Atlantic flower-invertebrate interactions: A data set of occurrence and frequency of floral visits.

Encounters between flowers and invertebrates are key events for the functioning of tropical forests. Assessing the structure of networks composed of the interactions between those partners leads to a better understanding of ecosystem functioning and the effects of environmental factors on ecological processes. Gathering such data is, however, costly and time-consuming, especially in the highly diverse tropics. We aimed to provide a comprehensive repository of available flower-invertebrate interaction information for the Atlantic Forest, a South American tropical forest domain. Data were obtained from published works and "gray literature," such as theses and dissertations, as well as self-reports by co-authors. The data set has ~18,000 interaction records forming 482 networks, each containing between one and 1061 interaction links. Each network was sampled for about 200 h or less, with few exceptions. A total of 641 plant genera within 136 different families and 39 orders were reported, with the most abundant and rich families being Asteraceae, Fabaceae, and Rubiaceae. Invertebrates interacting with these plants were all arthropods from 10 orders, 129 families, and 581 genera, comprising 2419 morphotypes (including 988 named species). Hymenoptera was the most abundant and diverse order, with at least six times more records than the second-ranked order (Lepidoptera). The complete data set shows Hymenoptera interacting with all plant orders and also shows Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Hemiptera to be important nodes. Among plants, Asterales and Fabales had the highest number of interactions. The best sampled environment was forest (~8000 records), followed by pastures and crops. Savanna, grasslands, and urban environments (among others) were also reported, indicating a wide range of approaches dedicated to collecting flower-invertebrate interaction data in the Atlantic Forest domain. Nevertheless, most reported data were from forest understory or lower strata, indicating a knowledge gap about flower-invertebrate interactions at the canopy. Also, access to remote regions remains a limitation, generating sampling bias across the geographical range of the Atlantic Forest. Future studies in these continuous and hard-to-access forested areas will yield important new information regarding the interactions between flowers and invertebrates in the Atlantic Forest. There are no copyright restrictions on the data set. Please cite this data paper if the data are used in publications and teaching events.

ATLANTIC POLLINATION: a data set of flowers and interaction with nectar-feeding vertebrates from the Atlantic Forest.

Flowering plant species and their nectar-feeding vertebrates exemplify some of the most remarkable biotic interactions in the Neotropics. In the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, several species of birds (especially hummingbirds), bats, and non-flying mammals, as well as one lizard feed on nectar, often act as pollinators and contribute to seed output of flowering plants. We present a dataset containing information on flowering plants visited by nectar-feeding vertebrates and sampled at 166 localities in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. This dataset provides information on 1902 unique interactions among 515 species of flowering plants and 129 species of potential vertebrate pollinators and the patterns of species diversity across latitudes. All plant-vertebrate interactions compiled were recorded through direct observations of visits, and no inferences of pollinators based on floral syndromes were included. We also provide information on the most common plant traits used to understand the interactions between flowers and nectar-feeding vertebrates: plant growth form, corolla length, rate of nectar production per hour in bagged flowers, nectar concentration, flower color and shape, time of anthesis, presence or absence of perceptible fragrance by human, and flowering phenology as well as the plant's threat status by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classification. For the vertebrates, status of threat by IUCN classification, body mass, bill or rostrum size are provided. Information on the frequency of visits and pollen deposition on the vertebrate's body is provided from the original source when available. The highest number of unique interactions is recorded for birds (1771) followed by bats (110). For plants, Bromeliaceae contains the highest number of unique interactions (606), followed by Fabaceae (242) and Gesneriaceae (104). It is evident that there was geographical bias of the studies throughout the southeast of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and that most effort was directed to flower-hummingbird interactions. However, it reflects a worldwide tendency of more plants interacting with birds compared with other vertebrate species. The lack of similar protocols among studies to collect basic data limits the comparisons among areas and generalizations. Nevertheless, this dataset represents a notable effort to organize and highlight the importance of vertebrate pollinators in this hotspot of biodiversity on Earth and represents the data currently available. No copyright or proprietary restrictions are associated with the use of this data set. Please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications or scientific events.

Forest and connectivity loss simplify tropical pollination networks.

