RESUMEN
Body temperature (Tb) variation and environmental temperature gradients are more intense in small individuals because their body size allows for a more intimate relationship between Tb and the environment. To contribute to a methodological consensus on the ecophysiology of small ectotherms, we aimed to investigate whether different approaches and methodological techniques affect the measurement of critical temperatures in a small lizard (Coleodactylus meridionalis, Sphaerodactylidae) from the Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia, Brazil, and subsequently its vulnerability assessment. We measured two metrics of thermal physiology: critical thermal minimum (CTmin) and critical thermal maximum (CTmax). In total, four types of temperature measurements (protocols) were defined. In the first protocol, we estimated CTmax/CTmin without heating/cooling rate by directly measuring the lizard's midbody temperature. In the other three protocols, we used a ramping assay with a heating/cooling rate to estimate CTmax/CTmin in the chamber (height: 11.3 cm), substrate, and Tb of the lizard, respectively. In total 116 individuals of Coleodactylus meridionalis were collected, of which 177 CTmax and 131 CTmin were performed. C. meridionalis showed a mean CTmax of 41 °C and a mean CTmin of 8.9 °C when considering the Tb protocol, which is intermediate compared to the other protocols. The substrate temperature protocol was the closest to Tb, and for this, the best method for the small lizards using an infrared thermometer.
RESUMEN
The ecology of movement is an expanding area, marked by the diversity of analytical methods and protocols, which enables this integrative reading. We investigated movement ecology aspects of Coleodactylus meridionalis in southern Bahia, northeastern Brazil, using fluorescent powder with mineral oil to track individuals. We monitored 69 individuals of C. meridionalis that walked an average distance of 148 cm in 2h. We identified this movement as foraging due to the orientation of the step sequence and microenvironments used. We find no significant differences between walking distance and weight. However, we found a decrease in activity over the follow-up period. Most of the lizard's movements were directed north, while south, east, and west were followed equally. The individuals stayed predominantly on the ground (leaf litter), but it was possible to observe the use of other surfaces, such as trunks and burrows on the ground. Therefore, we studied the movement in three dimensions (ground height, distance traveled, and orientation of steps). We observed the lizard's foraging, one of the most common and least investigated movements in small lizards like C. meridionalis. This involves not only the species' activity schedule but other intrinsic and extrinsic factors that shape the movement decisions of individuals.
Asunto(s)
Lagartos , Animales , Lagartos/fisiología , Lagartos/clasificación , Brasil , Bosques , Polvos , MasculinoRESUMEN
Environmental heterogeneity poses a significant influence on the functional characteristics of species and communities at local scales. Environmental transition zones, such as at the savanna-forest borders, can act as regions of ecological tension when subjected to sharp variations in the microclimate. For ectothermic organisms, such as lizards, environmental temperatures directly influence physiological capabilities, and some species use different thermoregulation strategies that produce varied responses to local climatic conditions, which in turn affect species occurrence and community dynamics. In the context of global warming, these various strategies confer different types of vulnerability as well as risks of extinction. To assess the vulnerability of a species and understand the relationships between environmental variations, thermal tolerance of a species and community structure, lizard communities in forest-savanna transition areas of two national parks in the southwestern Amazon were sampled and their thermal functional traits were characterized. Then, we investigated how community structure and functional thermal variation were shaped by two environmental predictors (i.e., microclimates estimated locally and vegetation structure estimated from remote sensing). It was found that the community structure was more strongly predicted by the canopy surface reflectance values obtained via remote sensing than by microclimate variables. Environmental temperatures were not the most important factor affecting the occurrence of species, and the variations in ecothermal traits demonstrated a pattern within the taxonomic hierarchy at the family level. This pattern may indicate a tendency for evolutionary history to indirectly influence these functional features. Considering the estimates of the thermal tolerance range and warming tolerance, thermoconformer lizards are likely to be more vulnerable and at greater risk of extinction due to global warming than thermoregulators. The latter, more associated with open environments, seem to take advantage of their lower vulnerability and occur in both habitat types across the transition, potentially out-competing and further increasing the risk of extinction and vulnerability of forest-adapted thermoconformer lizards in these transitional areas.
Asunto(s)
Lagartos , Microclima , Bosque Lluvioso , Animales , Lagartos/fisiología , Pradera , Brasil , Calentamiento GlobalRESUMEN
Male researchers dominate scientific production in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). However, potential mechanisms to avoid this gender imbalance remain poorly explored in STEM, including ecology and evolution areas. In the last decades, changes in the peer-review process towards double-anonymized (DA) have increased among ecology and evolution (EcoEvo) journals. Using comprehensive data on articles from 18 selected EcoEvo journals with an impact factor >1, we tested the effect of the DA peer-review process in female-leading (i.e., first and senior authors) articles. We tested whether the representation of female-leading authors differs between double and single-anonymized (SA) peer-reviewed journals. Also, we tested if the adoption of the DA by previous SA journals has increased the representativeness of female-leading authors over time. We found that publications led by female authors did not differ between DA and SA journals. Moreover, female-leading articles did not increase after changes from SA to DA peer-review. Tackling female underrepresentation in science is a complex task requiring many interventions. Still, our results highlight that adopting the DA peer-review system alone could be insufficient in fostering gender equality in EcoEvo scientific publications. Ecologists and evolutionists understand how diversity is important to ecosystems' resilience in facing environmental changes. The question remaining is: why is it so difficult to promote and keep this "diversity" in addition to equity and inclusion in the academic environment? We thus argue that all scientists, mentors, and research centers must be engaged in promoting solutions to gender bias by fostering diversity, inclusion, and affirmative measures.
