The Caatinga is one of the least known biomes in terms of structure and floristic composition, worrying aspect because it undergoes an intense process of human disturbance. With this assumption, we car- ried out a phytosociological survey of adult vegetation and natural regeneration in areas with different histories of disturbance. For a sampling of the shrub/adult tree and natural regeneration, settled in a systematic, 18 sam- pling units in each area (Habitat I and Habitat II), with dimensions of 10 x 25 m and 10 x 5 m respectively. Individuals were surveyed adults with CAP ≥ 6.0 cm, and natural regeneration measured the individuals taller than 0.5 m and CNB <6.0 cm. Habitat II in the were sampled 1155 individuals belonging to 6 families and 12 species, and the habitat I was sampled 286 individuals belonging to three families and six species. The diversity index was 1.5 and 0.23 for Nats.individual - 1 Habitat II and habitat I respectively. We sampled 636 individuals in natural regeneration, being habitat I in 360 and 276 in the Habitat II. The diversity index of natural regenera- tion for the Habitat II and habitat I were 1.21 and 0.8 Nats.individual - 1 . It was concluded that human activities were able to change the vegetation structure and species diversity in both habitats significantly.

The population density is one of the factors that affect the final yield of crops, being easily ma-nipulated by man. The objective was to evaluate the growth of castor bean plants cv BRS Energia in dense pop-ulations through primary data and non-destructive analysis of growth and identify which period greater vegeta-tive growth occurs. We adopted a randomized block design with five treatments and four replications, totaling 20 experimental units. Each experimental unit contained 4 m wide and 6 m in length, representing 24 m². Treatments involving five populations of plants 10.000; 16.666; 25.000; 50.000; 100.000 plants ha-1, with a spacing of 1 m between rows and 1; 0.6; 0.4; 0.2 and 0.1 m between plants, respectively. It was determined: stem diameter, plant height, leaf area, leaf area index and rates absolute and relative leaf growth, of stem diam-eter, of plant height and of fresh biomass epigeal. The castor bean BRS Energia has the highest rates of vegeta-tive increase between 15 and 45 days after emergence. Therefore, it is of great importance, in this period, pro-vide the plant water and nutrient conditions appropriate so that does not compromise on plant development.

The present work was accomplished with the objective of evaluating the drying effect on the peanut fruits physical properties. Peanut fruits with an initial moisture content of 0.63 decimal db were dried with a temperature of 40 ºC. Bulk density, true density, porosity, thousand - grain weight, sphericity, circularity, projected area, surface area and surface/volume ratio physical properties were determined. Based on these re- sults, it is concluded that reducing the moisture content promotes reduction in all the physical properties of pea- nut fruits, except the surface/volume ratio that have their values increased with the moisture content reduction. The circularity as sphericity of the peanut fruit values was reduced during the drying process.

This study aimed at evaluating the performance of Nelore cattle during growth classified for different classes of frame size regarding body weights and morphometric measures at different ages. Weights and morphometric measures Nelore bulls up to 1 year of age were monthly recorded. The characteristics evalu-ated were birth weight, 120, 205, 240 and 365 days of age, withers height and rump height, thoracic perimeter, distance between pin bones, distance between hip bones and chest width, depth of chest, space under sternal and hip length. Frame size scores classified as medium, large and extreme, were estimated using equations and tables according to Beef Improvement Federation (BIF). Data were subjected to analysis of variance and Tukey-Kramer test at 5% probability and analyses were performed by canonical variables and the grouping analyses of genotype by method of Tocher. The animals with larger class of frame size were heavier and morphometric measurements as well, when compared with animals classified for smaller class. The correlation between weight at different ages were higher. The weight correlates with body features positively, indicating that the weight gain of the animals increased their influence on the frame size. Cluster analysis resulted in three distinct genetic groups that have similar within the group and genetic divergence between them.

Passion fruit is one of the major fruit crops grown in Brazil, however, the state of Mato Grosso culture has much to be explored. Thus, the aim of the study was to estimate the gain of plant selection of pas-sion fruit on the quality of fruit via REML/BLUP. The experiment was conducted in the State University of Mato Grosso, in its experimental area, in Tangará da Serra, Mato Grosso. It was evaluated eight crossing of commercial cultivars. It was used a randomized block experimental design with ten replications of ten plants per plot. From the genetic value found by the REML/BLUP methodology, it was applied the Mulamba Mock selection index in order to rank all individuals, selecting the 30 plants that showed the best performance for the evaluated characteristics. The high heritability values in the strict sense of the characteristics fruit weight (87%) and fruit length (65%) indicate possibilities for individual plant selection. The selection gain aiming fresh con-sumption was high for the characteristics fruit weight (13.38%), peel thickness (4.37%) and SST/ATT relation (3.61%). For industrial production selection requires special attention to the characteristics PP, SST and ATT, but the gains for PP (1.53%) and TSS (0.95%) did not stand out, however, the selection has raised other im-portant features as EC (-7.46%), CF (3.75%) and MF (1.77%).

