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1- The ecology of a population of the tropical palm tree Euterpe edulis Mart. was studied at the Municipal Reserve of Santa Genebra, Campinas (Sao Paulo, Brazil). This palm has been intensively exploited due to the quality of its heart of palm (palmito). The heart of palm corresponds to the apical meristem of the plant together with the developing new leaves. 2- The indiscriminate exploitation that this palm has been subject to over recent years in southern Sao Paulo may result in it becoming extinct in many forest fragments. The biodiversity of large animals in these forests has declined as a consequence of hunting, and the overexploitation of E. edulis has also led to a decline in the number of large frugiverous birds. The financial benefits generated by the sustainable exploitation of palmito can exceed those from a single extraction or those from forest conversion to agriculture. 3- The seed and seedling ecology of the population of E. edulis was examined. On average each plant produced approximately 1500 fruits and, there was a tendency for plants of intennediate size to be slightly more fecund. Most seeds were found in close proximity to adult plants; the distance of dispersal could be described by a negative power curve. Five species of birds belonging to the Family Turdidae were observed to feed on the fruits of E. edulis while on the tree, while subsequent dispersal along the gro':lnd was found to occur by water. The probability of surviving and growing to the next Sl~ class was inversely related to the number of seedlings. The maximum survival of seedlIngs and growth to the next size class occurred approximately 4 m from adult plants, indicating that the survival and growth of seedlings was suppressed in the immediate vicinity of conspecific adults. 4- The spatial pattern of the population of E. edulis, in the Municipal Reserve of Santa Genebra, was significantly clumped. The data indicate that the spatial distribution of individuals becomes less clumped with time as individuals develop. 5- The transition matrix analysis of the population revealed that the population is increasing at a rate of 14% year-I. The highest sensitivity was observed in the transition from size-class 1 (0-10 mm diameter) to class 2 (10.1 - 20 mm). According to the elasticity analysis, most of the value of the finite rate of population increase is accounted for by the probability of surviving and remaining in the same size class. The results from the haryesting simulations, indicate that it is possible to harvest E. edulis sustainably when harvesting is restricted to size class 6 plants (Le. reproductive adults). 6- The density-dependence observed for survival and growth of plants in the smallest size class was s~ong enough to affect the population dynamics of E. edulis. Elasticity analysis of the transItion matrix shows that the position of populations of E. edulis in G-L-F space moves towards the L apex of the demographic triangle as the density of plants increases.

Lic.-avh. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, 2007. / Härtill 2 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet, 2006. / Härtill 3 uppsatser.

Os ambientes terrestres têm sido gradativamente alterados pelo ser humano, mas a partir da Revolução Industrial, o homem começou a atuar de maneira mais intensa sobre o meio, fazendo com que as modificações ambientais tomassem proporções alarmantes, tanto em velocidade quanto em dimensão. As mudanças, como as climáticas, hídricas e biológicas, entre outras, ocorridas durante o século XX foram as maiores já registradas. As alterações ambientais associadas ao quadro demográfico do mundo contemporâneo, às condições socioeconômicas e à revolução técnico-científico-informacional que interligou o mundo, acabaram resultando em um cenário nunca vivenciado pela humanidade e ao mesmo tempo preocupante, tanto para saúde ambiental da Terra como para a humana. Se por um lado essa situação, baseada principalmente no avanço tecnológico, resultou numa verdadeira revolução nas taxas de mortalidade e na esperança de vida, por outro lado criou um ambiente que vem facilitando a emergência e reemergência de doenças, que pode comprometer o próprio futuro. Esse estudo tem por objetivo principal dar subsídios para o acesso a um conhecimento integrado, em escala global, tanto das alterações ambientais das áreas tropicais úmidas e do quadro socioeconômico dos países localizados nessa faixa tropical, quanto do surgimento e/ou expansão de quatro doenças infecciosas de caráter hemorrágico - dengue hemorrágica, febre amarela, marburg e ebola - no período de 1981 a 2005. No campo teórico-metodológico, a Geografia, mediante as suas características científicas de transitar pelos campos das ciências naturais e humanas, devido ao seu objeto de estudo, ofereceu a sustentação científica necessária para a realização, enquanto o avanço tecnológico das comunicações e da informática, associado ao processo de globalização pelo qual o mundo passa, proporcionou uma realidade de trabalho totalmente nova, permitindo a execução operacional do estudo. Foram realizados levantamentos bibliográficos e estudos sobre aquecimento global, mundo tropical, devastação das florestas tropicais úmidas, condições socioeconômicas dos países localizados nesta porção do globo e expansão das doenças citadas nos últimos 25 anos. O conjunto dos dados foi transformado em uma tabela síntese e em material cartográfico que retrata a situação atual desses países, destacando o nível das condições sócio ambientais e o risco saúde em que se encontram. / The terrestrial environments have been gradually altered by human being but from the Industrial Revolution on, this process has been even more intensive, resulting in environmental modifications of fast, huge and alarming proportions. The changes, such as the climatic, hydric and biological ones, among others, that took place in the 20th century, were the largest registered. The environmental alterations, associated to the current demographic panorama, to the socioeconomic conditions and to the technical-scientific-informational revolution - that have linked the whole world - resulted in a scenario never before experienced by humanity and, at the same time, very preoccupying for the Earth environmental health as well as for the humans. If on one hand that situation, based mainly on the technological progress, has resulted in lower mortality rates and higher life expectancy at birth, on the other hand it has also created an environment that made the emergence and re-emergence of diseases much easier to occur, so that future may be at risk. This study intend to bring up subsidies that allow for access to global integrated knowledge, not only about the environmental changes in the countries located in humid tropical areas and their socioeconomic conditions, but also about the influence of these alterations on the appearance and/or expansion of four infectious hemorrhagic diseases - hemorrhagic dengue, yellow fever, marburg and ebola - in the period from 1981 to 2005. In the theoreticalmethodological field, Geography - in face of its scientific characteristics of acting on the fields of both natural and human sciences, due to its object of studying - offered the necessary scientific support for the study accomplishment, while the technological progress in Communications and Computer Sciences, associated to the current world process of globalization, provided a new view of working, which allowed the operational execution of this study. The study was also based on bibliographical researches in world warming, tropical world, deforestation of tropical rain forests, socioeconomic conditions of the countries where the forests are placed and in the expansion of the mentioned diseases over the past 25 years. The set of data were synthesized in a table and in cartographic material that show the socio environmental conditions and the health risk of these countries.