A global map of species at risk of extinction due to natural hazards.

An often-overlooked question of the biodiversity crisis is how natural hazards contribute to species extinction risk. To address this issue, we explored how four natural hazards, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, overlapped with the distribution ranges of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles that have either narrow distributions or populations with few mature individuals. To assess which species are at risk from these natural hazards, we combined the frequency and magnitude of each natural hazard to estimate their impact. We considered species at risk if they overlapped with regions where any of the four natural hazards historically occurred (n = 3,722). Those species with at least a quarter of their range subjected to a high relative impact were considered at high risk (n = 2,001) of extinction due to natural hazards. In total, 834 reptiles, 617 amphibians, 302 birds, and 248 mammals were at high risk and they were mainly distributed on islands and in the tropics. Hurricanes (n = 983) and earthquakes (n = 868) affected most species, while tsunamis (n = 272), and volcanoes (n = 171) affected considerably fewer. The region with the highest number of species at high risk was the Pacific Ring of Fire, especially due to volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis, while hurricane-related high-risk species were concentrated in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and northwestern Pacific Ocean. Our study provides important information regarding the species at risk due to natural hazards and can help guide conservation attention and efforts to safeguard their survival.

One Health at gunpoint: Impact of wild boars as exotic species in Brazil - A review.

Wild boars have been listed among the 100 most invasive species worldwide, spreading impacts to all continents, with the exception of Antarctica. In Brazil, a major source of introduction was a commercial livestock importation for exotic meat market, followed by successive escapes and releases to natural ecosystems. Currently found in all six Brazilian biomes, with reports in 11 Brazilian states, wild boars have invaded natural and agricultural areas. Wild boars have been reportedly indicated as hosts and reservoirs of several zoonotic diseases in Brazil, including toxoplasmosis, salmonelosis, leptospirosis, brucellosis, tuberculosis, trichinellosis, and hepatitis E. Wild boars have been also associated with Brazilian spotted fever and rabies, infected while providing plentiful exotic blood supply for native ticks and hematophagous bats. Due to their phylogenetic proximity, wild boars may present ecological niche overlapping and direct disease risk to native white-lipped and collared peccaries. Moreover, wild boars may post an economical threat to Brazilian livestock industry due to restrictive diseases such as Aujeszky, enzootic pneumonia, neosporosis, hemoplasmosis, and classic swine fever. Finally, wild boars have directly impacted in environmentally protected areas, silting up water springs, rooting and wallowing native plants, decreasing native vegetal coverage, disbalancing of soil components, altering soil structure and composition. Wild boar hunting has failed as a control measure to date, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Environment, due to private hunting groups mostly targeting males, intentionally leaving females and piglets alive, disseminating wild boar populations nationwide. Meanwhile, non-government animal welfare organizations have pointed to animal cruelty of hunting dogs and wild boars (and native species) during hunting. Despite unanimous necessity of wild boar control, eradication and prevention, methods have been controversial and should focus on effective governmental measures instead occasional game hunting, which has negatively impacted native wildlife species while wild boars have continuously spread throughout Brazil.

Ergonomics and telework: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Telework has been widely studied by public and private organizations; however, in ergonomics, studies that focused on this topic are still sporadic. OBJECTIVE: Thus, this article endeavours to systematize the qualified scientific research related to ergonomics and teleworking to determine the main benefits and disadvantages and to identify the main issues addressed by authors. METHODS: A thorough research was conducted in the Scopus/Embase and Web of Science databases for this review. The following descriptors were used for the cataloguing of articles: "teleworking", "telecommuting", "telecommuters", "home office", "ergonomics" and "human factors". 36 studies were selected. RESULTS: The study highlights four relevant questions in the scientific literature: a) where is the discussion of these themes consolidated; b) what are the main descriptors related to the discussion; c) which journals and conferences establish a scientific debate on the topic; and d) what are its main advantages and disadvantages. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that telecommuting can be a valuable tool for balancing professional and family life, which helps to improve the well-being of workers; however, several factors can influence the overall remote working experience which leads to the need for companies to adopt unique strategies reflecting their unique situation.

Atlantic frugivory: a plant-frugivore interaction data set for the Atlantic Forest.

The data set provided here includes 8,320 frugivory interactions (records of pairwise interactions between plant and frugivore species) reported for the Atlantic Forest. The data set includes interactions between 331 vertebrate species (232 birds, 90 mammals, 5 fishes, 1 amphibian, and 3 reptiles) and 788 plant species. We also present information on traits directly related to the frugivory process (endozoochory), such as the size of fruits and seeds and the body mass and gape size of frugivores. Data were extracted from 166 published and unpublished sources spanning from 1961 to 2016. While this is probably the most comprehensive data set available for a tropical ecosystem, it is arguably taxonomically and geographically biased. The plant families better represented are Melastomataceae, Myrtaceae, Moraceae, Urticaceae, and Solanaceae. Myrsine coriacea, Alchornea glandulosa, Cecropia pachystachya, and Trema micrantha are the plant species with the most animal dispersers (83, 76, 76, and 74 species, respectively). Among the animal taxa, the highest number of interactions is reported for birds (3,883) followed by mammals (1,315). The woolly spider monkey or muriqui, Brachyteles arachnoides, and Rufous-bellied Thrush, Turdus rufiventris, are the frugivores with the most diverse fruit diets (137 and 121 plants species, respectively). The most important general patterns that we note are that larger seeded plant species (>12 mm) are mainly eaten by terrestrial mammals (rodents, ungulates, primates, and carnivores) and that birds are the main consumers of fruits with a high concentration of lipids. Our data set is geographically biased, with most interactions recorded for the southeast Atlantic Forest.

