João Carlos Gomes Figueiredo

Detecting the growing season variability of terrestrial vegetation is crucial for identifying ecosystem responses to recent climate change at seasonal and interannual timescales. Plant material becomes litter through natural aging or physical damage and subsequently undergoes degradation via various environmental and biological processes. These processes are influenced by abiotic variations, such as photoperiod, variations in temperature and precipitation throughout the year, and variations in the water table level in flooded or flood-prone areas. Here, we determined the composition and dynamics of litter in a vereda (a hygrophilous ecosystem typical of the Brazilian Cerrado, characterised by the presence of the Mauritia flexuosa palm tree emerging in the wetter zones) and evaluated the relationship between this variation and abiotic variables. Thirty biomass interception collectors were installed in delimited plots. The intercepted litter was collected, weighed monthly, and stratified into the following fractions: leaf, stem, reproductive material, and debris. The deposition was compared for all months in two years (2019 and 2020), and circular analyses were performed to identify temporal patterns. To determine the influence of climatic and environmental variables on monthly litter deposition, we used multiple regression analysis. Litter production over the years varied among portions, with the leaf portion being the most representative material, followed by the reproductive material, stem, and detritus. The greatest litter production occurred from August to November, which corresponded to the last months of the driest period of the year and the beginning of the rainy season. However, neither for the total deposition nor for each stratum separately, the phenological pattern showed significant seasonality, but was related to the abiotic analysed here, mainly the water table level.

The Fundão dam breach is considered one of the most severe environmental mining disasters globally, causing widespread changes to the soils of the Rio Doce watershed, one of Brazil's most important catchments. Given the ecological importance of earthworms to soil structure and dynamics, we investigated the richness, abundance, and biomass of both native and invasive earthworm species in riparian zones along the Rio Doce to understand their responses to the altered soil conditions. Sampling was conducted in reference and impacted sites across five municipalities in Minas Gerais: Mariana, Rio Casca, Ipatinga, Conselheiro Pena, and Aimorés. We identified eight species—two invasive ( Amynthas gracilis and Pontoscolex corethrurus ) and six native (two Rhinodrilus , three Righiodrilus , including at least two undescribed species, and one Ocnerodrilidae species)—with native biomass approximately five times lower in impacted sites compared to reference sites. Furthermore, the new tailings environment altered the relationships between soil properties and earthworm abundance for both native and invasive species. These findings indicate that native earthworms are less tolerant of the disturbed soil conditions than invasive species, which may contribute to shifts in community composition. The disruption of soil‐fauna interactions underscores the long‐term ecological consequences of mining‐related disturbances and highlights the need for restoration efforts that consider belowground biodiversity.

The use of reference ecosystem inventories to guide ecological restoration is essential for monitoring the success of environmental recovery. The aim of this study was to carry out a floristic and edaphic inventory in old growth riparian forest remnants from the upper River Doce watershed, to provide subsidies for restoration programmes. The study was carried out in the municipalities of Rio Casca, Sem-Peixe, and Santa Cruz do Escalvado. The most representative families in species richness were Fabaceae, Meliaceae, Sapindaceae, Bignoniaceae, and Salicaceae. Based on the chemical properties of the soils, there was considerable heterogeneity among plots, with soils ranging from acidic to neutral (pH 3.8–6.3), with variable contents of phosphorus (0.0–7.6 mg × dm-3), and aluminum saturation (0.0–66.5%), among other factors. The co-inertia analysis showed a highly significant connection of 51.5% (p < 0.001) between floristic and edaphic matrices in tree stratum, and 46.5% (p < 0.001) between floristic and edaphic matrices in the sapling stratum. The reference ecosystems presented here suggest that action plans aimed at recovering the riparian forest should consider the edaphic conditions and its relationship with the plant community on a regional scale, avoiding the extrapolation of observed pattern of taxon-environment relationships to other regions.

Objetivo: Avaliar o sucesso da restauração de trecho de floresta ciliar do rio Pandeiros (Januária, MG) após 10 anos de implantação. Metodologia: Na área, foram implantados diferentes modelos de restauração, utilizando plantio de mudas (espaçamentos 2 m × 2 m e 2 m × 4 m), com e sem semeadura direta. Avaliou-se a regeneração natural em quatro áreas de 1 ha cada. Para isso, em cada área foram alocadas 12 parcelas de 4 m2 em dois transectos, sendo seis parcelas próximas a vegetação remanescente e seis próximas à pastagem (zonas). Nestas parcelas, foram amostrados os indivíduos e espécies lenhosas, categorizados (guildas de regeneração e dispersão) e coletadas amostras de serapilheira e solo (0-5 cm) para avaliação do banco de sementes do solo. Resultados: Nas parcelas, foram amostrados 60 indivíduos de sete famílias, 13 gêneros, 14 espécies e três morfotipos, e das amostras do banco de sementes emergiram 3.297 plântulas, distribuídas em 23 espécies, 23 gêneros, 18 famílias e seis morfotipos. Verificou-se para a o estrato regenerante maior riqueza de espécies nas parcelas próximas a mata e para o banco de sementes maior riqueza no estrato solo, além de diferenças na composição de espécies tanto para as zonas, quanto para os estratos do banco de sementes. Conclusão: A regeneração está ocorrendo e é influenciada pela proximidade da fonte de colonização, mas o processo de restauração está lento e demostra grande influência do distúrbio passado e atual na área.

