Objectives: To analyze the association between age at menarche, as a measure of sexual maturation, and adult height from ten published studies. Methods: Compared published measurements of age at menarche, adult height, and within-sample relationships observed in ten studies, for women from several societies and socioeconomic backgrounds, living in the 20th century, Results: In these studies, early maturers were taller during pre-puberty, but had shorter adult height then later maturers. Late maturers experience a longer period of pre-pubertal growth and a delayed age of peak height velocity, leading to an extended overall time of growth, until adult stature was obtained. Conclusions: Improved living conditions and energy balance increase childhood growth rate, and are associated with an earlier puberty, and shorter duration of growth. In developed countries duration of growth may play an increasingly important role in adult stature.

Orientador: Fernando Roberto Martins / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-12T18:43:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dias_ArildodeSouza_M.pdf: 671371 bytes, checksum: 783000fd26b32c833785efd804fe2f1d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: Lianas possuem um papel chave na dinâmica de ecossistemas florestais, principalmente no que diz respeito aos efeitos diretos exercidos sobre os forófitos, como diminuição da taxa de crescimento e reprodução e aumento da taxa de mortalidade. Nosso objetivo foi responder a três questões principais: Espécies de árvores têm diferentes susceptibilidades à infestação por lianas? Quais características arquiteturais e de história de vida dos forófitos são correlacionadas com a infestação por lianas? Árvores com 51-100% da copa coberta com lianas apresentam diferenças em alometria e desenho mecânico (fator de segurança e esbelteza do caule), comparadas às árvores congenéricas sem infestação da copa? Utilizamos um conjunto de dados previamente coletados sobre infestação da copa por lianas em 10 fragmentos de florestas semedicíduas no município de Campinas, e acrescentamos informações sobre características arquiteturais e de história de vida para 54 espécies arbóreas. Dezoito espécies apresentaram um número de indivíduos infestados que diferiu significativamente do número médio de árvores infestadas no fragmento. Com base nesses resultados classificamos as espécies em três categorias de susceptibilidade à infestação: alta, baixa e variável. No geral, as espécies arbóreas com maior infestação por lianas foram caracterizadas por altura do fuste baixa, grande profundidade da copa, tipo de casca rugosa a profundamente sulcada e fenologia foliar decídua. Em quatro espécies, os coeficientes alométricos entre altura total e diâmetro das árvores com copas infestadas foram significativamente menores que das árvores livres de lianas, com árvores infestadas mais próximas ao limite teórico de tombamento pelo modelo de similaridade elástica. Em média, o fator de segurança (diâmetro crítico para o tombamento) foi menor para as árvores infestadas. O fator de segurança e a esbelteza do caule estiveram negativamente relacionados tanto em árvores infestadas, quanto em árvores livres de lianas, mas árvores com lianas apresentaram maior valor do coeficiente do que árvores sem lianas. Espécies diferentes têm diferentes susceptibilidades a lianas. A combinação de características arquiteturais e de história de vida em forma de síndromes, como altura do fuste, profundidade da copa, fenologia foliar e tipo de casca, muito mais que cada caráter individual, influi na susceptibilidade à infestação por lianas. O fato de árvores infestadas terem menor estabilidade em relação ao limite teórico de tombamento elástico poderia implicar em maior taxa de mortalidade em relação a árvores livres de lianas. / Abstract: Lianas have a key role in forest dynamics and processes in the ecosystem, and may reduce host tree growth rates, fecundity and survival. We address three main questions: Do tree species differ in their susceptibility to lianas? What host tree architectural and life history traits are correlated with the liana infestation? Tree with 51-100% of crown infestation shows difference in alometry and mechanical design (safety factor and slenderness) in relation to trees without lianas? We utilize a data set on liana infestation in ten semideciduous forest fragments of Campinas city, and we added tree architectural and life history traits for 54 tree species. Eighteen species had a higher or lower proportion of liana-infested individuals than the mean number of infested trees in the forest. The tree species was classified in three categories about to susceptibility: high, low and variable. In general, tree species with higher liana infestation were characterized by a low first branch height, high depth crown, bark type slightly rough to strongly fissured and deciduous leaves. In four species the allometric coefficient for height-diameter relations in liana-infested trees was significantly lower than liana-free trees, and liana-infested trees was more close to minimum diameter required to prevent elastic buckling in wooded columns. The safety factor and slenderness was negatively correlated for liana-infested trees and liana-free trees. However, liana-infested trees had higher slope for relationship between these two variables (safety factor and slenderness). Our results pointed out that the combination of tree architectural and life history traits as free bole height, depth crown, foliar phenology and bark type, more than each isolated feature, are important factors determining to liana infestation of tree species analyzed. We suggest that the lower mechanical stability of liana-infested trees could be a cause to higher mortality rates in those trees in comparison to trees without lianas. / Mestrado / Mestre em Biologia Vegetal

