy brief

Water is the primary medium through which climate change influences Earth’s ecosystem and thus the livelihood and well-being of societies. Higher temperatures and changes in extreme weather conditions are projected to affect availability and distribution of rainfall, snowmelt, river flows and groundwater, and further deteriorate water quality. If addressed inadequately, management of water resources will jeopardize progress on poverty reduction targets and sustainable development in all economic, social and environmental dimensions. Adaptation to climate change is urgent. Water plays a pivotal role in it, but the political world has yet to recognize this notion.

Seminário internacional de revitalização de rios

Evento acontece de 10 a 12 de maio, em Belo Horizonte (MG)

Estão abertas as inscrições para o II Seminário Internacional de Revitalização de Rios (Brasil - Coreia do Sul - EUA - União Europeia). Promovido pelo Sistema Estadual de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Hídricos (Sisema) e Projeto Manuelzão da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), o encontro acontece entre os dias 10 e 12 de maio, em Belo Horizonte.

O evento faz parte de um projeto de criação de um movimento internacional pela revitalização de rios e tem como objetivo contribuir para o intercâmbio de projetos desenvolvidos em diferentes pontos do planeta, dando continuidade também às ações do projeto de Minas Gerais "Meta 2010".

"Será uma oportunidade para avaliar o que já foi feito, analisado de forma comparativa com outras experiências e pensar ações para a sua continuidade, buscando o aprimoramento das ações em prol da revitalização do rio das Velhas", ressalta Myriam Mousinho, coordenadora executiva da Meta 2010.

O encontro será também uma oportunidade para debater modelos e conceitos diferentes de gestão das águas nas bacias hidrográficas, nas cidades e no campo, com apresentação de novos paradigmas, além de conhecer outras práticas de revitalização de rios no mundo, promover intercâmbio e fomentar novas iniciativas.

As inscrições deverão ser feitas mediante depósito bancário em nome do Instituto Guaicuy (Projeto Manuelzão): Banco do Brasil, nº 001, Agência Saúde, nº 3609-9, conta corrente 13322-1, até 7 de maio ou até que as vagas tenham sido totalmente preenchidas.

Para enviar a inscrição basta entrar no endereço eletrônico do Projeto Manuelzão: www.manuelzao.ufmg.br

A inscrição será efetivada após o envio do comprovante de depósito pelo fax (31) 3915-1917 ou pelo e-mail participativo@meioambiente.mg.gov.br
(Assessoria de Comunicação do Sisema)

Cadê a água que estava aqui?

Fonte: Caderno especial sobre o dia mundial da água publicado no Estado de São Paulo

"No Dia Mundial da Água, analisamos o desafio do abastecimento em grandes cidades do mundo e as iniciativas para enfrentar o problema"

http://www.clipnaweb.com.br/wwf/consulta/materia.asp?mat=3131

Navios-tanque traficam água de rios da Amazônia

Fonte: http://www.envolverde.com.br
Por Chico Araújo, da Agência Amazônia

BRASÍLIA – É assustador o tráfico de água doce no Brasil. A denúncia está na revista jurídica Consulex 310, de dezembro do ano passado, num texto sobre a Organização Mundial do Comércio (OMC) e o mercado internacional de água. A revista denuncia: “Navios-tanque estão retirando sorrateiramente água do Rio Amazonas”. Empresas internacionais até já criarem novas tecnologias para a captação da água. Uma delas, a Nordic Water Supply Co., empresa da Noruega, já firmou contrato de exportação de água com essa técnica para a Grécia, Oriente Médio, Madeira e Caribe.

Conforme a revista, a captação geralmente é feito no ponto que o rio deságua no Oceano Atlântico. Estima-se que cada embarcação seja abastecida com 250 milhões de litros de água doce, para engarrafamento na Europa e Oriente Médio. Diz a revista ser grande o interesse pela água farta do Brasil, considerando que é mais barato tratar águas usurpadas (US$ 0,80 o metro cúbico) do que realizar a dessalinização das águas oceânicas (US$ 1,50).

Há trás anos, a Agência Amazônia também denunciou a prática nefasta. Até agora, ao que se sabe nada de concreto foi feito para coibir o crime batizado de hidropirataria. Para a revista Consulex, “essa prática ilegal, no então, não pode ser negligenciada pelas autoridades brasileiras, tendo em vida que são considerados bens da União os lagos, os rios e quaisquer correntes de água em terrenos de seus domínio (CF, art. 20, III).

