The vegetation features in the coastal portion of the State of Rio Grande do Norte are presented as transitional environment between Caatinga and Atlantic Forest biomes. Being an area where distinct phytoecological domains overlap and interpenetrate keep their own ecological characteristics. As there are no major human settlements and so little agricultural activities and prominent livestock, natural scenery prevails almost untouched. Because of these characteristics, this stretch of coast has been the target of heavy real estate speculation. This study was aimed to conduct a floristic and structure ecotone study which could contribute to conservation and sustainable use. For the floristic study the entire area (300 ha) was used and the method adopted was the pathway. For the phytosociological characterization a sample from an area of approximately 60 hectares was extracted, which applied the plot method, marking 100 contiguous plots of 100 m2. The phytosociological parameters were calculated using specific software. The floristic recorded 108 species in 91 genera and 49 families. For the phytosociological survey, 1960 individuals comprising of 31 species in 27 genera and 22 botanical families. The most important family was the Myrtaceae. The most abundant species were Psidium oligospermum, Eugenia luschnathiana and Pilosocereus catingicola and endangered species Aspilia procumbens, Cattleya granulosa and Melocactus violaceus. Species from the caatinga and the atlantic forest has been observed, supporting the idea of ecotone.

The use of natural coagulants and organic filters locally produced and low financial cost can provide attenuation problems in discharge of wastew aters, without treatment, into watercourses. Was ev aluated in this study the efficiency of the coagulation pro cess, using the Ca(OH) 2 in the preparation of Moringa seed extract, followed by filtration sawdust in the trea tment of sewage. In the tank of 150 L containing se wage was added a solution of the moringa seed extract prepar ed with Ca(OH) 2 0.011 mol L -1 at a concentration of 2.2 grams of seed per liter of wastewater to be treated . The coagulated effluent was applied to organic fi lter and the filtrate volume was converted in pore volume. Physi cal and chemical analyses were carried out in the i nfluent and effluent of the two treatment structure for the evaluation of treatment efficiency. The treatments by coagu- lation followed by filtration provided removals of 98.0, 75.3, 75.8, 75.0, 79, 7, 59.0 and 88.3% of tu rbidity, Total Solids, Total Fixed Solids, Total Volatile So lids, Total Suspended Solids, Suspended Solids Fixe d and Volatile Suspended Solids and of 51.2, 88.7, 72.6; 33.5 and 38.5% of Biochemical Oxygen Demand, Chemic al Oxygen Demand, Phosphorus, Nitrogen and Sodium.

In aquaculture, infections caused by bacteria are factors that cause damage. The purpose of this study was to identify bacteria with pathogenic potential in pacamã (Lophiosilurus alexandri) of São Francisco Valley. One hundred and fifteen animals were used for sampling from gills, kidneys, external lesions and eggs. The samples were streaked in Trypticase soy agar. The biochemical and antimicrobial susceptibility profiles were determined. The bacterial species identified were A.hydrophila, A. salmonicida, A. media, Acinetobacter spp., P. alcaligenes, E. aerogenes, E. agglomerans, K. oxytoca, K. pneumoniae, P.shigelloides, V. parahaemo- lyticus, V. metschnikovii and S. sannei. The sensitivity to antimicrobial was 85% to norfloxacin, 79% to ceftri- axone, 78% to enrofloxacin, 68% to sulfazothrim, 60% to nitrofurantoin, 59% to tetracycline, 55% to nalidixic acid, 49% to streptomycin, 45% to erythromycin, 32% to neomycin, 7% to ampicillin and 3% to lincomycin. Multiple resistance was observed to all isolates analyzed. Considering the occurrence of pathogenic bacteria in pacamã and its resistance to antimicrobial drugs, security measures should be adopted during antimicrobialther- apy, with the use of antibiotics that did not show resistance strains or trying natural products as an alternative to antibiotics, ensuring protection of human and animal health, as well as the environment.

