Banca de DEFESA: LARISSA NASCIMENTO DOS SANTOS SILVA

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : LARISSA NASCIMENTO DOS SANTOS SILVA
DATE: 08/09/2020
TIME: 09:00
LOCAL: Defesa on-line remota (via Zoom)
TITLE:

Ecological patterns and butterfly diversity in dry tropical forests

KEY WORDS:

Scientific effort;diversity;species distribution;habitat structure;enviromental gradiente;niche partitioning

PAGES: 205
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Ecologia
SUMMARY:

Dry ecosystems are biodiverse and are distributed across the globe, with climatic seasonality being a strong environmental characteristic, which imposes adaptive challenges on the seasons and physiognomic variations on organisms. However, the distribution of dry tropical forests and species has historically been altered by global environmental changes and the intense conversion of habitat into agricultural and logging areas. Currently, the importance of these ecosystems for the maintenance of species is known, including in those areas of the ecotone with humid forests and other biomes. Moreover, studies of taxonomic and ecological comparisons on large scales are scarce, and the patterns of influence of habitat loss are unclear. To investigate how butterfly species are distributed in dry tropical forests and how environmental elements influence communities in fragmented landscapes, the thesis is divided into three main thematic axes: distribution of research effort and wealth patterns, gradient effects impacts on community structure, and the influence of changes in the landscape on species diversity. The objective of chapter 1 was to survey the research effort on butterflies (Papilionoidea and Hesperioidea) to identify the main thematic and geographical research gaps, and to characterize the profile of studies aimed at knowledge and preservation of the biodiversity of these forests. For this, we use scientometric methodology, using keywords in English encompassing dry forests and savannas (Pennington et al. 2018) and the taxon butterflies, on the ISI Web of Knowledge platform. We collected information from 167 screened and mapped studies, published between 1981 and 2019. Most articles are from Brazil (24.6%), Mexico, Malawi and Australia, carried out at different spatial scales and research approaches. Ecological interactions (18.6%) and life history (13.8%) were the main themes, and Nymphalidae (36.5%), the most studied family. We find, mainly in the Americas, inventories, studies of communities and interactions, such as myrmecophilia and host plants associated with Lycaenidae and Pieridae. While several phenological and evolutionary studies have been tested with Satyrinae species in the African region, and seasonal and biogeographic studies in the Australian region, including comparisons with other taxa, such as birds and mammals. Some of the richest areas for butterfly species (Papilionoidea) are in Mexico and Australia. Dry Forests are richer in butterfly species (average 138.2) than Savanas (115.3), corroborating our hypothesis of greater wealth in more heterogeneous and less unstable environments. Considering the less addressed topics, fragmentation (2.4%) and anthropic impacts (1.8%), we warn of the need for research on environmental changes at different scales, as well as the effects of forest fragmentation on biological communities and conservation. In chapter 2, we estimate the effects of habitat structure and the seasonality of resources on the abundance, richness and composition of fruit-feeding butterflies in gradients of productivity and fragmentation, in a dry Brazilian forest. We collected data on the fauna of frugivorous butterflies, in the Seridó region, and on habitat variables in 9 landscapes (6x6 km) of different habitat coverings, during three periods (low, medium and high productivity), between 2017 and 2018. We recorded 16 species and 5,997 individuals, whose greatest abundance occurred in high productivity and in landscapes with high habitat coverage. We identified that communities have their dynamics related to productivity and habitat structure in spatial and temporal gradients. In addition, the butterfly species will respond to changes in the environment according to their functional characteristics, making it possible to observe the most pronounced effects on species-specific characteristics, with alternation of species along the time gradient, mainly. In chapter 3, our objective was to estimate the effects of habitat structure and anthropogenic impacts on the abundance, richness and composition of fruit-feeding butterflies in fragmented landscapes. Our hypotheses are related to theories of niche partition and environmental filters, where the diversity and dynamics of communities are determined mainly by the biota's response to environmental change. In the same 9 landscapes of Seridó, we investigated the elements of the habitat structure and characteristics of anthropic impact, locally and on a landscape scale, using classified images of MapBiomas coverage and land use and local collections. We tested the effects of landscape variables on the wealth and abundance of butterflies and on species composition. We recorded greater wealth and most species had more individuals registered in high and medium forest cover. The species composition differed between the landscapes, as well as the proportion of species of different niche ranges, with a higher proportion of tree forest species (83%) in high coverage landscapes (56-60% of habitat), these species being also those most affected by anthropic changes. We use niche partition tools and identification of bioindicator species to understand the dynamics of communities and rank landscapes in terms of environmental quality. Finally, we present some of these results in products for scientific dissemination, which have been developed with the help of undergraduate students and in partnership with other institutions (UFCG, UFPE, ICMBio and Fund. Boticário): the Seridó Butterfly Guide and the dissemination page for the monitoring project in UCs in Caatinga and Mata Atlântica, @borboletasnonordeste.

BANKING MEMBERS:
Presidente - 1451741 - MARCIO ZIKAN CARDOSO
Interna - 1914239 - MIRIAM PLAZA PINTO
Externa à Instituição - MARINA ANTONGIOVANNI DA FONSECA
Externa à Instituição - MARÍLIA BRUZZI LION - UFRN
Externa à Instituição - Solange Maria Kerpel - UFCG