Outro dispositivo, a Lei nº 9.984, de 17 de julho de 2000, atribui à Agência Nacional de Águas (ANA), entre outros órgãos federais, a fiscalização dos recursos hídricos de domínio da União. A lei ainda prevê os mecanismos de outorga de utilização desse direito. Assinado pela advogada Ilma de Camargos Pereira Barcellos, o artigo ainda destaca que a água é um bem ambiental de uso comum da humanidade. “É recurso vital. Dela depende a vida no planeta. Por isso mesmo impõe-se salvaguardar os recursos hídricos do País de interesses econômicos ou políticos internacionais”, defende a autora.

Segundo Ilma Barcellos, o transporte internacional de água já é realizado através de grandes petroleiros. Eles saem de seu país de origem carregados de petróleo e retornam com água. Por exemplo, os navios-tanque partem do Alaska, Estados Unidos – primeira jurisdição a permitir a exportação de água – com destino à China e ao Oriente Médio carregando milhões de litros de água.

Nesse comércio, até uma nova tecnologia já foi introduzida no transporte transatlântico de água: as bolsas de água. A técnica já é utilizada no Reino Unido, Noruega ou Califórnia. O tamanho dessas bolsas excede ao de muitos navios juntos, destaca a revista Consulex. “Sua capacidade [a dos navios] é muito superior à dos superpetroleiros”. Ainda de acordo com a revista, as bolsas podem ser projetadas de acordo com necessidade e a quantidade de água e puxadas por embarcações rebocadoras convencionais.

Há seis anos, o jornalista Erick Von Farfan também denunciou o caso. Numa reportagem no site eco21 lembrava que, depois de sofrer com a biopirataria, com o roubo de minérios e madeiras nobres, agora a Amazônia está enfrentando o tráfico de água doce. A nova modalidade de saque aos recursos naturais foi identificada por Farfan de hidropirataria. Segundo ele, os cientistas e autoridades brasileiras foram informadas que navios petroleiros estão reabastecendo seus reservatórios no Rio Amazonas antes de sair das águas nacionais.

Farfan ouviu Ivo Brasil, Diretor de Outorga, Cobrança e Fiscalização da Agência Nacional de Águas. O dirigente disse saber desta ação ilegal. Contudo, ele aguarda uma denúncia oficial chegar à entidade para poder tomar as providências necessárias. “Só assim teremos condições legais para agir contra essa apropriação indevida”, afirmou.

O dirigente está preocupado com a situação. Precisa, porém, dos amparos legais para mobilizar tanto a Marinha como a Polícia Federal, que necessitam de comprovação do ato criminoso para promover uma operação na foz dos rios de toda a região amazônica próxima ao Oceano Atlântico. “Tenho ouvido comentários neste sentido, mas ainda nada foi formalizado”, observa.

Os três mitos sobre a Água

Em um comentário recentemente publicado por Jerald Schnoor na revista Environmental Science and Technology, três mitos sobre a água no planeta são expostos:

• A água é um recurso estático
• A água é um recurso renovável
• Nós poderemos sempre desalinizar a água do mar para obter mais água

Leia o artigo completo AQUI.

Paper Sensor for Environmental Toxin Detection Competitive with ELISA

Nano Lett., 2009, 9 (12), pp 4147–4152 DOI: 10.1021/nl902368r
Abstract:

Safety of water was for a long time and still is one of the most pressing needs for many countries and different communities. Despite the fact that there are potentially many methods to evaluate water safety, finding a simple, rapid, versatile, and inexpensive method for detection of toxins in everyday items is still a great challenge. In this study, we extend the concept of composites, impregnated porous fibrous materials, such as fabrics and papers, by single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), toward very simple but high-performance biosensors. They utilize the strong dependence of electrical conductivity through nanotubes percolation network on the width of nanotube−nanotube tunneling gap and can potentially satisfy all the requirements outlined above for the routine toxin monitoring. An antibody to the microcystin-LR (MC-LR), one of the common culprits in mass poisonings, was dispersed together with SWNTs. This dispersion was used to dip-coat the paper rendering it conductive. The change in conductivity of the paper was used to sense the MC-LR in the water rapidly and accurately. The method has the linear detection range up to 10 nmol/L and nonlinear detection up to 40 nmol/L. The limit of detection was found to be 0.6 nmol/L (0.6 ng/mL), which satisfies the strictest World Health Organization standard for MC-LR content in drinking water (1 ng/mL) and is comparable to the detection limit of the traditional ELISA method of MC-LR detection, while drastically reducing the time of analysis by more than an order of magnitude, which is one of the major hurdles in practical applications. Similar technology of sensor preparation can also be used for a variety of other rapid environmental sensors.