Ce travail de thèse explore la signification écologique des variations inter et intraspécifiques de la croissance et des traits fonctionnels des espèces d’arbres de forêt tropicale guyanaise en relation avec les conditions d’éclairement. Nous démontrons que le syndrome de traits associé à la niche de régénération (durée de vie des feuilles plus longue et surface massique plus grande pour les espèces les plus tolérantes à l’ombre) est valide pour 14 espèces non pionnières et non strictement sciaphiles. La plasticité de la surface massique exprimée au stade juvénile chez les espèces les moins spécialisées pourrait refléter une adaptation à l’hétérogénéité de l’éclairement rencontrée au stade jeune et au cours des stades ontogéniques successifs. Les analyses multivariées mettent en évidence un lien étroit entre la durée de vie des feuilles, la profondeur relative du houppier et la niche de régénération. La plasticité de la profondeur du houppier observée chez les espèces les plus héliophiles ne peut pas être interprétée comme une réponse d’évitement de l’auto-ombrage. Nous montrons qu’elle correspond plutôt à un changement des taux de croissance et de mortalité des feuilles et des branches imposé par les conditions d’éclairement et se produisant à l’échelle de la plante entière. En ce qui concerne la variabilité intraspécifique de la croissance des arbres adultes, nous avons observé une faible contribution de la compétition pour la lumière et un effet important de l’espèce. Nos résultats indiquent que ce patron de réponse résulte de la partition des espèces le long du gradient lumineux vertical et de la forte abondance d’espèces de petite taille peu sensibles à la compétition du fait de leur adaptation aux conditions lumineuses du sous-bois. La différentiation de niche de régénération et la stratification verticale des arbres adultes étayent l’hypothèse d’une partition de niche vis à vis de la ressource lumineuse dans les trois dimensions de la forêt tropicale humide. / This study explores the ecological significance of inter- and intraspecific variations of growth and functional traits found in tropical tree species of French Guiana in relation to light regime. We demonstrate that the syndrome of leaf traits associated with light -niche (longer life span, higher leaf mass per area of more shade tolerant species) holds among a set of 14 species comprising no pioneer nor any shade specialist species. Our results further suggest that plasticity of leaf mass per area expressed at the sapling stage may reflect adaptation to the spatial heterogeneity of light conditions encountered both at the sapling stage and later. Multivariate analysis provides evidence of a close linkage between leaf lifespan, relative crown depth and light-niche optimum. The plasticity in relative crown depth observed in shade-intolerant species can not be interpreted in terms of self-shading avoidance. Rather, crown depth adjustment was found to be a consequence of changes in growth rates and mortality rates of leaves and branches imposed by current light conditions and occurring at the whole-plant level. At the adult stage, our results point to competition for light making an unexpectedly low contribution to individual tree growth variations, contrasting with a major effect of species identity. We argue that this pattern of variation is likely to result from the vertical niche partitioning of species and the high abundance of small-statured species that are moderately responsive to light competition (consistent with their adaptation to understorey conditions). Light-niche differentiation of juvenile trees and vertical stratification of adult trees provide strong evidence for light niche partitioning in the three-dimensional space of tropical forests.

Bab edh-Dhra is the most extensively excavated cemetery from Early Bronze Age, Jordan. Despite thorough study, the social structure and existence of social inequality remain unclear. This was addressed using osteological evidence of physiological stress to compare between family tombs. In societies exhibiting social inequality, individuals of lower status experience higher levels of stress. Evidence of physiological stress (femoral length, LEH, metabolic disorders, periosteal reactions, cribra orbitalia, and porotic hyperostosis) was recorded using standard methods for 250 adults. The artifact counts in this study have been previously published. Differences in the frequency of stress indicators were compared using chi-square tests. The results show no difference in the frequency of stress indicators between tombs and no correlation between artifacts and frequency of stress indicators. This indicates that families at Bab edh-Dhra experienced similar stress levels and low inequality. This may be due to cultural practices, subsistence methods or lack of data.