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Crab and soil samples were seasonally collected at four mangrove sites (Cacha Prego, CP; Ponta Grossa, PG; Ilha de Maré, IM; and Pitinga, PT) in Todos os Santos Bay, in NE Brazil. Total Cu levels in soils ranged from 2.5 to 89.4 mg kg−1, while in crab organs (muscles, hepatopancreas, and gills), Cu ranged from 20 to 1,320 mg kg−1, with the highest concentrations found in the Ilha de Maré population, where soils showed a clear Cu enrichment. Total Cu content did not explain the abnormally high Cu concentrations observed in crabs from Pitinga, where total content in soil was low. Geochemical partitioning indicated that most of the potentially bioavailable Cu was found in the oxidizable fractions, pyrite and organic matter. Pyrite oxidation during the dry season led to increased Cu bioavailability. This process was of relevance in soils of the Pitinga mangrove, where sulfide oxidation led to soil acidification and to an increase in Cu associated with the most labile fractions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: Does the presence of salt marsh vegetation affect the long‐term regeneration of the pioneer mangrove species Avicennia germinans in a degraded dwarf forest? Does immobilized coarse woody debris (CWD) affect regeneration similarly? Do larger trees suppress or facilitate intraspecific saplings? Location: Dwarf mangrove forest in the high intertidal zone on the Bragança peninsula in northern Brazil. Methods: The spatial patterns of A. germinans, the herbaceous halophyte Sesuvium portulacastrum, and CWD were mapped in three sample plots (each 400 m2) during two consecutive vegetation surveys, conducted in 2011 and 2014. Inhomogeneous Poisson and Thomas point process models were used to assess the distribution of A. germinans life‐history stages (seedlings, saplings, and adult dwarf trees), conditioned on the presence of S. portulacastrum and CWD. In addition, intraspecific interactions between trees and regeneration were assessed based on crown projection mapping. Bivariate point pattern analyses were used to assess the dependence of advance regeneration on dwarf A. germinans trees and S. portulacastrum. Results: Avicennia germinans saplings and trees were positively associated with S. portulacastrum and CWD, whereas seedlings were located around tree crowns. The density of fruit‐bearing trees was positively associated with sapling density, indicating that regeneration relied on locally dispersed propagules. Conclusions: Herbaceous vegetation and CWD have an important ecological function in degraded mangroves by retaining tidally dispersed propagules. Here, we show that herbaceous vegetation does not suppress the growth of seedlings but facilitates mangrove recolonization. Due to limited tidal dispersal, regeneration relies on local propagule supply. In addition to hydrological restoration, the observed vegetation patterns suggest that, in the absence of propagule‐retaining vegetation, restoration of high‐intertidal mangroves can be facilitated by establishing nuclei of planted trees and installing secured logs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lima, N. G.B, Galvani, E., Falcão, R. M. and Cunha-Lignon, M., 2013. Air temperature and canopy cover of impacted and conserved mangrove ecosystems: a study of a subtropical estuary in Brazil. In: Conley, D.C., Masselink, G., Russell, P.E. and O'Hare, T.J. (eds.) The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the variation of air temperature between impacted and conserved mangrove areas by monitoring the microclimate and canopy cover of mangrove forests in the southern coast of São Paulo State, Brazil. Data were collected from September 2011 to August 2012 using meteorological towers installed below the canopy at a height of 2 m. Hemispherical photographs were processed to acquire the canopy opening and Leaf Area Index, which quantifies the area with leaves, trunks and branches. The mangrove vegetation structure was characterized in permanent plots located in conserved and impacted areas. All plants were identified and described. Evaluations of the temperature data using Pearson linear correlation, T Paired and Wilcoxon tests with a significance level of 5% indicated a 94% correlation with r = 0.973. The vegetation was dominated by Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove) in both areas. The conserved mangrove forest presented a continuous recruitment of red mangrove seedlings and saplings, whereas the impacted mangrove forest was characterized by mangrove associate species and aquatic macrophytes, indicating environmental alteration. The absolute maximum temperatures recorded in the impacted and conserved mangrove forests were 36.1°C and 35.6°C, respectively. Moreover, the minimum recorded temperatures in the impacted and conserved mangroves were 8.6°C and 9.7°C, respectively. These results indicate that the temperature amplitudes are lower in the conserved mangrove (25.9°C) than in the impacted mangrove (27.5°C) and that the conservation status of the mangrove canopy contributes to the temperature variation in this environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the condition factor and size versus weight of the crab Goniopsis cruentata. Condition factor is described as an indicator of a specie's general well-being or fatness related to the environment suitability. A total of 626 individual crabs from the Mundaú/Manguaba estuarine complex, Maceió in Alagoas, Northeast Brazil were collected and analyzed and separated by sex. Males were found to be larger and heavier than females. Females were found to have a higher condition factor than males, which was attributed to the gonad weight of females. For both sexes, condition factor also varied by seasons with males higher in autumn and winter and females higher in autumn and spring.

Two new species of Dexosarcophaga Townsend (Diptera: Sarcophagidae) are described, both from the coastal zone of the Brazilian Amazon: Dexosarcophaga salgada sp. nov. and Dexosarcophaga klycyae sp. nov., (© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.)