Submitted by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-06-29T13:54:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_MAURICIO_BOFF_DE_AVILA_COMPLETO.pdf: 2632464 bytes, checksum: 1a170d33bfad88ea8a7aba65cb0f4bea (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-06-29T13:54:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_MAURICIO_BOFF_DE_AVILA_COMPLETO.pdf: 2632464 bytes, checksum: 1a170d33bfad88ea8a7aba65cb0f4bea (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-29T13:54:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_MAURICIO_BOFF_DE_AVILA_COMPLETO.pdf: 2632464 bytes, checksum: 1a170d33bfad88ea8a7aba65cb0f4bea (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-20 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / Microorganisms, in general, are the major agents of disease in humans. Data from the Brazilian Ministry of Health show bacterial diseases as the main causes of death in the country. In the therapy of these organisms, antibiotics are considered the most successful chemotherapy methods of 21st century medicine, as they represent the first, and only, line of combat against bacterial diseases. The development of new antibiotic drugs is becoming increasingly necessary, as bacterial resistance rates become higher each year. At this point, shikimate pathway is attractive to this type of research, since it is considered an essential pathway for the maintenance of these organisms in the environment, besides being absent in animals. The pathway is responsible for the formation of chorismate, precursor of aromatic amino acids (Phe, Trp and Tyr), folic acid and ubiquinones in the groups of organisms that presents it. The third reaction of the shikimate biosynthetic pathway is performed by the enzyme DHQD. In this step the reversible dehydration of the DHQ molecule is performed aiming to transform into 3-dehydroshikimate, the focus reaction of this study. In the search for new DHQD inhibitors, docking simulations were performed against the three-dimensional structure of a target protein, since it is a process that seeks to find, among possible orientations/conformations of a ligand in the active site, the one that presents the lower binding energy and, consequently, greater affinity. In addition to the docking simulations, machine learning methods were used to formulate polynomial scoring functions, based on the MVD scoring functions, which were able to predict protein/binder affinity. At the end of all the simulations and tests carried out throughout the project, we conclude that the Polscore56 equation was the most skilled to predict the affinity between the active site of DHQD and tested compounds. For this polynomial, the results of test set (? = 0,900; p-value = 0,037), AUC (74,686%), EF1 (540) and EF2 (159,23) were, in most of the categories evaluated, the best, confirming the formulated hypotheses on the equation and indicating it for further studies with the enzyme. / Microrganismos, em geral, apresentam-se como os principais agentes de doen?as em seres humanos. Dados do Minist?rio da Sa?de Brasileiro demonstram doen?as bacterianas como as principais causas de morte no pa?s. Na terap?utica desses organismos, os antibi?ticos s?o considerados os m?todos quimioter?picos de maior sucesso da medicina do s?culo XXI, pois representam a primeira, e ?nica, linha de combate contra doen?as bacterianas. O desenvolvimento de novas drogas antibi?ticas torna-se cada vez mais necess?rio, uma vez que os ?ndices de resist?ncia bacteriana se tornam mais altos a cada ano. Nesse ponto, a rota metab?lica do chiquimato ? atraente a esse tipo de pesquisa, por ser considerada uma via essencial para a manuten??o desses organismos no ambiente, al?m de estar ausente em animais. A via ? respons?vel pela forma??o do corismato, precursor de amino?cidos arom?ticos (Phe, Trp e Tyr), ?cido f?lico e ubiquinonas nos grupos de seres vivos onde est? presente. A terceira rea??o da via biossint?tica do chiquimato ? realizada pela enzima DHQD. Nesse passo ? realizada a desidrata??o revers?vel da mol?cula DHQ visando transform?-la em 3-desidrochiquimato, rea??o foco desse estudo. Na busca por novos inibidores de DHQD foram realizadas simula??es de docking de pequenos ligantes contra a estrutura tridimensional de uma prote?na alvo, pois ? um processo onde se visa encontrar, entre as poss?veis orienta??es/conforma??es de um ligante no s?tio ativo, aquela que apresenta a menor energia de liga??o e, consequente, maior finidade. Al?m das simula??es de docking, foram realizados m?todos de Aprendizagem de M?quina na formula??o de fun??es escores polinomiais, a partir de fun??es escores presentes no MVD, que fossem capazes de prever a afinidade entre prote?na/ligante. Ao final de todas as simula??es e testes realizados ao longo do projeto, chegamos ? conclus?o de que a equa??o Polscore56 apresentou-se como a mais h?bil para prever a afinidade entre o s?tio ativo de DHQD com compostos testados. Para esse polin?mio os resultados de test set (? = 0,900; p-value = 0,037), AUC (74,686%), EF1 (540) e EF2 (159,23) foram, na maioria das categorias avaliadas, os melhores, confirmando as hip?teses formuladas sobre a equa??o e indicando-a para estudos posteriores com a enzima.

