Intraspecific Morphological Variation in the Dragonfly Erythrodiplax Media (Odonata: Libellulidae) Among South American Grassland Physiognomies.

We assessed the intraspecific morphological variation in Erythrodiplax media Borror 1942 (Odonata, Libellulidae) among grassland physiognomies ("Coastal," "Highland," and "Steppic") in the South Brazilian Campos. We measured six morphological traits (total body length, thorax height, length, and width of the fore- and hindwings) from 90 specimens (60 males and 45 females). We tested the effect of the grassland type on the set of traits using one-way MANOVA and principal component analysis (PCA) (separately for each sex).

Rapid functional traits turnover in boreal dragonfly communities (Odonata).

All natural populations show fluctuations in space or time. This is fundamental for the maintenance of biodiversity, as it allows species to coexist. Long-term ecological studies are rare, mainly due to logistics, but studies like the one presented below recognize the dimensionality of temporal change and the ecological processes that lead to shifts in community composition over time.

Odonate species occupancy frequency distribution and abundance-occupancy relationship patterns in temporal and permanent water bodies in a subtropical area.

This paper investigates species richness and species occupancy frequency distributions (SOFD) as well as patterns of abundance-occupancy relationship (SAOR) in Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) in a subtropical area. A total of 82 species and 1983 individuals were noted from 73 permanent and temporal water bodies (lakes and ponds) in the Pampa biome in southern Brazil. Odonate species occupancy ranged from 1 to 54.

How informative is the response of Ground Beetles' (Coleoptera: Carabidae) assemblages to anthropogenic land use changes? Insights for ecological status assessments from a case study in the Neotropics.

Ground Beetles (Carabidae) have been suggested to be used as indicators of ecological status under the effects of anthropogenic land use and land cover changes in highly biodiverse regions such as the Neotropics. In this study Ground Beetles' assemblages from a region in the Brazilian Amazon were investigated for evaluating their applicability as disturbance indicators. Differences in assemblages between ecosystems, discriminated by complimentary methodologies, demonstrate a sensitive reaction from the most pristine forests to increasingly disturbed systems.

[The role of cultural identities and public health services in the municipalization process taken place in recent decades on small towns of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil].

The paper presents a preliminary results of an ethnographic study in which we observe how is socially experienced the municipality process in six counties of the Forqueta Watershed in Rio Grande do Sul, where the municipal fragmentation has been used as an administrative strategy since the 1990s. Deal about cultural elements and social actions that support construction and/or reconstruction identities to define territories-county's borders. Sociological and anthropological theories have been used to think the identities and the assumption that the integration of social spaces into a territory creates the social necessity to produce a territorial identity, closely linked to a socio-political context and cultural setting.

[Quality of life of professors of higher education community institutions in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil].

Quality of life is the subjects' perception of their status in society, permeated by culture, values and everyday life and with a view to their life goals and expectations as well as the ways of thinking about life. The study investigated the quality of life of professors of higher education community institutions that have been in operation for more than 40 years and have more than ten thousand students in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. The research, with a qualitative-quantitative cross-sectional approach was conducted in August and September 2011 using a professional profile questionnaire and the WHOQQL-BREF questionnaire, in which 203 professors participated, namely 17% of all the professors in the three institutions analyzed.

Seasonal variation of energy metabolism in ghost crab Ocypode quadrata at Siriú Beach (Brazil).

The aim of this study was to analyze the seasonal variations of carbohydrate and lipid metabolism of the ghost crab Ocypode quadrata (Fabricius, 1787) on a sandy beach in the southern region of Brazil. Crabs and hemolymph samples were collected monthly in the field. Hepatopancreas, gills, gonads and claw muscles were used for glycogen determination.