Small increase in CO2 can have a major impact on global climate

Most climate models consider only short-term processes such as cloud and sea-ice formation when assessing Earth's sensitivity to greenhouse-gas forcing. Mounting evidence indicates that the response could be stronger if boundary conditions change drastically.

In the Early Pliocene, three to five million years ago, global temperatures were about 3–4° C warmer than today in the low latitudes, and up to 10° C warmer nearer the poles1, 2. Climate simulations and reconstructions of this relatively recent period (geologically speaking) may help constrain realistic magnitudes of future warming3. Under commonly assumed greenhouse forcing scenarios, atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations of 500–600 ppmv — roughly twice the preindustrial level — would be required to produce the climate of the Pliocene. Writing in Nature Geoscience, Pagani et al. and Lunt et al. suggest that much lower carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere governed the Early Pliocene warm period, with potentially dire implications for the long-term future of the planet.

The Facts About Bottled Water

Source: http://www.onlineeducation.net/bottled_water/

Paying for open access? Institutional funding streams and OA publication charges

An increasing number of research funders are introducing open access (OA) policies. At the same time, publishers are introducing OA publication options. Research institutions need to consider how to respond to these developments, including the possible introduction of institutionally co-ordinated funds for payment of OA publication charges. This paper describes the international background to the issue of institutional OA funds and summarizes the current UK situation, presenting recently gathered data from UK institutions. It then reports on work carried out by the University of Nottingham to introduce and manage an institutional OA fund. Early usage data of the Nottingham fund are presented. The paper outlines lessons learned from the Nottingham experience, then goes on to suggest a number of ways in which institutions and other agencies can take developments forward.

Doenload the article of Stephen Pinfield here.

Biocombustíveis podem liberar mais gases de efeito estufa do que combustíveis fósseis

Dois artigos recentemente publicados na revista Science jogaram um balde de água fria sobre a promessa dos biocombustíveis de segunda geração derivados da celulose (partes lenhosas das plantas).

Um dos estudos foi feito por Jerry Melillo do Laboratório de Biologia Marinha de Woods Hole, que já desenvolveu pesquisas no Brasil. Este estudo sugere que as mudanças na forma como usamos a terra em conseqüência de cultivo para os biocombustíveis não são levadas em conta -- se fossem, seria mostrado que os biocombustíveis na realidade causam a liberação de mais gases de efeito estufa do que os combustíveis fósseis. As emissões de óxido nitroso com o aumento da utilização de adubos são uma grande parte deste problema.

No segundo artigo, Timothy Searchinger da Universidade de Princeton e um grupo de colegas de apontam falhas na maneira que as emissões de carbono são contabilizadas. Os autores comentam que  a afirmação de que os combustíveis feitos a partir de biomassa podem ser contados como carbono neutro é errada.

Leia os artigos científicos aqui:

Melillo, J.M. et al. 2009. Indirect Emissions from Biofuels: How Important? DOI: 10.1126/science.1180251

Searchinger, T.D. et al 2009. Fixing a Critical Climate Accounting Error. DOI: 10.1126/science.1178797

Leia o artigo original completo de Katharine Sanderson aqui.

Daphnia Genomics Consortium (DGC) Meeting 2010

First announcement:

When: 26th trough 30th of March, 2010
Where: Leuven, Belgium

http://bio.kuleuven.be/DGCmeeting2010.html

The Daphnia Genomics Consortium (DGC) is an international network of scientists with a common goal to foster the freshwater crustacean Daphnia as a premier model system for genomics in ecology, evolution and the environmental sciences.

