C. Youlton, A. P. Bragion, and E. Wendland. 2016. Experimental evaluation of sediment yield in the first year after replacement of pastures by sugarcane. Cien. Inv. Agr. 43(3): 374-383. Sugarcane cultivation has expanded in south-eastern Brazil in the last decade, mainly for biofuel (ethanol) production. This expansion has occurred on land that was originally covered with pasture and used for livestock production. The purpose of this study is to experimentally determine the impact on runoff and erosion produced by replacing pasture with sugarcane. Runoff plots of 100 m 2 were established at a farm in Itirapina, Sao Paulo (SP), Brazil, on a hill with a 9% slope and sandy soil. An 18-year-old pasture and a new sugarcane plantation were studied. The degrees of runoff and erosion were determined after each rain event for the first year of cultivation. From 1,459 mm of annual rainfall, the pasture had lower runoff than the sugarcane cover (40.5 vs 56.1 mm, respectively). Soil erosion under pasture was lower than sugarcane, where the highest values were recorded at the beginning of the rainy season, just after cane planting. In the first year, the results indicate an increase in soil loss of almost 500% for sugarcane compared to pasture, from 0.58 to 2.58 Mg ha -1 year -1 under our experimental conditions. Overall, changing land cover from pasture to sugarcane increases soil erosion.

, we created land use/land cover maps. We then quantified the changes in composition and configuration by using landscape metrics and an adjacency matrix. By 2007, the dominant land cover had changed from agriculture to native vegetation. Residential areas showed the largest relative increase (670%) and had significant adjacency with native vegetation. The native vegetation increased by 375 ha, but the number of patches decreased by 45% and the mean patch area increased by 124%, which indicated that fragmentation decreased. The growth of tourism and the preference for "natural" spaces by new residents are suggested as the main drivers of this native vegetation recovery. Understanding the process of forest recovery may be helpful for reversing the general trend of forest loss in temperate forests of South America. This research is a first approach in exploring specific cases of native vegetation recovery and decreases in fragmentation in this Global Biodiversity Hotspot.

O uso da madeira, principalmente se tratando da madeira laminada colada, agrega versatilidade às construções, pois peças mais longas e com seções mais robustas podem ser fabricadas, apresentando boa proteção contra incêndios, além de se tratar de fonte sustentável de matéria-prima. Dentre as estruturas que podem ser construídas a partir da madeira, encontram-se as torres de escalada, comumente encontradas em países europeus. Com o auxílio das normas Eurocode 5 (2004) e ABNT NBR 7190 (1997), o presente trabalho propõe um design e a posterior verificação estrutural de uma torre de escalada constituída de elementos de madeira serrada e colunas em madeira laminada colada, cabendo destacar que as verificações devem respeitar aos estados limites último e de serviço relativos à resistência e à estabilidade, sendo dada ênfase para a verificação de estabilidade neste trabalho, estabelecendo uma comparação geral entre ambos os documentos normativos. Os resultados apontaram para alguns elementos em condição de instabilidade em flexo-compressão, sendo que a norma brasileira se mostrou menos rigorosa quanto a tal verificação.