Invertebrate inventory launched: Ciara has 2,593 species

August 10, 2021 – 5:45 pm
#species #funcap #stock #conservation #Uece #UFC

This Tuesday (10), in the early afternoon, the State Secretariat for Environmental Affairs (SEMA) coordinated and broadcast – through its YouTube channel – the launch of the Ceará Invertebrate Fauna Inventory. The event was held by the Government of Ceará State, through Sema, in partnership with the Senior Environmental Scientists Program team, with support from the Cearense Foundation in Support of Scientific and Technological Development (Funcap).

Sima’s owner, Artur Bruno, opened the event, recalling that inventory is a business that belongs to society. “Science does not belong to anyone. It belongs to everyone, because everyone benefits from knowledge. As Francis Bacon said, knowledge is power,” he asserted. Then Marcelo Soares, chief environmentalist, praised the “over a hundred people” who worked on the project, which involved six public universities – UFC, IFCE, UECE, UFCA, Urca and UVA – as well as other bodies, in a total 21 institutions.

The presentation was started by Professor Breno Freitas (UFC), who spoke about the experience of data collection and organization, followed by Professors Rafaela Maia (IFCE) and Leila Aparecida (Uece), who presented slides with species. Finally, Professor Hugo Fernandez (UECE) spoke about the general numbers. “In Ceará, we have 2,593 species of invertebrates that are found in different environments such as certau, mangroves, plateaus, mountains, rivers, lakes, shallow and deep marine environments. The work brings together information from centuries of research by more than 68 experts from 21 universities. and institute.”

The Invertebrate Inventory was the final chapter of the trilogy. In February 2021, an inventory of vertebrates was released, with 1,275 species. In May, he inventoried Flora, with 2,465 species. Now, with this latest survey, the mapping of the biodiversity found in the Ceará territory, which includes at least 6,333 species, has been completed. On the SEMA website (www.sema.ce.gov.br) the three inventories can be accessed: plants and animals (vertebrates and invertebrates).

The event paid tribute to 94-year-old Professor Malquiades Pinto Paiva, who recorded a video specifically for the event. “I have always been affected by insomnia. I am glad to see the conclusion of such an important work, which shows that science is the result of teamwork,” he said. To learn more about Professor Melquiades’ biography, visit the page www.sema.ce.gov.br/fauna- do-ceara/.

Red List of Threatened Species

The completion of the inventory of invertebrates in Ceará is a state historical landmark. Its goal is to promote the improvement of scientific research, studies and environmental impact reports, among others, allowing the protection of natural resources and supporting public policies to protect biodiversity. This is a survey of the different types of animals found in continental and marine environments. In general, invertebrates are animals that do not have a skull or a backbone.

This chapter concludes the trilogy, but is also the starting point for the preparation of the Red List of Ceara Fauna, which will classify the species’ conservation status into risk categories and thus provide information to guide actions related to the conservation of the biological part of our state’s diversity.

The launch of the invertebrate inventory was attended by the Secretary of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Inacio Arruda. Head of the State Environmental Supervision Agency (Semac), Carlos Alberto Mendes; Director of Innovation at Cearense in Support of Scientific and Technological Development (Funcap), Jorge Soares; Dean of the State University of Ceará (Uece), Hidelbrando dos Santos Soares; Dean of Carrere Regional University (ORCA) Francisco Lima Jr.; Director of the Center for Agricultural and Biological Sciences at the State University of Val de Acara (UVA), Claudia Goulart; University President for International Relations and Institutional Development at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC), Augusto Teixeira de Albuquerque; Representative of the Dean of the Federal University of Carrere (UFCA), Samuel Cardozo Ribeiro; Chief of Staff of the Afro-Brazilian University of International Integration Lusovonia (UNILAB), Joaquim Torres Filho; Dean of Research and Graduate Studies at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Ceará (IFCE), Julia Marques de Carvalho; Daniel Casciano, Professor at UECE and Project Coordinator of the Dias da Rocha Natural History Museum, with the Senior Scholars Program; and Professor Maria Ausilia Bezerra de Menezes, Director of the Institute of Marine Sciences – La Pomar.