Sustainability of aquaculture activity in the western region of Paraná, Brazil

ABSTRACT The objective of this work was to evaluate the sustainability of aquaculture production systems in the western region of the state of Paraná through a set of indicators, making it possible to verify whether the activity is being managed within the concept of sustainable development for aquaculture. The study was conducted in the municipalities of Palotina and Maripá, in 50 aquaculture farms. A methodology of a set of sustainability indicators was used through the application of a questionnaire and interviews on the selected farms, which allowed them to be classified according to the three dimensions of sustainability (economic, social, and environmental), as well as to determine which indicators had more influence in each dimension. A group of farms that have an economic advantage over the others was observed; this gives them a relatively lower risk when it comes to the activity. Furthermore, environmental indicators have less influence on the formation of the gradient, indicating that environmental characteristics are similar between farms, regardless of the patterns observed for economic and social aspects

Ichthyofauna of streams from the lower Iguaçu River basin, Paraná State, Brazil

Abstract The drainages of the Iguaçu River basin, as well as the main channel of the river, have peculiar characteristics resulting from geomorphological processes in this area, including the formation of the Iguaçu River Falls. This slope in the lower portion of the basin is a biogeographical barrier to many organisms. In this study was inventoried the fish fauna of streams of the lower Iguaçu River basin, evaluating possible differences in the species composition upstream and downstream of this biogeographical barrier. Sampling were conducted between 2004 and 2013, in five streams, three upstream and two downstream of the Iguaçu River Falls, using electrofishing. The nMDS analysis was run to investigate possible groupings of similar fauna between the streams sampled. The scores of this test were tested as to the significance of groupings with the Hotelling T2 test. The indicator value method (IndVal) was used to detect the distribution of species among the groups of the streams upstream and downstream of the Iguaçu River Falls. We collected 18,908 individuals of six orders, 11 families, and 40 species. Siluriformes and Characiformes had the highest species richness; Cyprinodontiformes presented the highest abundance. Considering the species recorded, 21 are considered natives to the Iguaçu River basin, including 15 endemic, wich were found only in streams upstream of the falls. Additional 18 species were verified only in the streams downstream of such barrier. Four species were common to both stretches. The axis 1 of the nMDS separated two groups: streams upstream (S1, S2 and S3) and streams downstream of the Iguaçu River Falls (S4 and S5). The indicator species analysis also indicated a distinction between the groups of streams, that were significantly different (Hotelling's T2 = 234.36, p ˂ 0.0001). The number of endemic species in the streams upstream of the Falls (15 spp.) evidences a significant effect of isolation promoted by the Iguaçu River Falls, and confirms the role of this barrier in the vicariant processes and endemism typical of this basin. These results emphasize the importance of conserving these ecosystems, once the extinction of species in this region means the irreversible loss of them

Ecomorphological correlates of twenty dominant fish species of Amazonian floodplain lakes

Fishes inhabiting Amazonian floodplain lakes exhibits a great variety of body shape, which was a key advantage to colonize the several habitats that compose these areas adjacent to the large Amazon rivers. In this paper, we did an ecomorphological analysis of twenty abundant species, sampled in May and August 2011, into two floodplain lakes of the lower stretch of the Solimões River. The analysis detected differences among species, which could be probably associated with swimming ability and habitat use preferences. © 2017, Instituto Internacional de Ecologia. All rights reserved

Validazione su campione italiano della Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale di A. Mehrabian,

Primi step della validazione italiana della Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale di A. Mehrabia

Studio della relazione tra alessitimia e tendenza empatica in un campione di infermieri italiani

L\u2019alessitimia, ripetutamente osservata in relazione a patologie psicologiche e somatiche, secondo Taylor et al. (2000) \ue8 un tratto di personalit\ue0 rilevabile anche in popolazioni non cliniche. Tale assunto, e l\u2019importanza relativa alla regolazione emotiva nella relazione d\u2019aiuto, hanno recentemente stimolato studi sull\u2019incidenza e sul ruolo dell\u2019alessitimia nelle helping professions: \ue8 risultata, ad esempio, predittore della depersonalizzazione negli operatori sanitari (Lazzari et al., 2006)