This meeting aims to bring together the members of the consortium at large, to facilitate the exchange of information on recent developments and results obtained from the ongoing investigations into the genome biology of Daphnia. Additionally, we welcome researchers working with Daphnia who are not yet DGC participants and researchers working with other model or non-model organisms in the field of ecological genomics.

The DGC meeting will have a significant impact on the future development of the research groups involved in the consortium. By this time, we will have finalized our initial investigations of the draft D. pulex genome sequence, and we will begin the work of exploring data obtained from the D. magna genome sequencing project. This upcoming meeting continues the tradition of also promoting collaborations between researchers working within related disciplines, including limnology, ecotoxicology, quantitative and population genetics, systematics, molecular biology and evolution, developmental biology, genomics and bioinformatics.

The meeting will have plenary lectures from keynote speakers in several research fields related to Daphnia and other organisms, and will offer young investigators the chance to discuss their research with more experienced senior researchers in a relaxed atmosphere.

Our meeting is organized as a series of symposia touching on several research topics:

• Ecology & Evolutionary Genomics
• Toxicology & Environmental Genomics of Natural and Human Stressors
• Genotype by Environment Interactions
• Comparative Genomics & Development
• Gene Expression and Gene Function

Plan to also learn about the latest open source bioinformatic and high-throughput research tools, including databases, expression and genotyping microarrays, mapping panels for trait locus mapping, molecular genetic protocols and services.

The venue is at the five century-old Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, in Belgium. Leuven is a beautiful medieval town that combines a rich historical patrimonium with a cheerful, flourishing city culture and a creative atmosphere for lively exchanges and debates.

Registration begins on November 15, 2009

Abstracts for poster and platform presentations are due by January 15, 2010.

Details for registration will be sent with the second announcement and at the following web-page:

http://bio.kuleuven.be/DGCmeeting2010.html

We look forward to welcoming you in Leuven

The local organization committee (Luc De Meester, Luisa Orsini, Ellen Decaestecker, Kevin Pauwels, Mieke Jansen, Joost Vanoverbeke) and the co-organizers (Dries Knapen and Wim De Coen (University of Antwerp), Karel De Schamphelaere and Colin Janssen (University of Gent), and John Colbourne (Indiana University)

Crustacean Collections from the Amazon Region

The Crustacean Collections from the Amazon Region (CCRUSTAM) website (http://www.biodiversidadeamazonica.net/crustaceos) is part of the Amazonian Biodiversity Portal (http://www.biodiversidadeamazonica.net), which gathers distinct projects and iniciatives dedicated to the dissemination of data and information about the fauna and flora of the Amazon Region.

The aim of the CCRUSTAM website is to provide access to the records of the collections from institutions that keep specimens of crustacean from the Amazon Region. In this first version, it encopasses the collections from five Brazilian institutions: Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia – INPA (Manaus), Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi – MPEG (Belém), Instituto de Pesquisas Científicas e Tecnológicas do Estado do Amapá – IEPA (Macapá), Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo – MZUSP (São Paulo) e o Museu Nacional da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro – MN/UFRJ (Rio de Janeiro). Other institutions that have Amazonian crustaceans in their collections are invited to joint this initiative.

The CCRUSTAM website was elaborated within the scope of the Research Program in Biodiversity of the Brazilian Ministery of Science and Technology – MCT and had financial support from the MCT and the National Council for Scientific and Technological Develpment – CNPq (http://www.cnpq.br).

This is a first version and, therefore, mistakes and inconsistencies may be found. Please, read carefully the terms and conditions of use of the database. Communication of any errors or inconsistencies to the respective curator will be much welcome. This first version is in Portuguese only; an English version will be released soon.

For more information, please contact Dr. Célio Magalhães from the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia

Growing water needs, mismanagement leading to 'catastrophic decline' in freshwater biodiversity

The world will miss its agreed target to stem biodiversity loss by next year, according to experts convening in Cape Town for a landmark conference devoted to biodiversity science.

The goal was agreed at the 6th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in April 2003. Some 123 world ministers committed to “achieve, by 2010, a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the local, national and regional levels, as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth.”

