Banca de DEFESA: HERCÍLIA FREITAS DA CUNHA

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : HERCÍLIA FREITAS DA CUNHA
DATE: 27/06/2024
TIME: 08:00
LOCAL: https://meet.google.com/vhe-heki-bem
TITLE:

Fruit diversity in Myrtaceae: ecological and evolutionary hypotheses for the success of this family in the neotropics

KEY WORDS:

ampomanesia; Eugenia; Germination; Macroevolution; Myrcia; Psidium

PAGES: 113
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Ecologia
SUBÁREA: Ecologia de Ecossistemas
SUMMARY:

Fleshy fruits are the link between fauna and flora. They serve as a resource for fauna, while at the same time favoring the colonization of plant species. Selective pressures in plant-animal interactions can shape fruit and seed characters and have the potential to explain current species diversity. In this dissertation, I used Myrtaceae, one of the most species-rich families in the tropics, as a model to test the effect of plant and fruit characters on the family's speciation rates. Thus, in chapter one I expanded the morphological database of Myrtaceae fruits and seeds, resulting in data for 956 species and adding new variables on display, plant height and life habit. In chapter two, I tested the relationship between fruit and seed size, fruit coloration and plant height and quantified the influence of these characters on diversification rates using the MISSE model. Myrtaceae showed wide morphological variation, with large fruits with several small seeds or small fruits with few small seeds. This heterogeneity of functional attributes cannot explain the high speciation rates found in the Myrteae tribe, indicating that other abiotic and biotic factors shape the current diversity of species. In Chapter three, I tested the visual-attractiveness hypothesis, which predicts that fruits at an intermediate stage of ripeness and with conspicuous coloration increase the attractiveness of the canopy and have the capacity to attract new species. The multicolored display proved to be more attractive when removed than the unicolored display, but germination was independent of the type of display of the species, which means that the seeds were able to germinate at all stages of maturation. The results found contribute to advancing the understanding of fruit and seed morphological patterns linked to dispersal and their role in the diversity of the Myrtaceae family.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externo à Instituição - EDSON APARECIDO VIEIRA FILHO
Externo à Instituição - GUSTAVO BRANT DE CARVALHO PATERNO
Presidente - 3058386 - VANESSA GRAZIELE STAGGEMEIER