Several factors are involved in the formation of soil aggregates, specially chemical, physical and biological origin. The glomalin, a protein produced by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF), is one of the substances associated with soil aggregation. The aim of this study was to quantify the levels of soil organic carbon and glomalin in different vegetation types in Caatinga biome in Araripe plateau - Ceará state, and verify the relationship with aggregate stability and seasonality. Soil samples were carried out in dry and rainy seasons, in three vegetation types (Brejo de altitude, Carrasco and Cerradão) in Araripe National Forest to determine the water stability aggregate, soil total carbon, particulate carbon and glomalin. Seasonality effect was observed in the levels of easily extractable glomalin, suggesting that this fraction of glomalin is more sensitive to seasonal variations. The highest correlations were observed between the variables soil carbon and both fractions of glomalin, indicating that the protein produced by AMF is directly related to the amount of carbon, in addition to being an important component in soil aggregation of the Araripe.

This study aimed to associate two concepts of seed vigor testing, the aging and seedling growth using image analysis, providing a feasible and time-saving way to evaluate maize seed vigor in large scale. For this purpose, five seed lots with different vigor levels from two single hybrids were used. The seeds were characterized by moisture content, germination, seedling emergence, seedling emergence speed index, accelerated aging and cold tests. The treatments were composed by varying the accelerated aging periods (0, 24, 48, 72 and 96h) and seedling growth periods (48 and 72h), before submitting the seedlings to image analysis for seedling root length measurement. Considering the results obtained, the adaptation of accelerated aging test by reducing the aging duration from 96h to 48h, and the replacement of the germination test by seedling root length measurement using image analysis could be considered a potential tool for maize seed vigor assessment. The treatments composed of 48h of seed aging followed by seedlings root length measurements using image analysis provided reliable data, compared to traditional vigor tests and it could be considered an efficient and timesaving approach, associating two different concepts of seed vigor analysis.

The physical conditions of the soil are directly related to management practices and relief for- mat. Lack of proper management can lead to soil erosion and consequent degradation of these areas. Currently, studies of spatial variability analysis to enable better decisions and resolutions of such problems. The present study aimed to evaluate the spatial variability of soil water infiltration, soil density and texture in the hilly area of the degradation process. The survey was conducted in the hilly area cultivated with grassland, located be- tween Areia and Remigio, two towns from Paraíba state. The soil was sampled at the regular grid with mesh (20x20m) between sample points, making a total of 49 points, into two depths, 0 - 10 cm, 10 - 20 cm, totaling 98 samples. The analyze of spatial variability was doing by semivariogram geostatistical analysis, with data inter- polation by kriging and make maps. All of them physical attributes analyzed presents spatial dependence since no one showed pure nugget effect. It was verified through the maps that there was a very clear relationship be- tween infiltration and other soil physical characteristics, observing this correlation mainly in the upper south- west slope.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the development and the intrinsic growth rate (rm) of Euseius concordis on Tetranychus bastosi on physic nut (Jatropha curcas). The experiment was conducted in incubator BOD at 25 ° C and 70 % RH, with 12h photoperiod environment. The evaluations were performed twice daily for the biology of the mite, and once to the reproductive parameters. The average life cycle of fe-males was 6.3 ± 0.14 days and the males of 6.22 ± 0.14 days. The sex ratio was 0.64, and the average longevi-ty of females was 22.6 ± 2.22 days with an average production of 7,42 eggs per female. The parameters of the life table were obtained : net reproductive rate (Ro), 54,9 individuals ; average length of generations (T) , 7,77 days; intrinsic growth rate (rm), 0,22 female per female per day; finite rate of increase (λ), 1,24 female per fe-male; and in population doubling time (TD), 3,16 days. The E. concordis mite has developed satisfactorily when created with T. diet bastosi, with the short development cycle.

The scarcity of the water resources has been becoming an aggravating factor in irrigation of agricultural crops, with that the utilization of treated wastewater arises as a viable alternative to meeting that demand. In this context, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of the use of wastewater, on growth vari-ables and yield of cotton plants. The research was conducted at Experimental Station of Biological Treatments Sanitary Sewage – EXTRABES, in the city of Campina Grande – PB, in completely randomized design with five treatments and four repetitions. When the treatment 1 (T1) – consisted of irrigation with water refueling coming from CAGEPA; the treatment 2 (T2) – irrigation with effluent coming from the UASB reactor; the treatment 3 (T3) – irrigated with effluent coming from the series of filter; the treatment 4 (T4) – irrigated with effluent coming from the anaerobic filter; the treatment 5 (T5) – irrigated with effluent coming from the ponds of macrophytes. The incremented sodium content in soil at the end of the experiment was 812.9% afforded by irrigation with wastewater coming from the UASB reactor. The application of wastewater through irrigation in cotton culture coming from the UASB reactor and filter in series have increased the concentrations of phospho-rus, potash and organic matter in surface soil layer.