Submitted by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-08-21T13:36:35Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_GABRIEL_GUIMARAES_LARRE_COMPLETO.pdf: 1646303 bytes, checksum: 588f41c399fed3bafe796a4598a5912a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-21T13:36:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_GABRIEL_GUIMARAES_LARRE_COMPLETO.pdf: 1646303 bytes, checksum: 588f41c399fed3bafe796a4598a5912a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-30 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico - CNPq / Straight-billed Reedhaunter belongs to Furnariidae that has extreme restriction in relation to habitat use, being found only in wetlands areas with the abundance of Apiaceae Eryngium pandanifolium, depending exclusively on this type of environment to forage and breed. Information on life history of this species and, especially on its breeding biology are very scarce, and all the studies of Straight-billed Reedhaunter were conducted on Argentine and Uruguayan populations. Our objective was to estimate the period and breeding success of Limnoctites rectirostris, in addition to analyzing its reproductive activity, such as nesting activity, nest construction time, incubation time, nest size and brood size. Additionally we determine the limits of the breeding territories of couples of Straight-billed Reedhaunter. We studied a population in the northeast of Rio Grande do Sul, in an ecosystem associated with the Atlantic Forest biome, known as upland grasslands, more specifically between two municipalities, Bom Jesus and Jaquirana, in the surroundings and inside the Tainhas state park. We did fieldwork on three breeding seasons (from September to January) of 2012-2013, 2015-2016 and 2016-2017, totalizing about 15 months of sample effort. We monitored 85 nests during these seasons, estimating the breeding season in about 5.3 months (160 days). The breeding activity was strongly correlated with the photoperiod (rs=0.69; P=0.0007), being recorded the apex of the nesting activity during the last week of November. The average time of nest building, incubation and nestling was, respectively, 6.2 ? 1.3, 17 ? 1.18 and 16.43 ? 0.97 days. Clutch size was estimated in 2.7 ? 0.46, which the most frequently brooding (70%) had three eggs. The rate of egg eclosion was 78% and the annual productivity of fledging 22%. Nest survival was modeled with program MARK that estimated 10.51% while with Mayfield method and apparent success were 12.8% and 17.4% respectively. The interaction between the constant temporal tendency with nest height in relation to ground and plant height support generated the best model (AICc=292.958), which explain nest survival. Predation was the main cause of brooding lost (65.3%), presenting greater during egg phase (60%) than in the nestling period (40%). We identify Philodrias olfersi and Licalopex gimnocercus as potential nest predators. Cryptonanus guahybae was registered visiting nests during the night, inactivating and utilizing them during day as shelter, suggesting an interaction besides the predation. We captured and marked with unique sequences of colored plastic and metallic rings, 78 individuals during the three breeding seasons studied, besides that we measured and determined the limits of 34 breeding territories. The method that best reflected the reality of L. rectirostris territories was the Fixed-Kernel Technique with the Least Square Cross Validation smoothing parameter, which generated area values between 0.51 and 11.16 ha, with an average of 3.33 ? 2.1 ha. The border of the territories coincides with the limits of the wetlands areas with abundance of E. pandanifolium, showing the strong habitat restriction of the species studied. The comparison between specific nesting sites and control plots presented significant difference (P < 0.05) in almost all measured variables, demonstrating that Straight-billed Reedhaunter chose sites with lower vegetation height, higher soil exposed and lower strata of vegetation, less vegetation densification, as well as less distance from the border of the plains than the control plots measured within the breeding territories. Probably this selection of nesting sites is a response to the selective pressure imposed by the main cause of brood-losses, the small marsupial Cryptonanus guaybae, which in addition to predating the eggs, uses the nest as a shelter. / O arredio-do-gravat? (Limnoctites rectirostris) ? um furnar?deo que possui extrema restri??o quanto a utiliza??o de habitat, sendo encontrado apenas em ?reas palustres com abund?ncia da Apiaceae Eryngium pandanifolium, dependendo exclusivamente deste tipo de ambiente para forragear e reproduzir. Informa??es sobre a hist?ria de vida desta ave e, principalmente sobre sua biologia reprodutiva s?o muito escassas, sendo que todos os estudos que tratam deste t?xon foram conduzidos nas popula??es argentinas e uruguaias. Nosso objetivo foi estimar o per?odo e sucesso reprodutivo de Limnoctites rectirostris, al?m de analisar sua atividade reprodutiva, tempo de constru??o do ninho, de incuba??o, de ninhego, tamanho da ninhada e sobrviv?ncia de ninhos. Adicionalmente determinamos a ?rea e os limites dos territ?rios reprodutivos de casais de arredio-do-gravat? e mostramos a sele??o dos s?tios de nidifica??o. Estudamos uma popula??o localizada no nordeste do Rio Grande do Sul, em um ecossistema associado ao bioma Mata Atl?ntica, conhecido como Campos de Cima da Serra, mais especificamente entre os munic?pios de Jaquirana e S?o Francisco de Paula, nos arredores e interior do Parque Estadual do Tainhas. As coletas de dados ocorreram durante as temporadas reprodutivas (setembro a janeiro) de 2012-2013, 2015-2016 e 2016-2017, totalizando cerca de 15 meses de esfor?o amostral. Monitoramos 85 ninhos durante as tr?s temporadas estudadas, estimando o per?odo reprodutivo em cerca de 5,3 meses (160 dias). A atividade reprodutiva mostrou-se fortemente correlacionada com o fotoper?odo (rs=0,69; p=0,0007), sendo registrado o ?pice da atividade de nidifica??o durante a ?ltima semana de novembro. As m?dias e o desvio padr?o do tempo de constru??o do ninho, incuba??o e ninhego foram estimadas em 6,20 ? 1,30, 17 ? 1,18 e 16,43 ? 0,97 dias respectivamente. O tamanho m?dio das ninhadas foi de 2,7?0,46 ovos, sendo tr?s ovos o n?mero mais frequente (70%). A taxa de eclos?o dos ovos foi de 78% e a produtividade anual de filhotes de 22%. O Sucesso reprodutivo calculado atrav?s do programa MARK foi 10,51%, enquanto que pelo m?todo de Mayfield e pelo de sucesso aparente foi de 12,8% e 17,4% respectivamente. A intera??o entre a tend?ncia temporal constante, a altura do ninho em rela??o ao solo e a altura da planta suporte geraram o melhor modelo (AICc=292,958) que explicou a sobreviv?ncia dos ninhos monitorados. A preda??o foi a principal causa de perda de ninhada (65,3%), sendo maior durante a fase de ovo (60%) do que na de ninhego (40%). Identificamos como potenciais predadores de ninhos Philodrias olfersi (cobra-verde) e Licalopex gimnocercus (graxaim-do-campo). Cryptonanus guahybae (cu?ca) foi registrada atrav?s de armadilhas fotogr?ficas visitando o ninho ativo durante a noite, causando sua inatividade e utilizando o mesmo como abrigo diurno. Em duas oportunidades observamos este pequeno marsupial utilizando o ninho inativo como abrigo diurno, sugerindo outra intera??o al?m da preda??o. Capturamos e marcamos com sequ?ncias ?nicas de anilhas pl?sticas coloridas e met?licas, 78 indiv?duos durante as tr?s temporadas estudadas. Medimos e determinamos os limites de 34 territ?rios reprodutivos. O m?todo que melhor representou a realidade dos territ?rios de L. rectirostris foi o Fixed-Kernel Technique com o par?metro de suaviza??o Least Square Cross Validation, o qual gerou valores de ?rea entre 0,51 e 11,16 ha, com m?dia de 3,33 ? 2,1 ha. Os limites dos territ?rios coincidem com os limites das ?reas palustres com abund?ncia de E. pandanifolium, mostrando a forte restri??o de habitat da esp?cie estudada. A compara??o entre os locais espec?ficos de nidifica??o e parcelas controle apresentou diferen?a significativa (p<0,05) em praticamente todas as vari?veis medidas, mostrando que o arredio-do-gravat? escolhe locais com menor altura da vegeta??o, maior quantidade de solo exposto e de estrato baixo da vegeta??o, menor adensamento da vegeta??o, como tamb?m menor dist?ncia da borda do banhado do que as parcelas controle medidas dentro dos territ?rios reprodutivos. Possivelmente esta sele??o de s?tios de nidifica??o ? uma resposta ? press?o seletiva imposta pelo principal causador de perdas de ninhada, o pequeno marsupial Cryptonanus guaybae, que al?m de predar os ovos, utiliza o ninho como abrigo e essa constitui uma quest?o a ser avaliada futuramente.