Georgina Mace of Imperial College, London, says that “Biodiversity is fundamental to humans having food, fuel, clean water and a habitable climate. [...] Since 1992, even the most conservative estimates agree that an area of tropical rainforest greater than the size of California has been converted mostly for food and fuel. Species extinction rates are at least 100 times those in pre-human times and are expected to continue to increase.” She adds, “the situation is not hopeless. There are many steps available that would help but we cannot dawdle. Meaningful action should have started years ago. The next best time is now.”

Silent crisis: freshwater species “the most threatened on Earth”

Massive mismanagement and growing human needs for water are causing freshwater ecosystems to collapse, making freshwater species the most threatened on Earth with extinction rates 4 to 6 times higher than their terrestrial and marine cousins, according to conference experts.

Klement Tockner of the Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Berlin says that while freshwater ecosystems cover only 0.8% of the earth’s surface, they contain roughly 10% of all animals, including more than 35% of all vertebrates.

“There is clear and growing scientific evidence that we are on the verge of a major freshwater biodiversity crisis,” says Prof. Tockner. “However, few are aware of the catastrophic decline in freshwater biodiversity at both local and global scale. Threats to freshwater biodiversity have now grown to a global scale.”

The human implications of this trend are “immense,” he adds, because freshwater species in rivers, lakes, ground waters, and wetlands provide a diverse array of vital natural services – more than any other ecosystem type.

The problem puts billions of people at risk as biodiversity loss affects water purification, disease regulation, subsistence agriculture and fishing. Some experts predict that by 2025 not a single Chinese river will reach the sea except during floods with tremendous effects for coastal fisheries in China.

Prof. Tockner says freshwater ecosystems and their species also absorb and bury an significant volume of the planet’s carbon — about 200 million tonnes, or almost 3% of the carbon humans add annually to the atmosphere.

“Although small in area, these freshwater aquatic systems can affect regional carbon balances,” he says. “Freshwater ecosystems will be the first victims of both climate change and rising demands on water supplies. And the pace of extinctions is quickening – especially in hot spot areas around the Mediterranean, in Central America, China and throughout Southeast Asia.”

“Despite their pivotal ecological and economic importance, freshwater ecosystems have not been of primary concern in policy making,” adds Prof. Tockner. “Only recently did the European Union take the initiative to improve this situation through the EC Biodiversity Strategy. And in the U.S., recent Supreme Court decisions have made wetlands and small streams more vulnerable to loss.

Read the complete article HERE.

Descoberto como peixes elétricos controlam o "choque"

Alguns peixes de água doce presentes na América do sul e central são capazes geram eletricidade. Os campos elétricos são utilizados por estes peixes para navegação, luta e para atrair parceiros. Entretanto, a geração de eletricidade por estes peixes pode atrair predadores, além de requer um alto investimento energético. Por isso estes peixes são capazes de controlar os sinais elétricos que emitem para cima ou para baixo de forma bastante rápida.

Uma recente publicação na PLoS Biology de 29 de setembro, pesquisadores americanos investigaram como peixes elétricos regulam seus campos elétricos. De acordo com o artigo, a alteração dos impulsos elétricos é feita na forma de canais de sódio em membranas das células especiais (chamadas electrócitos) dentro dos órgãos elétricos. Quando mais canais de sódio estão presentes na membrana celular, maior o impulso elétrico emitido. Os pesquisadores também observaram que o processo está sob controle endócrino, apresenta variações circadianas (dia-noite) e que os campos elétricos podem mudar rapidamente durante encontros sociais.

Leia o artigo completo AQUI.

MIGRATORY FISHES OF SOUTH AMERICA - Biology, Fisheries, and Conservation Status

Edited by Joachim Carolsfield, Brian Harvey, Carmen Ross, and Anton Baer

World Fisheries Trust/World Bank/IDRC 2004
ISBN 9-68395-821-2
e-ISBN 1-55250-114-0
380 pp

Download the book free HERE.

Fish species that migrate within the great rivers of South America support important local fisheries but are little known outside their native range. This book represents the first collection of the work of local scientific experts on these remarkable fish. The authors cover the Upper Paraná, Paraguay-Paraná, Uruguay and São Francisco basins in Brazil, as well as the Brazilian and Colombian Amazon. They discuss not only the principal migratory species and their fascinating relationship with the water cycle in the rivers and wetlands, but also the fisheries they support, and their often precarious conservation status.