Banca de DEFESA: TAMARA SANTOS

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : TAMARA SANTOS
DATE: 23/02/2022
TIME: 14:30
LOCAL: https://meet.google.com/tsk-kpam-mep
TITLE:

Spatial and temporal ecology of the canid Cerdocyon thous in a tropical dry forest: fragmentation, amount of habitat and chronic anthropogenic disturbance effects

KEY WORDS:

Mammal; generalist; Caatinga; landscape ecology; fragmentation; habitat availability; chronic anthropogenic disturbance.

PAGES: 76
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Ecologia
SUMMARY:

Human activities have caused profound changes in natural landscapes, and it is essential to understand how the fauna responds to these changes. In this study, we tested the relative importance of habitat availability, fragmentation and chronic anthropogenic disturbance (CAD) on the abundance, occupation pattern and activity pattern of Cerdocyon thous, a generalist canid, in a tropical dry forest. Data were collected between May and September 2014 in 10 priority areas for conservation in the Caatinga of the state of Rio Grande do Norte. Altogether, there were 179 sampling sites and a sampling effort of 6,701 traps.day. Multiple regression models of occupancy and GLM were used to test how occupation and abundance of C. thous respond to explanatory variables: habitat availability, edge density, CAD, altitude and terrain roughness. Subsequently, an alternative model was tested, in which habitat availability was broken down into three natural habitats (forest, savannah and grassland), while the CAD was broken down into five vectors (human population, infrastructure, pasture, logging and fires). The results indicate that C. thouswas more abundant in more fragmented areas and with greater CAD. The species also occupied and was more abundant in areas closer to human density and with more pastures. Habitat availability negatively influenced occupation, but the species responded differently to types of habitats. The forest habitat had a negative effect on both occupation and abundance, while the savannah had a positive effect on abundance, however grassland was not a significant variable in any of the analyses. Apparently, the species benefits from the anthropization of the environments, but with a certain limit because it is also negatively affected. For the activity pattern, we used kernel density models, and evaluated the response of C. thous to sites with more and less: habitat availability, fragmentation and CAD. The activity pattern in the study area was crepuscular nocturnal, with two more marked activity peaks, one in the early morning and the other at night. Despite the high values of the overlap index for all variables tested, and no significant differences for most of the variables tested, there were differences in activity peaks for the variables: habitat availability, human population and pasture. Possibly, the species changes the activity peaks due to the use of human resources (agriculture or garbage, for example), due to the activity of a particular prey or to prevent competition.

BANKING MEMBERS:
Externo à Instituição - FREDERICO GEMESIO LEMOS
Presidente - 1678202 - CARLOS ROBERTO SORENSEN DUTRA DA FONSECA
Externo à Instituição - RODRIGO LIMA MASSARA - UFMG