Mutualistic interactions between plants and pollinators play an essential role in the organization and persistence of biodiversity. The structure of interaction networks mediates the resilience of local communities and ecosystem functioning to environmental changes. Hence, network structure conservation may be more critical for maintaining biodiversity and ecological services than the preservation of isolated species in changing landscapes. Here, we intensively surveyed seven 36 km2 landscapes to empirically investigate the effects of forest loss and landscape configuration on the structure of plant-pollinator networks in understory vegetation of Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Our results indicate that forest loss and isolation affect the structure of the plant-pollinator networks, which were smaller in deforested landscapes, and less specialized as patch isolation increased. Lower nestedness and degree of specialization (H'2) indicated that the remaining plant and bee species tend to be generalists, and many of the expected specialized interactions in the network were already lost. Because generalist species generate a cohesive interaction core in these networks, these simplified networks might be resistant to loss of peripheral species, but may be susceptible to the extinction of the most generalist species. We suggest that such a network pattern is an outcome of landscapes with a few remaining isolated patches of natural habitat. Our results add a new perspective to studies of plant-pollinator networks in fragmented landscapes, showing that those interaction networks might also be used to indicate how changes in natural habitat affect biodiversity and biotic interactions.

Streptococcus agalactiae em gestantes da cidade de Campinas-SP / Streptococcus agalactiae in pregnant women from the city of Campinas-SP

Introdução: Em 1938, ao ser relacionado a três casos de sepse puerpural, o Streptococcus agalactiae passou a ter sua importânciareconhecida em doenças humanas, principalmente no período neonatal. Os Estreptococos beta hemolíticos do grupo B (EGB) pertencema família Estreptococcaceae, são cocos gram-positivos, anaeróbios facultativos, não produtores de catalase, homofermentadores eprodutores de hemolisinas. O trato gastrintestinal é o principal reservatório do Streptococcus agalactiae, podendo colonizar também otrato geniturinário. Nas mulheres coloniza a vagina e o reto. A colonização vaginal ocorre de 10 a 35% nas mulheres grávidas e, dessaporcentagem, 60% das mulheres colonizadas são portadoras intermitentes. Entre os recém-nascidos expostos a esse patógeno, 50a 75% tornam-se colonizados. É infecção grave e causadora de meningite, sepse neonatal, aborto séptico, endometrite, pielonefrite,sepse puerpural e ruptura prematura de membranas, dentre outras infecções perinatais. Objetivo Geral: Verifi car a prevalência deStreptococcus agalactiae em gestantes na fase pré-natal na cidade de Campinas, durante o período de junho de 2015 a julho de 2016.Material e Método: Estudo quantitativo, retrospectivo e de corte transversal, desenvolvido por meio de dados de um Laboratório deMedicina Diagnóstica (setor de Microbiologia)...

Introduction: In 1938, when fi rst related to three cases of puerperal sepsis, the Streptococcus agalactiae became to have recognized itsimportance in human disease, especially in the neonatal period. The group B beta hemolytic streptococci (GBS) belong to Estreptococcaceaefamily, being gram-positive cocci, facultative anaerobes, not catalase producers, homofermenters and hemolysin producers. Thegastrointestinal tract is the main reservoir of Streptococcus agalactiae, that may also colonize the genitourinary tract. In women, itcolonizes the vagina and the rectum. The vaginal colonization occurs in 10-35% of pregnant women and 60% of the colonized womenare intermittent carriers. Among the newborn exposed to this pathogen 50 to 75% become colonized. It is a serious infection that causesmeningitis, neonatal sepsis, septic abortion, endometritis, pyelonephritis, puerperal sepsis and premature membranes rupture, amongother perinatal infections. Objective: To verify the incidence of Streptococcus agalactiae in pregnant women from the city of Campinas,in the prenatal stage, during the period from...

Introducción: En 1938, al ser relacionado con tres casos de sepsis puerpural, el Streptococcus agalactiae pasó a tener su importanciareconocida en enfermedades humanas, principalmente en el período neonatal. Los estreptococos beta hemolíticos del grupoB (EGB) pertenecen a la familia Estreptococcaceae, son cocos gram-positivos, anaeróbios facultativos, no productores de catalasa,homofermentadores y productores de hemolisinas. El tracto gastrointestinal es el principal reservorio del Streptococcus agalactiae,pudiendo colonizar también el tracto genitourinario. En las mujeres coloniza la vagina y el recto. La colonización vaginal ocurre de 10 a35% en las mujeres embarazadas y, de ese porcentaje, el 60% de las mujeres colonizadas son portadoras intermitentes. Entre los reciénnacidos expuestos a ese patógeno, del 50 al 75% se han colonizado. Es una infección grave y causante de meningitis, sepse neonatal,aborto séptico, endometritis, pielonefritis, sepse puerpural y ruptura prematura de membranas, entre otras infecciones perinatales.Objetivo General: Verifi car la incidencia de Streptococcus agalactiae en gestantes en la fase prenatal en la ciudad de Campinas, durante elperíodo de junio de 2015 a julio de 2016. Material y Método: Estudio cuantitativo, retrospectivo y de corte transversal, desarrollado pormedio de datos...