Objetivo: Avaliar o comportamento fenológico de Protium spruceanum e verificar a influência de variáveis ambientais na fenologia, em uma vereda no norte de Minas Gerais. A avaliação foi realizada mensalmente, de novembro de 2016 a novembro de 2019. Métodos: Foram observados 21 indivíduos, avaliando a fenologia vegetativa (queda foliar e brotamento) e reprodutiva (floração e frutificação) que foram correlacionadas com as variáveis climáticas (temperatura, precipitação e fotoperíodo). Resultados: Na fenologia vegetativa, P. spruceanum apresentou padrão contínuo para brotamento e queda foliar ao longo de todo o período observado. Na fenologia reprodutiva, observamos um padrão sazonal, com floração concentrada nos meses de outubro e novembro, e frutificação nos meses de setembro a março. A população mostrou reprodução sincrônica no primeiro e no último ano de avaliação. A correlação apresentou resultados significativos entre as variáveis nos anos estudados. Conclusão: A população de P. spruceanum apresentou sincronia reprodutiva, e as fenofases avaliadas (vegetativas e reprodutivas) sofreram influência das variáveis ambentais locais.

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest has suffered from historical degradation and this work assessed the vegetation structure and soil quality by examining 45 plots divided in three sites in reference ecosystems from Conselheiro Pena-MG, Brazil. We recorded 28 species from 14 families in the tree stratum and 26 species from 13 families in the sapling stratum. We found a clear edaphic-floristic gradient suggesting a strong association between some particular taxa to contrasting edaphic conditions. The tree Astronium urundeuva behaved as a monodominant species, with the highest importance value (IV) in both strata (62.0% in tree, and 31.5% in the sapling strata). In the tree stratum, this species was present in 97.8% of the plots (44 out of 45). This scenario is worrying because this species occurs in a monodominant form in the middle section of the Rio Doce watershed behaving as an invasive species, preventing the colonization of other native species.

The most important condition of ecological restoration is the identification of reference ecosystems, which function as a guide for assertive practice with which biological integrity and ecosystem structure and function can be compared. For restoration and conservation projects to be effective in the current scenario of biodiversity and ecosystem services decay worldwide, it is fundamental to understand the soil-plant interactions in each environment. In this study, we evaluated the structure and composition of the flora in 45 plots, equally distributed in three preserved areas (reference ecosystems) of Atlantic Forest in the upper Rio Doce watershed, Southeast Brazil. We also tested whether differences in species composition were influenced by edaphic factors, both in the adult tree and sapling strata. In both tree and sapling strata, Fabaceae was the species-richest family, followed by Myrtaceae, and Lauraceae. The Fabaceae family also showed the highest importance value for both strata. The soils of the riparian forests were highly heterogeneous among the studied sites. Co-inertia analyses indicated a clear edaphic-floristic gradient in both tree (RV = 0.467; p < 0.001) and sapling (RV = 0.478; p < 0.001) strata, with a connection of 46.7% and 47.8% between the edaphic and floristic matrices for trees and saplings, respectively. We identified the groups of tree and sapling strata species that were strongly associated with either nutritionally richer or poorer soils on each studied site. Understanding how ecological and life-history traits of plant species relate with edaphic factors is an important step to provide scientific-based knowledge to support policies for ecosystem recovery and restoration in the stretches of the Rio Doce watershed.

Our motivation for writing this editorial is to alert the academic community about the risks of predatory publishing in Biology. By piggy-backing on the open access (OA) movement and taking advantage of the “publish or perish” culture in a system that prioritises quantity over quality, predatory publishing has grown exponentially in recent years and spread across all areas of knowledge. Thousands of predatory journals and books have emerged and (provided a fee is paid) they publish scientific papers and chapters without submitting them to rigorous peer review. Now there are even predatory meetings, which promise to accept talks and publish complete works for a fee, also without reviewing them properly. These profit-making machines can damage both academia and society, putting at risk the quality of science and public trust in it, the well-being of the population, the conservation of biodiversity and the mitigation of climate change. We show the modus operandi behind invitations to contribute to predatory journals, books and meetings and suggest ways to separate the wheat from the chaff. Finally, we discuss the need to create regulatory agencies that perform a careful and systematic evaluation of the activities carried out by publishers.

Introdução: Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus ocasiona grandes perdas econômicas nos rebanhos bovinos e seu controle por meio de carrapaticidas sintéticos enfrenta problemas de resistência, além do risco de resíduos nos alimentos e ambiente. Objetivo: Avaliar os efeitos de extrato etanólico de folhas de Mauritia flexuosa (EEF) e Mauritiella armata (EEA) em R. microplus. Método: A ação do extrato etanólico de ambas as palmeiras (EEF e EEA) sobre os parâmetros reprodutivos de fêmeas ingurgitadas foi avaliada pelo método de biocarrapaticidograma e mortalidade das larvas pelo teste pacote de larvas (LPT). A caracterização da composição química presente nos extratos foi realizada por cromatografia gasosa (CG-EM). Resultados: O EEF e EEA foram eficientes na redução da eclodibilidade larval apresentando eficácia superior a 85% nas concentrações acima de 75 mg mL-1. Entretanto, os efeitos dos extratos na mortalidade de larvas não foram significativos em nenhuma das concentrações testadas. Catequinas foram identificadas pela CG-EM nos extratos de M. flexuosa e M. armata, sendo indicado como um importante flavonoide de ação antiparasitária. Conclusão: EEF e EEA podem interferir nos parâmetros reprodutivos de R. microplus, diminuindo a infestação larval, demonstrando ser uma alternativa promissora no controle desse ectoparasito.