Submitted by PPG Biologia Celular e Molecular (bcm@pucrs.br) on 2017-07-24T18:23:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL_SANGUINETTI_CZEPIELEWSKI_TES.pdf: 5487109 bytes, checksum: 88dbb99b9597e08253e2832cc01ccfce (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-07-25T17:50:46Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL_SANGUINETTI_CZEPIELEWSKI_TES.pdf: 5487109 bytes, checksum: 88dbb99b9597e08253e2832cc01ccfce (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-25T18:00:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 RAFAEL_SANGUINETTI_CZEPIELEWSKI_TES.pdf: 5487109 bytes, checksum: 88dbb99b9597e08253e2832cc01ccfce (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-18 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / Tumor microenvironment and inflammatory diseases promote alterations in our immune system along with their development. Several molecules are implicated in this modulation and are therefore considered therapeutic targets. Gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) is produced in tumors where it promotes cellular proliferation. It is also correlated with chronic diseases, as in rheumatoid arthritis and asthma, and in the acute condition of sepsis. Recently, our group found a direct GRP action over neutrophils, promoting migration. This work aimed to study the interface between GRP-producing tumors and the recruitment of immune cells, as well as extend the cellular studies about neutrophil activation and migration processes promoted by the peptide. In tumors, we observed that a lung adenocarcinoma cell line does not proliferate in response to GRP. Yet, it is induced to migrate when exposed to the peptide, indicating a potential role for GRP in metastasis of this type of cancer. In our tumor immunology studies, we established a novel in vivo model by overexpressing GRP in a melanoma cell line (B16F10). We observed the augment of infiltrating inflammatory monocytes in the tumor microenvironment of these tumors. In parallel, we verified that reactive oxygen species production and migration in response to GRP is dependent of the NADPH oxidase complex. GRP stimulation promotes an intense activation, which culminates in neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) release. In addition, the GRP receptor (GRPR) antagonist RC-3095 presented anti-inflammatory potential, inhibiting neutrophil migration towards IL-8 and reducing the extent of acetaminophen-induced liver damage. This effect was due to motility alterations in infiltrating neutrophils within the tissue and reduction of cell adhesion molecules. The results presented herein demonstrate the wide panorama of GRP?s interactions in tumor and immune biology. / O microambiente tumoral e as doen?as inflamat?rias promovem altera??es nas c?lulas do nosso sistema imune ? medida que progridem. Diversas mol?culas est?o envolvidas nessa modula??o, e por isso s?o alvos terap?uticos. O pept?deo liberador de gastrina (GRP) ? produzido por tumores, onde promove prolifera??o celular. Este tamb?m est? correlacionado com doen?as cr?nicas como a artrite reumatoide e asma, e em doen?as agudas, como a sepse. Recentemente, nosso grupo descobriu a??o direta do GRP em neutr?filos, promovendo indu??o de migra??o. O presente trabalho se prop?s a estudar a interface entre tumores produtores de GRP e o recrutamento celular, assim como aprofundar os estudos celulares sobre os processos de ativa??o e migra??o de neutr?filos promovidos pelo pept?deo. Em tumores, observamos que uma linhagem de adenocarcinoma pulmonar n?o prolifera quando exposto ao GRP, por?m ? induzida a migrar quando exposta ao pept?deo, estabelecendo um potencial papel deste na promo??o de met?stases para esse tipo tumoral. Na interface da imunologia tumoral, atrav?s do desenvolvimento de um modelo in vivo de superexpress?o de GRP em melanoma murino (B16F10), observamos que esse aumento do GRP induz a infiltra??o de mon?citos inflamat?rios no microambiente tumoral. Em paralelo, verificamos que a produ??o de esp?cies reativas de oxig?nio e a migra??o em dire??o ao GRP s?o dependentes do complexo NADPH oxidase. Esse est?mulo promove ativa??o intensa, culminando na produ??o de redes extracelulares de neutr?filos (NETs). J? o antagonista do seu receptor, GRPR, apresentou potencial antiinflamat?rio, sendo capaz de inibir a migra??o neutrof?lica via modula??o de IL-8 e reduzindo a extens?o da les?o hep?tica induzida por paracetamol (acetaminofeno), alterando a motilidade dos neutr?filos no tecido e a express?o de mol?culas de ades?o. Assim, os resultados aqui apresentados demonstram um panorama amplo da fun??o do GRP na biologia tumoral e no sistema imune.