Glyphosate is one of best known agrochemicals and i s used to prevent the spread of weeds. However, little is known about the impact of this c hemical on non-target organisms such as the soil mi crobial community. Therefore, the objective of this study w as to evaluate the effect of glyphosate on the micr oorgan- ism population and the microbial attributes of soil s cultivated with yellow and sweet passion fruits. The experi- mental design used was complete randomized blocks i n a 3 x 2 factorial scheme with the times of soil s ample collection (0, 5 and 47 days after herbicide applic ation- DAH) and the two species of passion fruit ye llow ( Passiflorae dulis f. flavicarpa O. Deg.) and sweet ( Passiflora alata Dryand) as the factors,with three replica- tions. No impact of the glyphosate herbicide was fo undon the bacterial communities of soil. However, a mild and transitory impact was observedon the fungal pop ulations, encouraging these populationsat 47 DHA. G ly- phosate changed the carbon microbial biomass and so il microbial attributes, except for total organic c arbon. Multivariate, principal component analysis revealed that the total bacteria, endospore-forming bacteri a, total fungi, carbon microbial biomass and metabolic quoti ent attributes of soil are the most sensitive facto rs for pre- dicting the impact of glyphosate on biological indi cators of soil planted with two species of passion fruit yellow ( P. edulis f. Flavicarpa ) and sweet ( P. alata ).

The liquid biofertilizers have been used with relative success in the recovery of banana planta- tions that have low productivity, after long time cultivation. However, there is little information available relat- ed to cultural practices that aim to increase the life of bananeiral. The objective of the present study was to compare areas degraded plantations that have received the application of biofertilizer for a period of two and five years and the area where the culture did not receive this type of application. The study was conducted in year of 2011 in the municipality of Chapada do Apodi Quixeré - CE. It was evaluated the effects of time of ap- plication on soil chemical attribute, biometric measurements of the plant, dry mass production, extraction and export of N, P and K, and the contribution of plant biomass. The experimental design was completely random- ized with three replications. The biofertilizer increased the content of organic matter, exchangeable Ca and K in all soil depths. The levels of disposable P and exchangeable Mg were higher only in the surface layer. The bio- fertilizer contributed to the increase of pH, the CE and Na soil. Plants that received application of the product were higher, with greater weight and number of leaves. The area received more application time showed higher productivity, accumulated 20% more dry mass, extracted more N, P and K soil, more nutrients exported through harvesting and landed larger amount of plant biomass.

The objective of this study to evaluate the nutritional value of cactus pear grown under different planting spacings and doses of cattle manure applied to soil. The experiment was implemented in an Oxisol in Guanambi, Bahia. The experimental design was randomized blocks with 12 treatments arranged in a factorial 3 x 4, four doses of cattle manure (0, 30, 60 and 90 Mg ha-1 yr-1) and three planting space, two in single rows (1,0 x 0,5 and 2,0 x 0,25 m) and a double row in (3,0 x 1,0 x 0,25 m) and three repetitions. In the planting spaces used, the same population density of 20,000 plants ha-1 was maintained. The nutritional value of cladodes was evaluated at 600 days after planting. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and subsequently comparisons were made between the means of different spacings by the Tukey Test and regression analysis for the different doses of manure and, when significant, interactions were unfolded. The manure of cattle increasingly influ- enced the content of crude protein, total nitrogen, protein and rapid intermediate degradation. There was a de- crease in hemicellulose levels, total carbohydrates, neutral and acid detergent insoluble nitrogen as a function of total nitrogen and indigestible protein. Thus, the increase in doses of manure applied to soil improves the quality of the nutritive value of forage palm and planting spaces barely influence the quality of cactus pear.

