This study evaluated the effects of providing 3–15 kg of a soluble and biodegradable biopolymer-based enrichment material (blend of biodegradable polymers and natural fibers) to prepartum sows housed in farrowing crates. Fifteen sows were blocked by body weight and backfat thickness and assigned to three treatments: no enrichment material (CONT), 3 kg of enrichment material (BN3), or 15 kg of enrichment material with added nut...

Pathogenic fungi that cause rust adversely affect plants, including crops, affecting them differentially depending on the cultivar. This is the case of blackberry ( Rubus spp.), a member of Rosaceae, introduced in Brazil by Embrapa during the 1980s and 1990s. Given the advantageous nutritional properties of its fruits and the relatively low management costs associated with its cultivation, blackberry production has emerged as...

Aim Remote island systems with small landmasses and reliable estimates of human occupancy can be ideal models to disentangle the roles of global climatic changes and local human occupation on biota. Here, we explored this with demographic reconstructions of native, ground‐nesting bees with non‐specialised floral visitation habits to infer changes in effective population size ( N e ). Location Viti Levu, Fiji, South West Pacifi...

Aim We evaluated how native vegetation cover influences the diversity of arachnid assemblages across multiple spatial scales in major Brazilian ecosystems. Location Brazil (Amazon and Atlantic rainforests, Cerrado savanna and Caatinga dry forest). Taxon Arachnida (Opiliones, Pseudoscorpiones and Scorpiones). Methods We sampled arachnids at 120 sites using active search and litter sifting. Native vegetation cover was quantified...

Quaternary tufa carbonates from Brazil’s Potiguar Basin provide unique insights into the interplay of biogenic, hydrological, and climatic factors driving continental carbonate precipitation in tropical low-energy environments. This study systematically characterizes the depositional, taphonomic, and diagenetic features of the tufa deposits resulting from the dissolution of rocks from the Formação Jandaíra that overlie the lit...

Dominant approaches to drought and flood risk often marginalize the social and temporal dimensions of how communities experience environmental change. This study explores how three riverine communities in the Peruvian Amazon—Bajo Belén, Tamshiyacu, and El Chino—generate and act on knowledge of river dynamics to sustain livelihoods amid increasing hydrological variability. Using storytelling with 45 participants (2023–2024), an...

Rock outcrops are geological formations that harbor a highly specialized biota adapted to harsh environmental conditions that differ from their surrounding landscapes. They are globally distributed, especially in old, highly weathered landscapes, and can function as habitat islands containing high levels of endemism and distinct evolutionary lineages. Despite their ecoevolutionary importance, rock outcrops remain largely overl...

Background Integrating stem cell therapies into clinical settings faces several challenges, particularly in achieving the high cell yields necessary for attaining therapeutic doses. Preconditioning with hypoxic conditions has shown promise in enhancing the mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs)’ reparative capabilities of the central nervous system. Recent evidence suggests that oxygen concentration and exposure duration can shape MSCs...

Background and aims In highly weathered soils of central Amazonia, where nutrients such as phosphorus (P) and base cations are scarce, fertilization experiments have demonstrated above- and belowground effects on total net primary productivity (NPP). This study examined how fine root stocks and turnover responded to added nutrients over a two-year period. We predicted that adding a limiting nutrient would decrease fine root st...