Submitted by PPG Biologia Celular e Molecular (bcm@pucrs.br) on 2017-07-11T14:38:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 NATALIA_ELTZ_SILVA_DIS.pdf: 1036979 bytes, checksum: 23cdf77b8842f9e9ade0b13e6f7bc111 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-07-28T17:40:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 NATALIA_ELTZ_SILVA_DIS.pdf: 1036979 bytes, checksum: 23cdf77b8842f9e9ade0b13e6f7bc111 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-28T17:47:24Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 NATALIA_ELTZ_SILVA_DIS.pdf: 1036979 bytes, checksum: 23cdf77b8842f9e9ade0b13e6f7bc111 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-08 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / Aging-related diseases are becoming more common. Alzheimer's disease (AD), the most prevalent form of dementia, includes as initial symptoms cognitive deficits that are attributed to the toxic effects of amyloid? peptide (A?) that accumulates in senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles composed of hyperphosphorylated tau protein. The amyloid cascade initially proposed to explain the effects of A? pointed to the plaques as the most toxic form of the A? molecule responsible for neuronal dysfunction and death. Recently, several evidences point to the increased toxicity of the soluble forms of the peptide. A better understanding of the dynamics of amyloid aggregation, clearance and toxic potential of the soluble versions may foster significant advances in the understanding AD mechanisms and the identification of potential targets for AD therapies. In this study we used the zebrafish as a model. 24-hour embryos received intracerebroventricular injection of human A?1-42 prepared to have different aggregation potentials: monomeric, oligomeric and plaqueforming. At 5 days post-fertilization (dpf), quantification of A?1-42 levels demonstrated a remnant increase in peptide levels in the animals injected with the solution that favored plaque formation. After monitoring for embryotoxic and teratogenic effects, 5dpf the animals were also evaluated in relation to general physiological aspects and their cognitive ability. Although the injection did not significantly impact animal survival or exploratory ability, the oligomeric solution induced specific cognitive deficits in relation to the vehicleinjected control. Together these results support the revised version of the amyloid cascade in which, although the presence of plaques corresponds to a greater accumulation of A?1- oligomeric forms may induce significant neurotoxic effects and result in cognitive deficits specially at disease?s early stages. / Com o envelhecimento da popula??o, doen?as relacionadas com o envelhecimento v?m se tornando mais comuns. A Doen?a de Alzheimer (DA), a forma prevalente de dem?ncia, inclui como sintomas iniciais deficit cognitivos que s?o atribu?dos a efeitos t?xicos de pept?deo ?- amiloide (A?) que se acumula em placas senis e emaranhados neurofibrilares constitu?dos pela prote?na tau hiperfosforilada. A cascata amiloide inicialmente proposta para explicar os efeitos do A? apontava para as placas de dep?sito de A?1-42 como a forma t?xica da mol?cula respons?vel pela disfun??o e morte neuronal. Recentemente diversas evid?ncias apontam para a toxicidade das vers?es sol?veis do pept?deo antes da agrega??o em placas. O melhor entendimento da din?mica de agrega??o do amiloide, limpeza e potencial t?xico das vers?es sol?veis pode permitir significativos avan?os no conhecimento dos mecanismos da doen?a e a identifica??o de potenciais alvos para terapias da DA. Neste estudo utilizamos o tele?steo zebrafish como modelo para a caracteriza??o destes processos. Embri?es com 24 horas receberam inje??o intracerebroventricular de A?1-42 humano preparado de forma a ter diferentes potenciais de agrega??o: monom?rica, oligom?rica e formadora de placas. Ao atingirem 5 dias p?s-fertiliza??o (dpf), a quantifica??o dos n?veis de A?1-42 demonstrou um aumento remanescente dos n?veis do pept?deo nos animais injetados com a solu??o que favorecia a forma??o de placas. Ap?s monitorarmos eventuais efeitos embriot?xicos e teratog?nicos, ao atingirem 5dpf, os animais foram tamb?m avaliados em rela??o a aspectos fisiol?gicos gerais e sua capacidade cognitiva. Embora a inje??o n?o tenha impactado significativamente a sobreviv?ncia dos animais ou a capacidade explorat?ria, a inje??o da solu??o oligom?rica induziu deficit cognitivos espec?ficos em rela??o ao controle injetado com ve?culo. Juntos, estes resultados suportam a vers?o revisada da cascata amiloide na qual, embora a presen?a de placas corresponda a um maior ac?mulo de A?1-42, a presen?a de vers?es oligom?ricas pode induzir efeitos neurot?xicos significativos e resultar em deficit cognitivos, especialmente nos est?gios iniciais da doen?a.