The objective of this research was to characterize the spineless forage cactus production in the semi-arid region of Paraiba State in the Northeast of Brazil. Information from 199 interviews carried out in the rural area of municipal districts in the Paraiban Cariri region was used. The interviews were conducted from February 2008 through August 2009. The data were tabulated in a spreadsheet, where a matrix with the ques- tions and answers of each interviewee was established. The production systems were defined using principal component analysis, followed by cluster grouping of quantitative variables. The first three principal compo- nents explained 61.60% of total variation. The application of cluster analysis, based on scores of the three main components, identified four cactus forage groups of producers. The livestock activity prevails on the ag- riculture and it is imposed as an appropriate activity in the production systems of the agriculture sector in the Paraiban Cariri region. The cultivation of forage cactus predominates over other cultivated forage plants, being fully incorporated into the local productive process of Paraiban Cariri region.

Due to the oil crisis and concern about the environment, global demand for biofuels has ex- panded rapidly in recent years, so the physic nut has attracted the attention of researchers for the development of research on this specie. The aim of the present work was to verify the effects of the supply of Na to replace potassium nutrition on growth and nutrition of physic nut seedlings. The experiment was conducted in green- house conditions using nutrient solution. We used the completely randomized design in five proportions of replacing K by Na: 100% (T1), 75% (T2), 50% (T3), 25% (T4) and 0% (T5). Thus, the concentrations (in mM) of K:Na in the treatments were: T1 = 0:6.0; T2 = 1.5:4.5; T3 = 3.0:3.0; T4 = 4.5:1.5; T5 = 6.0:0. The sources of K and Na used were KNO3 and NaNO3, respectively. Data were subjected to analysis of variance and means evaluated at Scott & Knott test at 5% probability. The growth and mineral nutrition variables of physic nut seedlings are influenced by the substitution of K by Na, varying according to the characteristic studied. Na re- places partially the K nutrition of physic nut seedlings and establishing a strategy to reduce the doses of K fer- tilizer applied.

In agricultural areas of Cerrado, where there is no possibility of making two cultivation to the year, areas before cultivated with soybeans or corn, remain in fallow until the next crop year, where weed inci- dence is high. In this research was aimed assess the potential for weed suppression by cover crops, when sown in the off season of annual crops. The experimental design was a randomized block with eight treatments (Urochloa ruziziensis, Pennisetum glaucum, Crotalaria juncea, Crotalaria spectabilis, Styzolobium aterrimum, Canavalia ensiformes, Cajanus cajanand Stylosanthes macrocephala + Stylosanthes capitata) in four replica- tions. The evaluations were performed at 45, 90, 135 and 180 days after the sowing (DAS), with determination of dry mass, plant density and vegetal cover over the soil afforded by cover crops and weeds. The population dynamics was evaluated by means of phytosociological parameters. It is conclude that the weed community presents variations during the development cycle of the cover crop and the greater biomass production, soil cover vegetal and weed suppression was obtained with the U. ruziziensis.

The biocontrol of soilborne plant pathogens represents a promising approach from the environ- mental and practical points of view. Fluorescent pseudomonad rhizobacteria are well known by their antagonis- tic capacity towards several plant pathogens due to a diversity of antimicrobial metabolites they produce. This study was conceived to select and characterize rhizobacteria having antagonistic potential towards the patho- genic fungi Rhizoctonia solani and Sclerotium rolfsii. A total of 94 bacterial strains isolated from the rhizospheres of four vegetable species under organic cultivation were evaluated. Twenty-two strains which predominate in lettuce and rudbeckia rhizospheres showed identical biochemical profiles to Pseudomonas fluo- rescens, while in kale and parsley rhizospheres identical profiles to Pseudomonas putida (subgroups A and B) strains prevailed. Two types of antagonism were verified in vitro and defined as competition and inhibition of mycelial growth. Sixty percent of the evaluated strains showed antagonistic potential and, among those, 24 strains expressed antagonism to both target fungi, with P. fluorescens being the most representative bacterial species. This work clearly identified a number of strains with potential for use as plant growth-promoting and biocontrol of the two soilborne fungal pathogens in vegetable crops production systems.