In a context of risk of forest fire, the development of actions concerning wildfire prevention and land management is necessary and essential particularly in wildland urban interfaces (WUI). The term ‘WUI’ always includes components such as human presence and wildland vegetation. Both the hazard (probability of fire outbreak, distribution) and the vulnerability of urban areas can be characteriz...

USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-52. 2008 In: Kitchen, Stanley G.; Pendleton, Rosemary L.; Monaco, Thomas A.; Vernon, Jason, comps. 2008. Proceedings—Shrublands under fire: disturbance and recovery in a changing world; 2006 June 6–8; Cedar City, UT. Proc. RMRS-P-52. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. Rosemary L. Pendleton and...

Mucor minutus (Baijal & B.S. Mehrotra) Schipper is described for the first time from northeastern Brazil. The specimen was isolated soil of Florestas do Jussará, an upland forest fragment in Pernambuco state. In Brazil, M. has previously been only state São Paulo Atlantic Forest. occurrence Jussará presented and discussed, a detailed description illustra...

Fragmentation of tropical forests affects the viability of primate populations worldwide. A recent assessment of habitat loss in Latin America has estimated that 9.7% of extant forest was lost between 1980 and 1995 (Chapman and Peres, 2001). Forest fragmentation has many causes (e.g., human encroachment for settlements, agricultural practices, logging, and flooding, Alvarez et al., 1986; Cosson...

One and a half centuries after Darwin visited Chiloe Island, what he described as "…an island covered by one great forest…" has lost two-thirds of its forested areas. At this biodiversity hotspot, forest surface is becoming increasingly fragmented due to unregulated logging, clearing for pastures and replacement by exotic tree plantations. Decrease in patch size, increased isolation and "edge e...

Forest fragmentation affects animal population dynamics mainly by loss of habitat and disruption of animal movement. Lizard assemblages are affected by environmental changes, but, depending on their ecological needs, some species might be more vulnerable than others. The southern Amazon suffers accelerated anthropic actions replacing natural environments by farmland (crops and pasture). This re...

Costa Rican natural ecosystems are among the most diverse in the world. For this reason, we isolated strains of the entomopathogenic bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to determine their diversity, distribution and abundance. A total of 146 Bt strains were obtained from environmental samples collected from diverse natural ecosystems and life zones of Costa Rica. We recovered Bt strains from 7...

The on-going destruction of old-growth forests puts tropical forest species under great pressure because of the resulting loss of habitat. An important biotic component of these forests are vascular epiphytes, which structurally depend on trees. In human-modified landscapes potential hosts may still be present, e.g. in the form of isolated remnant trees, small groups of planted trees, in patche...

Phytophthora ramorum (Oomycetes) is an emerging plant pathogen in forests in southwestern Oregon (Curry County). Moreover, since 2003 it has been repeatedly isolated from plants in Oregon nurseries. In this study, we analysed the genetic diversity of the P. ramorum population in Oregon from 2001 to 2004 by using microsatellites. A total of 323 isolates (272 from the infested forest; 51 from nur...

Habitat fragmentation is a leading cause of extinction, with effects that may be particularly pronounced in tropical ecosystems. However, little is known regarding the demographic mechanisms underlying changes in abundance in fragmented landscapes. Using six years of demographic data collected from .6600 individuals of the Amazonian understory herb Heliconia acuminata, we calculated population ...