Submitted by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-10-02T14:22:16Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_PATRICIA_RODRIGUES_DA_SILVA_PARCIAL.pdf: 808907 bytes, checksum: d43ab0da7119feb8d67d321fcd16a3ce (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-02T14:22:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_PATRICIA_RODRIGUES_DA_SILVA_PARCIAL.pdf: 808907 bytes, checksum: d43ab0da7119feb8d67d321fcd16a3ce (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-14 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico - CNPq / The increased use of pesticides has caused the degradation of a variety of ecosystems, especially aquatic environments. Despite specific targets, agrochemicals are able to cause metabolic and functional alterations including in non-target organisms. Amphibians constitute the most globally threatened Class of vertebrates, and the population declines observed around the world are due to a synergy of different factors, including habitat degradation and fragmentation, mostly to agricultural purposes, and the exposure to contaminants derived of these activities, among others. Within this context, Melanophryniscus admirabilis is a micro endemic bufonid toad species, with occurrence registered to only one area in Rio Grande do Sul state (Brazil). This species has a critically endangered (CR) status, at regional, national and global levels. The great danger of extinction is due to several factors, including habitat fragmentation (especially for agricultural purposes) and the decreased habitat quality, mainly because of extensive use of agrochemicals in areas near of the natural habitat of this species. In view of the foregoing, the objective of the present study was to analyze possible alterations in metabolic and oxidative parameters in total homogenate of M. admirabilis tadpoles exposed to two different concentrations of commercial formulation containing Sulfentrazone (Boral? 500 SC) and two concentrations containing Glyphosate (Roundup? Original). The total levels of glycogen, proteins and uric acid were analyzed; as well as the possible occurrence of lipid peroxidation (LPO), expressed by TBARS levels; and the enzymatic activity of Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) and Glutathione S-Transferase (GST). The results showed significant alterations in metabolic and oxidative parameters, in groups exposed to Sulfentrazone and Glyphosate herbicides. Analyzing these results, we hypothesize that the associated mobilization of enzymes and metabolic parameters presumably was capable of counter the oxidative lipid damage in these animals. Despite of that, the observed alterations may affect these animals during its life cycle, especially during and after metamorphic period. The apparent enzymatic inhibition observed in groups exposed to the herbicides, in addition to indicate the great susceptibility of tadpoles to these agents, reflects an impairment of the ability of these animals to cope with adverse and synergistic environmental situations, such as habitat fragmentation, UV radiation and exposure to other pollutants. The absence of mortality suggests resistance of M. admirabilis tadpoles to the tested concentrations of herbicides; nevertheless, the comparison of the antioxidant capacity of this species against taxonomically related species would be relevant. Therefore, the present study has demonstrated that the exposure of M. admirabilis tadpoles to sub lethal concentrations of Sulfentrazone and Glyphosate herbicides has affected the homeostasis, thus affecting the survival, of these animals in later life cycle stages. However, further studies would be necessary, including other concentrations and herbicides, as well as the analysis of further metabolites and components of the antioxidant system of this species. / O incremento no uso de pesticidas vem ocasionando a degrada??o de diferentes ecossistemas, sobretudo aqu?ticos. Apesar de possu?rem aplica??es espec?ficas a determinados organismos, sabe-se que os agrot?xicos s?o capazes de ocasionar altera??es metab?licas e funcionais em diversos organismos n?o alvo. Os anf?bios constituem a Classe de vertebrados mais amea?ada globalmente, sendo que os decl?nios populacionais observados no mundo todo s?o decorrentes da a??o sin?rgica de diversos fatores, incluindo a fragmenta??o e degrada??o de habitat, principalmente para fins agr?colas, a exposi??o a contaminantes derivados destas atividades, dentre outros. Neste contexto, Melanophryniscus admirabilis ? uma esp?cie de sapo bufon?deo micro end?mica, descrita atualmente para apenas uma localidade no estado do Rio Grande do Sul (Brasil), e avaliada como Criticamente em Perigo de extin??o, em n?vel regional, nacional e global. O alto grau de amea?a desta esp?cie deve-se a um conjunto de fatores, como a fragmenta??o e perda de qualidade do habitat, principalmente devido ? convers?o de ?reas para agricultura e ? larga utiliza??o de agrot?xicos no entorno da ?rea de ocorr?ncia da esp?cie. Com isso, o objetivo do presente estudo foi analisar poss?veis altera??es em par?metros metab?licos e do balan?o oxidativo em homogeneizado total de girinos de M. admirabilis expostos a duas concentra??es de formula??o comercial contendo Sulfentrazone (Boral? 500 SC) e outras duas contendo Glifosato (Roundup? Original). Foram analisados os n?veis totais de glicog?nio, prote?nas e ?cido ?rico; a poss?vel ocorr?ncia de lipoperoxida??o (LPO) atrav?s dos n?veis de TBARS; e o n?vel de atividade das enzimas Super?xido Dismutase (SOD), Catalase (CAT) e Glutationa S-Transferase (GST). Os resultados obtidos evidenciaram altera??es significativas nos par?metros mensurados, nos grupos expostos ?s diferentes concentra??es dos herbicidas Sulfentrazone e Glifosato. A partir disto, sugere-se que a mobiliza??o conjunta das enzimas e metab?litos analisados possivelmente foi capaz de conter o dano oxidativo nestes animais. Entretanto, cabe ressaltar que as altera??es observadas podem vir a afetar estes animais ao longo do ciclo de vida, especialmente durante e ap?s o per?odo metam?rfico. A aparente inibi??o enzim?tica observada nos grupos expostos aos herbicidas, al?m de indicar grande suscetibilidade dos girinos frente ? exposi??o a estes agentes, pode refletir um preju?zo da capacidade destes animais em lidar com situa??es ambientais adversas e sin?rgicas, como a fragmenta??o de habitat, radia??o UV e exposi??o a outros poluentes. A aus?ncia de mortalidade nos girinos de M. admirabilis sugere resist?ncia ?s concentra??es dos herbicidas testados; contudo, caberia a compara??o da capacidade antioxidante desta esp?cie com outras esp?cies taxonomicamente pr?ximas. Assim, este estudo demonstrou que a exposi??o de girinos de M. admirabilis a concentra??es subletais dos herbicidas Sulfentrazone e Glifosato conduziu a uma ruptura da homeostase que pode afetar a sobreviv?ncia da esp?cie em etapas futuras de seu ciclo de vida. Seriam relevantes estudos futuros visando ? compreens?o dos efeitos de outras concentra??es e herbicidas, bem como a an?lise de outros metab?litos e componentes do sistema antioxidante desta esp?cie.

