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Coffee is one of Brazil's main commodities. Among the goals of crop improvement, the search for drought-tolerant materials has stood out, mainly due to the water scarcity of the producing regions. The knowledge of genetic diversity and the morphophysiological analysis of plants allow the identification of genotypes with potential use in genetic improvement. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the diversity, by morphophysiological characteristics, in 173 genotypes of Coffea canephora, from populations of contrasting crosses regarding the drought tolerance of the breeding program of Incaper, and to identify the relative importance of traits, subsidizing the selection for drought tolerance, based on the factor analysis index (FAI). The experiment was conducted in three evaluation periods, under field conditions without irrigation at the Incaper Experimental Farm of Marilândia, in the state of Espírito Santo. There was great variability between and within populations, which was affected by the evaluation season. Based on the traits of greater relative importance identified in this work (LL, LW, SLA, LAR, LT, TLA, PBL, CHL, NO3−, TSP, PRO, A, and iWUE), the FAI identified the genotypes 76 × 48 − 1, 76 × 48 − 10, 76 × 48 − 16, 76 × 48 − 76, 76 × 48 − 77, 76 × 48 − 83, 76 × 48 − 90, 76 × 48 − 128, 76 × 04 − 1, and 76 × 04 − 32 as more promising, from the ideotype of lower LL, LW, SLA, and LAR, and higher LT, TLA, PBL, CHL, NO3−, TSP, PRO, A, and iWUE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Lontra longicaudis Olfers, 1818 is a semi-aquatic carnivore widely distributed in the Neotropical region. Understanding their diet contributes to an indirect understanding of their ecology and the composition of the local fauna. To this end, we analyzed 109 fecal samples and identified 238 morphological structures; these samples were collected between May 2006 and September 2007 from the Santa Lúcia Biological Station (SLBS) in southeastern Brazil. The area is intersected by the Timbuí River, which arrives at the site after crossing the urban perimeter of the city of Santa Teresa in the state of Espírito Santo. We found a predominance of fish in the otters' diets (82%), mainly cichlids (50%), which are fish with sedentary habits and low mobility levels. The crustacean Trichodactylus fluviatilis Latreille, 1828 was the third most consumed taxon; this occurred mainly during the rainy season, corresponding to the crustacean's reproductive period, when it is more vulnerable to predation. Otters exhibited a seasonal variation in their prey selectivity. Furthermore, they displayed opportunistic foraging behavior, as the most preyed fish were those with both low mobility and a high frequency in the environment, followed by fish with high mobility and high frequency, and then those with low mobility and low frequency. We concluded that the feeding habits of the otters in the SLBS are in line with the optimal foraging theory since prey selection was optimized through the balance between net energy gained and the energy costs of foraging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The state of Espírito Santo is the major producer of Coffea canephora in Brazil. Knowledge of genetic reserves is fundamental to plant breeding. Therefore, the present study characterized and analyzed the genetic diversity of 600 C. canephora accessions from the germplasm bank of Incaper based on 38 traits evaluated in 24-30-month-old plants. Further, the predominant descriptors or traits were identified, and high phenotypic variability was determined. Genetic distances for the grouped (Gower), quantitative, and qualitative datasets were 0.48, 0.61, and 0.92, respectively, with accessions 76 (Conilon) and 407 (Robusta) being the most divergent ones at Incaper. In clustering using the Tocher optimization method, 30 groups were formed, with three accessions introduced from Epamig's Robusta collection being the most dissimilar ones. Graphical dispersion analysis using the principal coordinate method revealed the predominance of three groups formed by the Robusta, Conilon, and hybrid Robusta × Conilon genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]