The aboveground wood biomass (AWB) of tropical forests plays an important role in the global carbon cycle, and local AWB estimates provide essential data that enable the extrapolation of biomass stocks to ecosystem or biome-wide carbon cycle modelling. Few AWB estimates exist in Neotropical freshwater floodplains, where tree species distribution and forest structure depend on the height and duration of periodic inundations. We investigated tree species composition, forest structure, wood specific gravity, and AWB of trees ≥10 cm dbh in 16 plots totalling an area of 1 ha in a seasonally inundated riparian forest of the lower Miranda River, southern Pantanal, Brazil. The 443 tree individuals belonged to 46 species. Four species (Inga vera, Ocotea suaveolens, Tabebuia heptaphylla and Cecropia pachystachya) comprised more than 50% of the Total Importance Values (TIV), and floristic similarities between the plots averaged 38%. Although we detected an overall increase in species diversity correlated with decreasing flood levels, the most important tree species had almost identical distribution patterns Folia Geobot (2008) /ha), and the tree heights averaged 10.9±1.4 m. Multiplying the individual basal areas by individual tree heights and a form factor of 0.6, we estimated the aboveground wood volume (AWV) for each individual, and for each plot (24.4±11.7 m 3 , 391.1±188 m 3 /ha). Wood specific gravity (SG) varied between 0.39 g/cm 3 (Cecropia pachystachya) and 0.87 g/cm 3 (Tabebuia heptaphylla), with a stand level average of 0.63±0.12 g/cm 3 . Multiplying the individual AWV with species SG, we estimated the plot AWB to be 16.2±6.4 Mg (259.4±102 Mg/ha). This value is comparable to that reported for late-successional forest stands of Amazonian floodplain forests, and it is close to the worldwide tropical average AWB. Because tree heights in the present forest were comparatively low when compared to other Neotropical forests, we found that resprouting of stems accounted for comparatively high basal areas. We argue that stem resprouting is an adaptation of tree species originating in non-flooded Cerrado to the seasonal inundations of riparian forests.

The dietary compositions of two sit-and-wait lizard species, Hemidactylus mabouia and Phyllopezus pollicaris, which co-occur over rocky substrate and vertical rock walls in a perianthropic area of western Brazil, were described. Both species showed a generalist feeding pattern, feeding mainly on insects. The most frequent prey items in the diet of P. pollicaris were Coleoptera, Araneae and Homoptera whereas the most important were Coleoptera and Homoptera, respectively. For H. mabouia the most frequent prey items were Araneae followed by Coleopterae and Hemiptera, whereas the most important items were H. mabouia followed by Formicidae and Hemiptera. Our identification into broader prey-types categories (i.e., order or family-level) suggests that some degree of food resource partitioning may occur, possibly through the occupation of different temporal niches.

Abstract—Aspidosperma (Apocynaceae) is composed of trees and shrubs; the genus includes 70 species, 42 of which occur in Brazil. The midwestern region has the second highest diversity, with 30 species, after the northern region, and Mato Grosso do Sul state has 15 species. This study provides macroscopic and microscopic wood features for ten species from A. section Aspidosperma and A. section Pungentia (Apocynaceae) from Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil. These characteristics can aid in the identification of Aspidosperma species because the nine species of these two sections have many morphological similarities; moreover, the wood of these species is economically important for timber production. Through macroscopic and microscopic analysis procedures, the characteristics of the wood and the organoleptic properties allowed recognition and distinction of the studied taxa. The characters of diagnostic value for recognition of the sections are vessel frequency and arrangement, and ray width. Individually, each species had a set of characteristics that allowed its identification: wood color; vessel arrangement; vessel length; ray visibility, ray composition and width; presence of crystals, starch grains and lipids in axial and/or ray parenchyma cells. The results may support conscientious exploitation by industries by facilitating the correct identification of the species, and will also help in the detection of illegal timber logging.

We present an annotated list of anuran species found in the Parque Municipal de Piraputangas, a protected area of a semi-deciduous forest located in Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. Fieldwork was conducted three times per month between August 2012 and July 2013. We recorded 29 species from six families (Bufonidae, Dendrobatidae, Hylidae, Leptodactylidae, Microhylidae, and Phyllomedusidae), representing 30% of the anuran species known to occur in Mato Grosso do Sul and 50% of the anurans recorded in this state’s semi-deciduous forests. Microhylids, leptodactylids, and bufonids were associated with terrestrial substrates, whereas most hylids and phyllomedusids were found perched on vegetation. This study will fill gaps in the knowledge on the anuran fauna of the western border of the Pantanal and will serve as a basis for additional studies that are needed to understand how species respond to habitat loss or fragmentation, such as landscape conversions, commercial logging, or mining.