Submitted by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-10-02T14:26:17Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TES_ROSANA_HALINSKI_DE_OLIVEIRA_COMPLETO.pdf: 1515461 bytes, checksum: a0570fb682b073eeb04b28c31001af16 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-02T14:26:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TES_ROSANA_HALINSKI_DE_OLIVEIRA_COMPLETO.pdf: 1515461 bytes, checksum: a0570fb682b073eeb04b28c31001af16 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-20 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / The current loss of biodiversity has negative consequences for the environment and impacts several pollination ecossystem services, from which human society benefits directly or indirectly. Among the main pollinators bees, wasps, coleopterans, flies and butterflies stand out. Bees pollinate more than 90% of 107 worldwide crops and other insects might contribute with 20-50% of pollination. Studies about canola (Brassica napus L. cultivar ?ole?fera?) point out that insect visitation promotes an increase of 12 to 47% in grain productivity. Faced with this, the present work aimed to know the bee, wasp and coleopteran diversity in the canola agroecossystem and identify potential pollinators of the crop. Furthermore, it was evaluated how the landscape and the pollinators influence in the productivity of canola, as well as the habitat suitability for the pollinator species in the face of climatic change in future scenarios (2050). Insects were collected with pan traps in eight fields of B. napus (Hyola 420 and Hyola 61) in the towns of Esmeralda, Estrela and Guarani das Miss?es, RS, Brazil. For the development of the habitat suitability maps it was used the occurrence records of species in databases and of the canola fields in the towns informed by the crop promoters. Among the wasps the social species Brachygastra lecheguana and Protonectarina sylveirae and the solitary species Campsomeris spp. stand out as potential pollinators. The most representative families of coleopterans were Melyridae, Curculionidae, Nitidulidae, Chrysomelidae and Scarabaeidae, and the most abundant species, which is is polliniferous, with a pubescent body and dense bristles, to which the pollen grains adhere and are transported, thus probably it is a pollinator of canola and surrounding flowers. The productivity of canola was positively influenced by the diversity of social and solitary bees, and the distance from the forest fragment affected the composition of bee guilds present inside the canola fields. It was observed that the semi-natural areas presented a positive correlation with the social native bee species richness. Regarding the category of landscape named ?Forest?, it was observed that there is a negative correlation in the 1000 meters radius with the subsocial or solitary bee abundance, possibly explained by their nesting habit, which is mainly underground, which means that it is not exclusively dependent of forest to build their nests. Accordingly, in the ?Agriculture? category, the agricultural landscape in the 1000 meters radius was positively correlated to the abundance of the same guild, fact attributed to the nesting inside canola fields. In view of the different degrees of heterogeneity of the landscape in canola crops, it can be observed that the composition of insects in the canola agroecossystem responds to the ecological and historical factors of each region, being related to the quality of the habitat and food resources for the species. The areas of habitat suitability for canola show a high potential for future crop expansion, however, for this to happen, strategies such as the use of cultivars that have greater tolerance to climatic variables should be established, because they affect plant phenology. In addition, it is suggested to use efforts to introduce the crops in places that are suitable in the future scenario. Furthermore, when comparing the habitat suitability only for canola and then in overlapping with the stingless bee species, we can observe that the appropriate areas increase significantly, reinforcing that for the expansion of the crop, conservation measures of natural and semi-natural habitats for providing food and nesting resources for pollinators are needed. / A perda atual da biodiversidade tem consequ?ncias negativas para o meio ambiente e impacta diversos servi?os ecossist?micos de poliniza??o, dos quais a sociedade humana se beneficia direta ou indiretamente. Entre os principais polinizadores destacam-se as abelhas, vespas, cole?pteros, moscas e borboletas. Sabe-se que as abelhas polinizam mais de 90% de 107 culturas globais e que outros insetos podem contribuir com 25-50% na poliniza??o. Estudos sobre canola (Brassica napus L. variedade ole?fera) apontam que a visita de insetos promove o aumento da produtividade dos gr?os de 12 a 47%. Diante disto, o presente trabalho objetivou conhecer a diversidade de abelhas, vespas e cole?pteros em agroecossistema de canola e identificar potenciais polinizadores da cultura. Al?m disso, foi avaliado como a paisagem e os polinizadores influenciam na produtividade de canola, bem como as ?reas de adequabilidade de habitat para esp?cies polinizadoras frente ?s mudan?as clim?ticas em cen?rios futuros (2050). Os insetos foram coletados com o uso de pan traps em oito lavouras de B. napus (Hyola 420 e Hyola 61) nos munic?pios de Esmeralda, Estrela e Guarani das Miss?es, RS, Brasil. Para desenvolvimento dos mapas de adequabilidade de habitat utilizou-se registros de ocorr?ncias das esp?cies em bases de dados e dos munic?pios com lavouras de canola fornecidos por fomentadoras da cultura. Dentre as vespas destacam-se as esp?cies sociais Brachygastra lecheguana e Protonectarina sylveirae e as esp?cies solit?rias Campsomeris spp., Eucyrtothynnus spp. e Tiphia spp. como potenciais polinizadores. As fam?lias mais representativas de cole?pteros foram Melyridae, Curculionidae, Nitidulidae, Chrysomelidae e Scarabaeidae, sendo que a esp?cie mais abundante, Astylus variegatus, que ? polin?faga, com corpo pubescente e densas cerdas, aos quais os gr?os de p?len se aderem e s?o transportados, portanto, provavelmente ? polinizador da canola e de flores do entorno. A produtividade de canola foi positivamente influenciada pela diversidade de abelhas, sociais e solit?rias, e a dist?ncia do remanescente florestal afetou a composi??o das guildas de abelhas presentes no interior da lavoura. Foi observado que as ?reas seminaturais tiveram correla??o positiva com a riqueza de abelhas sociais nativas. J? na categoria de paisagem denominada ?Mata?, pode-se observar que h? correla??o negativa no raio de 1000 metros com a abund?ncia de abelhas subsociais ou solit?rias, possivelmente atribu?do ao h?bito de nidifica??o destas, que ? predominantemente subterr?neo, isto ?, n?o dependem exclusivamente de florestas para construir seus ninhos. Em conson?ncia, na categoria de ?Agricultura?, a paisagem agr?cola no raio de 1000 metros foi correlacionada positivamente com a abund?ncia da mesma guilda, fato atribu?do a nidifica??o no interior das lavouras. Diante de diferentes graus de heterogeneidade da paisagem nas lavouras de canola pode-se observar que a composi??o de insetos no agroecossistema da canola responde aos fatores ecol?gicos e hist?ricos de cada regi?o, relacionando-se com a qualidade do habitat e recursos alimentares para as esp?cies. As ?reas de adequabilidade de habitat para canola mostram um elevado potencial para expans?o da cultura no futuro, contudo para que isto aconte?a deve-se estabelecer estrat?gias como a utiliza??o de cultivares que tenham maior toler?ncia ?s vari?veis clim?ticas, visto que estas afetam a fenologia das plantas. Em acr?scimo, sugere-se empregar esfor?os para introdu??o da cultura em lugares que s?o adequados no cen?rio futuro. Al?m disso, ao compararmos a adequabilidade de habitat somente para canola e depois em sobreposi??o com as esp?cies de abelhas sem ferr?o, podemos observar que as ?reas adequadas aumentam expressivamente, refor?ando que para expans?o da cultura necessita-se medidas de conserva??o de habitats naturais e seminaturais para fornecer recursos alimentares e de nidifica??o para os polinizadores.

