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Invasive species pose significant threats to ecosystems and biodiversity, necessitating effective management strategies to mitigate their impacts. One such invasive species of concern is the wild boar in Brazil, which has the potential to cause widespread environmental changes. A national plan for monitoring and controlling invasive species, including the wild boar, was developed in response to this threat. Despite this initiative, uncertainties persist regarding the presence of wild boars in protected areas (PAs) and the effectiveness of current management actions. This study intends to diagnose the situation of wild boars in protected areas within the southern region of Brazil, specifically focusing on their distribution, management techniques employed, and reasons for the lack of management actions. An online questionnaire was sent to 297 PAs, with 134 responding. The findings revealed that wild boars were present in 36 surveyed PAs, but management efforts were only being carried out in 14 of them. Cages and corrals were identified as the most commonly used techniques, with corn serving as the preferred bait. The study identified two primary reasons for the lack of management actions: the wild boar's low invasion intensity and management capacity limitations. To address these challenges effectively, this study advocates for a centralized organization of management actions and emphasizes the development of materials and resources to support successful management strategies. Implementing these measures is essential to safeguard the conservation of ecosystems and vulnerable species in Brazil's protected areas and ensure the long-term resilience of these valuable ecological assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how Brazilian schoolchildren identified, classified, and labeled foods and beverages. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 133 schoolchildren aged 7 to 10 years old from a public school located in southern Brazil in 2015. A set of cards with pictures of 32 food and beverage items from the web-based Food Intake and Physical Activity of Schoolchildren tool (Web-CAAFE) were used. Participants identified each item, formed groups for them based on similarity, and assigned labels for those groups. Student's t -tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests were used to verify the mean difference between the groups of items. K-means cluster analysis was applied to identify similar clusters. Schoolchildren made an average of 9.1 piles of foods and beverages that they thought were similar (±2.4) with 3.0 cards (±1.8) each. Five groups were identified: meats, snacks and pasta, sweets, milk and dairy products, and fruits and vegetables. The most frequently used nomenclature for labeling groups was taxonomic-professional (47.4%), followed by the specific food item name (16.4%), do not know/not sure (13.3%), and evaluative (health perception) (8.8%). The taxonomic-professional category could be applied to promote improvements in the identification process of food and beverage items by children in self-reported computerized dietary questionnaires.