Asunto(s)
Ecosistema , Sexismo , Humanos , Masculino , Femenino , Autoria , Ecología , PublicacionesRESUMEN
Background: Terrestrial biomes in South America are likely to experience a persistent increase in environmental temperature, possibly combined with moisture reduction due to climate change. In addition, natural fire ignition sources, such as lightning, can become more frequent under climate change scenarios since favourable environmental conditions are likely to occur more often. In this sense, changes in the frequency and magnitude of natural fires can impose novel stressors on different ecosystems according to their adaptation to fires. By focusing on Brazilian biomes, we use an innovative combination of techniques to quantify fire persistence and occurrence patterns over time and evaluate climate risk by considering key fire-related climatic characteristics. Then, we tested four major hypotheses considering the overall characteristics of fire-dependent, fire-independent, and fire-sensitive biomes concerning (1) fire persistence over time; (2) the relationship between climate and fire occurrence; (3) future predictions of climate change and its potential impacts on fire occurrence; and (4) climate risk faced by biomes. Methods: We performed a Detrended Fluctuation Analysis to test whether fires in Brazilian biomes are persistent over time. We considered four bioclimatic variables whose links to fire frequency and intensity are well-established to assess the relationship between climate and fire occurrence by confronting these climate predictors with a fire occurrence dataset through correlative models. To assess climate risk, we calculated the climate hazard, sensitivity, resilience, and vulnerability of Brazilian biomes, and then we multiplied the Biomes' vulnerability index by the hazards. Results: Our results indicate a persistent behaviour of fires in all Brazilian biomes at almost the same rates, which could represent human-induced patterns of fire persistence. We also corroborated our second hypothesis by showing that most fire-dependent biomes presented high thermal suitability to fire, while the fire-independent biome presented intermediate suitability and fire-sensitive biomes are the least suitable for fire occurrence. The third hypothesis was partially corroborated since fire-dependent and independent biomes are likely to increase their thermal suitability to fire, while fire-sensitive biomes are likely to present stable-to-decreasing thermal suitability in the future. Finally, our fourth hypothesis was partially corroborated since most fire-dependent biomes presented low climate risk, while the fire-independent biome presented a high risk and the fire-sensitive biomes presented opposite trends. In summary, while the patterns of fire persistence and fire occurrence over time are more likely to be related to human-induced fires, key drivers of burned areas are likely to be intensified across Brazilian biomes in the future, potentially increasing the magnitude of the fires and harming the biomes' integrity.
Asunto(s)
Ecosistema , Humanos , Brasil/epidemiología , Temperatura , Factores de TiempoRESUMEN
RESUMO Apesar do aumento histórico da participação feminina na produção científica brasileira, reconfigurações domésticas e laborais para o controle da Covid-19 podem estar reduzindo a produtividade das mulheres cientistas. A pesquisa GenCovid-Br objetivou traçar um panorama da participação feminina nos artigos sobre Covid-19 das ciências médicas e da saúde, disponibilizados no PubMed, com ao menos um autor de filiação brasileira. Das 1.013 publicações até 14 de agosto de 2020, 6,1% foram escritas exclusivamente por mulheres; 17,2%, exclusivamente por homens; grupos mistos respondem por 31,1% com liderança feminina, e 45,6% com liderança masculina. As mulheres participam mais de artigos com primeira autoria feminina (50,1% vs 35,6% nos liderados por homens). Nos artigos de áreas da Medicina Clínica, em que as mulheres são maioria, ocorre menos participação de autoras, o que também acontece em publicações resultantes de colaborações internacionais. Os presentes resultados indicam a possibilidade de ampliação de desigualdades de gênero prévias durante a pandemia de Covid-19. Novos estudos devem aprofundar a investigação sobre a magnitude e os determinantes desse fenômeno, incluindo análises temporais. As políticas institucionais devem considerar as iniquidades de gênero nas avaliações acadêmicas, prevenindo impactos futuros nas carreiras das mulheres, em particular, das jovens pesquisadoras envolvidas na reprodução social.
ABSTRACT Despite the increasing historical participation of women in Brazilian scientific production, domestic and labor reconfiguration for the control of the Covid-19 pandemic is likely to reduce women scientists' productivity. The GenCovid-Br Research aimed to outline a panorama of female production in Covid-19 papers in medical and health sciences, available in PubMed, with at least one author with Brazilian affiliation. From the 1,013 publications by August 14, 2020, 6.1% were written exclusively by women, 17.2% exclusively by men, 31.1% were mixed with female leadership, and 45.6% were mixed with male leadership. Women participated in more papers led by women (50.1% vs. 35.6% in those led by men). Papers in Clinical Medicine, where female researchers are predominant, have fewer female authors, occurring in publications resulting from international collaborations. Our results point to the possible expansion of previous gender inequalities during the Covid-19 pandemic. New studies should deepen the investigation of the magnitude and determinants of such phenomenon, including temporal analyses. Institutional policies must consider gender inequalities in academic assessments, preventing future impacts on women's careers, particularly young researchers involved in social reproduction.