Submitted by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-10-03T14:56:57Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_MAURICIO_BETTIO_COMPLETO.pdf: 4460744 bytes, checksum: 541ba188b47e9ce65c7838bed98a0765 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-10-03T14:56:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_MAURICIO_BETTIO_COMPLETO.pdf: 4460744 bytes, checksum: 541ba188b47e9ce65c7838bed98a0765 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-16 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico - CNPq / Grassland ecosystems compound open landscapes with predominance of grass/forb/shrub vegetation, frequently interspersed by streams, wetlands, peatbogs and forest formations. Grasslands dominate practically 40% of the terrestrial surface and they are between the more suscetible natural formations to human interventions. The highland grasslands of southern Brazil are considered natural relicts historically maintened by disturbance, as fire and herbivory. The presence of natural disturbances is an intrinsic and necessary characteristic of grasslands ecosystems, being an evolutive force that forged the landscape, selecting plants and animals, especially where the climatic and soil conditions are prone to forest development. Although fire is considered a natural disturbance into highland grasslands of southern Brazil, its regime has been altered since the arrival of humans and especially after cattle introduction, in the XVII century. In this study, we evaluate the responses of the avian community in two different situations of management of the grassland vegetation in southern Brazil: areas with annualy or biennialy burns and areas where burns were excluded/suppressed since 10-15 years ago. We dedicate two chapters to explore this subject, focusing on: (1) the avian and vegetation responses to two distinct management situations (fire vs. fire exclusion); and: (2) exploring how an accidental burning event in areas with fire exclusion for many years affected community parameters, compared to frequently burned areas. We also discuss the importance of fire disturbance to maintain a diverse avifauna and grassland ecosystems in south Brazil. We conduct samplings during the breeding season, in spring/summer 2015 to 2016. We verified that diversity of birds was not significantly different between the two management practices studied, indicating that the main effects of the frequently presence or absence of burns tend to be verifyed mainly on species composition, at least in short term. The habitat structure, measured as height of vegetation, number of woddy plants and percent of ground cover by rocks and vegetation was responsible by 80% of total variation on the composition and adundance of bird community. When we compare pre and post burn state of areas usually no burned with periodically burned areas, we verify expressive modifications, such a decrease of vegetativon height and density, a larger quantity of exposed soil into post burned areas in relation to periodically burned grasslands and the pre burned time of the usually not burned areas. Again, the avifauna differs only in relation to species composition, indicating that alteration on management dynamic is able to select bird species, benefiting or harming the occurrence of a part of community. Threatened species as Xanthopsar flavus, Anthus nattereri and Cinclodes pabsti had preference for burned grasslands with short vegetation, while Scytalopus iraiensis and Sporophila melanogaster occupied excluded grasslands where vegetation was tall and dense. Our results clearly indicate that bird communities respond significantly to different types of management employed on grassland vegetation. Studies that consider a greater temporal variation than ours, would be necessary and complementary in order to verify the resilience of grassland-specialists bird species in relation to fire events or their absence. The management with fire in grasslands has proven to be important to maintenance of birds, including globally threatened taxa. Although application of fire has legal impediments, its controlled use seems to be a strategic management tool for maintenance of bird diversity in the south brazilian highland grasslands. / Ecossistemas campestres constituem paisagens abertas com predom?nio de vegeta??o herb?cea/arbustiva, frequentemente entremeada por cursos d??gua, banhados, p?ntanos e at? forma??es florestais. Os Grasslands, como s?o chamados, dominam praticamente 40% da superf?cie terrestre e est?o entre as forma??es naturais mais suscet?veis a interven??es humanas. Os campos de altitude localizados no sul do Brasil s?o considerados relictos naturais mantidos historicamente por dist?rbios, como fogo e herbivoria. A presen?a de dist?rbios naturais ? uma caracter?stica intr?nseca e necess?ria aos ecossistemas campestres, sendo uma for?a evolutiva que forjou a paisagem selecionando plantas e animais, especialmente onde as condi??es clim?ticas e de solo s?o propensas ao desenvolvimento de florestas. Embora o fogo seja considerado uma forma de dist?rbio natural nos campos de altitude do sul do Brasil, seu regime tem sido alterado desde a chegada dos humanos, especialmente ap?s a introdu??o da pecu?ria no s?culo XVII. Avaliamos neste estudo a resposta da comunidade de aves em duas situa??es distintas de manejo da vegeta??o campestre no sul do Brasil: ?reas com hist?rico de queimadas anuais ou bianuais e ?reas exclu?das de fogo por um per?odo entre 10-15 anos. Dedicamos dois cap?tulos para explorar este tema, focando no primeiro a resposta das aves e vegeta??o ?s duas situa??es antagonistas de manejo e, no segundo, explorando um evento de inc?ndio acidental sobre a vegeta??o com hist?rico de exclus?o de queima, para verificar altera??es nos par?metros da comunidade em rela??o a ?reas frequentemente queimadas e para discutir a import?ncia dos dist?rbios na manuten??o de uma avifauna diversa bem como do ecossistema campestre no sul do Brasil. Realizamos a coleta de dados na ?poca reprodutiva, entre a primavera/ver?o de 2015 e 2016. Constatamos que a diversidade da comunidade de aves n?o foi alterada significativamente entre os tipos de manejo, indicando que os principais efeitos da presen?a frequente ou aus?ncia das queimadas tendem a ser verificados sobre as esp?cies, ao menos num curto espa?o de tempo. Houve, portanto, significativa modifica??o na composi??o de esp?cies. A estrutura do habitat, como altura da vegeta??o, n?mero de plantas lenhosas e porcentagem de cobertura do solo por rochas e vegeta??o foi respons?vel por 80% da varia??o total da comunidade de aves, demonstrando que a avifauna responde intensamente ?s