Bromeliaceae is an important botany family that includes many species with economic value; demand for members of this family is increasing. However, illegal collection frequently occurs, drastically reducing the species populations; thus, it is necessary to collect and store Bromeliaceae genetic material. In this study, we identified and quantified genetic variability of the Bromeliad family us...

The Bromeliaceae family is one of the most morphologically diverse families with a pantropical distribution. To schedule an appropriate flowering time for bromeliads, ethylene is commonly used to initiate flower development in adult plants. However, the mechanism by which ethylene induces flowering in adult bromeliads remains unknown. Here, we identified an APETALA2 (AP2)-like gene, AfAP2-1, in...

Although Nasua nasua is broadly distributed geographically and relatively common, it is still little studied. This paper reports observations of coatis in an Atlantic Forest area, the Parque Estadual Carlos Botelho (PECB) in São Paulo State, Brazil. The social structure of coatis at PECB seems to be the same related in the literature. The mating season appears to be August-September and the pup...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Epiphytism imposes physiological constraints resulting from the lack of access to the nutrient sources available to ground-rooted plants. A conspicuous adaptation in response to that lack is the phytotelm (plant-held waters) of tank-bromeliad species that are often nutrient-rich. Associations with terrestrial invertebrates also result in higher plant nutrient acquisition. As...

Tropical epiphytic plants within the family Bromeliaceae are unusual in that they possess foliage capable of retaining water and impounded material. This creates an acidic (pH 3.5-6.5) and anaerobic (<1 ppm O(2)) environment suspended in the canopy. Results from a Costa Rican rainforest show that most bromeliads (n = 75/86) greater than ~20 cm in plant height or ~4-5 cm tank depth, showed prese...

Analyses of the diets frog species in a range different habitats have shown that these amphibians feed primarily on arthropods. In general, frogs are not selective predators, but may vary their capture mode along continuum between active and passive foraging. present study, we assessed diet two bromeliad-breeding genus Ololygon (= Scinax) through taxonomic functional identification (trophic gui...

We investigated the ecology and life strategy of Glaucomides bromelicola (family Bromeliophryidae), a very common ciliate in the reservoirs (tanks) of bromeliads, assessing its response to food quality and quantity and pH. Further, we conducted competition experiments with the frequently coexisting species Bromeliothrix metopoides (family Colpodidae). In contrast to B. metopoides and many other...

An understanding of how the degree of phylogenetic relatedness influences the ecological similarity among species is crucial to inferring the mechanisms governing the assembly of communities. We evaluated the relative importance of spider phylogenetic relationships and ecological niche (plant morphological variables) to the variation in spider body size and shape by comparing spiders at differe...