Pathogenic nature of Syncephalastrum in Atta sexdens rubropilosa fungus gardens.

BACKGROUND: Leaf-cutter ants are considered to be a major herbivore and agricultural pest in the Neotropics. They are often controlled by environmentally persistent insecticides. Biological control using pathogenic fungi is regarded as an alternative for the management of these insects. Here, we assess whether the filamentous fungus Syncephalastrum sp. is a pathogenic microorganism responsible for a characteristic disease in fungus gardens. We also characterise the damage caused by this fungus by evaluating physiological and behavioural responses of Atta sexdens rubropilosa subcolonies infected with Syncephalastrum sp. RESULTS: Syncephalastrum sp. fulfils Koch's postulates characterising it as a pathogenic microorganism. Ant workers recognise the infection and remove contaminated fragments from the fungus garden. Syncephalastrum sp. infection causes an interruption of foraging activity, an increase in ant mortality, subcolony deterioration and an increase in the amount of waste generated, all resulting in subcolony death. Syncephalastrum sp. also inhibits the ant fungal cultivar in vitro. The pathogenic effect of Syncephalastrum sp. does not depend on host morbidity or stress (e.g. worker mortality caused by an entomopathogenic fungus). CONCLUSION: Syncephalastrum sp. treatment resulted in progressive damage in subcolonies. The interactions among Syncephalastrum sp., fungus garden and ants offer new opportunities in integrated pest management of leaf-cutter ants. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Diet Overlap and Foraging Activity between Feral Pigs and Native Peccaries in the Pantanal.

Inter-specific competition is considered one of the main selective pressures affecting species distribution and coexistence. Different species vary in the way they forage in order to minimize encounters with their competitors and with their predators. However, it is still poorly known whether and how native species change their foraging behavior in the presence of exotic species, particularly in South America. Here we compare diet overlap of fruits and foraging activity period of two sympatric native ungulates (the white-lipped peccary, Tayassu pecari, and the collared peccary, Pecari tajacu) with the invasive feral pig (Sus scrofa) in the Brazilian Pantanal. We found high diet overlap between white-lipped peccaries and feral pigs, but low overlap between collared peccaries and feral pigs. Furthermore, we found that feral pigs may influence the foraging period of both native peccaries, but in different ways. In the absence of feral pigs, collared peccary activity peaks in the early evening, possibly allowing them to avoid white-lipped peccary activity peaks, which occur in the morning. In the presence of feral pigs, collared peccaries forage mostly in early morning, while white-lipped peccaries forage throughout the day. Our results indicate that collared peccaries may avoid foraging at the same time as white-lipped peccaries. However, they forage during the same periods as feral pigs, with whom they have lower diet overlap. Our study highlights how an exotic species may alter interactions between native species by interfering in their foraging periods.

Caracterização da saúde coletiva no Brasil segundo sua produção científica registrada no ISI / Brasilian collective health characterizathion according to its scientific production registered at ISI

Um campo de conhecimento tem características que podem mudar ao longo do tempo, variando conforme a evolução das técnicas empregadas em suas investigações e conforme as alterações do ambiente no qual ele está inserido.O estudo destas características com objetivo de fornecer subsídios para o desenvolvimento do campo é fundamental para sua existência. Uma forma de reconhecer essas características é analisar o campo através de umaabordagem cienciométrica, tomando sua produção científica como objeto de estudo. Para caracterizar a Saúde Coletiva no Brasil (SC), este estudo tomou como objeto as publicações de uma amostra de 351 docentes credenciadosnas instituições de ensino superior de Saúde Coletiva da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). Partindo das informações originadas dessas publicações, mediante análise de correspondência, análise de resíduos em tabela de contingência e a Lei de Bradford, foi possível caracterizar o conteúdo temático da SC, e mediante correlações e comparações, caracterizou-se a produtividade, a complexidade e o impacto da produção da SC. Além disso, os programas de pós-graduação de SaúdeColetiva da CAPES foram caracterizados por análise de correspondência segundo o conteúdo temático de sua produção científica, e em uma segunda abordagem foram agrupados por análise de agrupamento segundo acomplexidade de seus artigos, taxa de citação e engajamento de seus docentes, proporção de colaboração internacional, produtividade e concentração temática do programa. Os dados da produção científica tambémforam ajustados à Lei de Lotka e uma abordagem para determinar a colocação dos autores segundo seu número de publicações registradas no ISI foi estudada. Os resultados revelam que a SC é um campo que produzconhecimento relacionado simultaneamente com a clínica e com ciências básicas, saúde pública, ocupacional e ambiental, bem como com a nutrição. Além disso, a se se revela um campo cuja produtividade, complexidade eimpactosão crescentes. Foi possível identificar grupos de programas de pósgraduação que se diferenciam quanto à produtividade, taxa de citação, engajamentoe concentração temática. A produção ciéntífica da se registradano ISI não se ajusta perfeitamenteà Lei de Lotka. Foi possível estabelecer uma forma de determinar a colocação dos autores dentro do campo segundo o número de publicações registradas no ISI.