altera??es do ambiente. Quando comparamos o per?odo pr? e p?s queima com ?reas queimadas periodicamente constatamos modifica??es expressivas na estrutura da vegeta??o, como a diminui??o de altura e densidade, al?m de uma grande quantidade de solo exposto nas ?reas p?s queima em rela??o aos campos periodicamente queimados e ao per?odo pr? queima. Novamente, a avifauna respondeu significativamente somente em rela??o a composi??o de esp?cies, indicando que a altera??o da din?mica de manejo ? capaz de selecionar as esp?cies de aves, de modo a beneficiar ou prejudicar a ocorr?ncia de parte da comunidade. Esp?cies amea?adas de extin??o como Xanthopsar flavus, Anthus nattereri e Cinclodes pabsti tiveram uma prefer?ncia em ocupar campos queimadas com vegeta??o baixa, enquanto Scytalopus iraiensis e Sporophila melanogaster ocuparam campos exclu?dos de queima onde a vegeta??o era alta e densa. Nossos resultados indicam claramente que a comunidade de aves responde significativamente aos diferentes tipos de manejo empregados sobre a vegeta??o campestre. Estudos que levem em considera??o uma varia??o temporal maior do que a avaliada neste trabalo s?o um gargalo no sentido de verificar a resili?ncia das esp?cies de aves campestres especialistas em rela??o aos eventos de fogo ou sua aus?ncia. O manejo dos campos demonstrou ser de grande import?ncia para a manuten??o de aves, incluindo t?xons globalmente amea?ados. Apesar da aplica??o do fogo ter impedimentos legais, seu uso controlado parece ser uma ferramenta de manejo estrat?gica na manuten??o da diversidade de aves nos campos de altitude sul-brasileiros.

Submitted by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-11-08T18:17:47Z No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_NATALIA_SIMONI_PORZIO_COMPLETO.pdf: 1305415 bytes, checksum: f2d6d598a934529f25f9812fea079cd2 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-11-08T18:18:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_NATALIA_SIMONI_PORZIO_COMPLETO.pdf: 1305415 bytes, checksum: f2d6d598a934529f25f9812fea079cd2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-08T18:18:21Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DIS_NATALIA_SIMONI_PORZIO_COMPLETO.pdf: 1305415 bytes, checksum: f2d6d598a934529f25f9812fea079cd2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-27 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico - CNPq / Acoustical signals are the main form in which birds communicate, and they are used to attract mates, defend territories, alarm others from predators and recognize each other, being than an important feature on speciation process. Then, song is extremely important, especially in Oscines, a group of birds that have a widely types of songs, singular for each species. Many studies have been shown that the vocal tract act as a constrict factor on song structure, besides body size. Beak gape, size and bite force are known as a limiting factors of note rate, frequency bandwidth and maximum/minimum frequencies, in which larger beaks produces narrow sounds with lower note rates. Our study had two objectives related of Oscine birds (of the genus Sporophila): the first one (chapter I) was to analyze the evolution of beak volume and song structure and verify the existence of song constriction and coevolution between them. The other objective (discussed in chapter II) was to test the relation between beak volumes and bite force with the song structure of three sympatric species of Sporophila, and try to infer how they organize their songs to avoid the acoustic overlap due their coexistence. In the chapter I we analyze territorial songs of 47 males from 11 species of Sporophila, representatives of Neotropical Oscines (Thraupidae). We found that frequency bandwidth and maximum frequency had a negative relation with beak volume, besides that, minimum frequency showed a trend for the same pattern. Beak volume, note rate and minimum frequency demonstrated to have a phylogenetic signal, which suggest that closely related species had beak morphology aand song structure more similar then lesser related species. Our results corroborate literature, in which beak volume acts as a limiter for song structure and also that this character can coevolve with birdsong. However, other variables did not present a constriction by the beak volume, what suggest that there is much to discover about this relation in songbirds yet. It is interesting to test the phylogenetic influence besides morphological characters, since this feature can be influencing song structure more than song constrainers. In chapter II, we selected S. beltoni, S. caerulescens and S. hypoxantha as a model of large, medium and small species respectively. These three species used to occur in the same habitat where they breed in northern of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Adult that were observed and recorded were captured, had they beak measured and pass though bite force test. We found that S. beltoni and S. hypoxantha had more differences among song parameters, in which the first one presents the larger beak among the three species evaluated, and the second the smallest beak. The highest relation between strength/beak size and song was observed in S. caerulescens in which frequency bandwidth and minimum/maximum frequencies presented a positive relationship with bite force and beak size, showing that this feature do not limit song on this taxa against that other studies have shown. Concerning to the use of acoustical space, the greatest differences found were related with note rate and song duration. These factors should be some features used to avoid the song overlap on nature. In general terms our study shows that the limitation of sound per characters of the beak it is not a rule in Oscines, although there is a negative relationship between song variation and beak size when more species are add to the model. With these results we belive that it is important to know how changes in morphology of all vocal tract can affect song structure and how morphologic and acoustic features had evolved through their phylogenetic history, because understand this is essential to better comprise the speciation process among these groups. / A principal forma de comunica??o das aves ? por meio de sinais ac?sticos, ? atrav?s deles que elas atraem parceiros, defendem territ?rios e se reconhecem. Com isso, o canto ? extremamente importante no processo de especia??o, em particular nas aves Oscines, um grupo que tem amplos tipos de canto, singulares a cada esp?cie. Sabe-se que o trato vocal atua como modulador na estrutura do som; caracter?sticas do bico podem atuar como fatores limitantes influenciando a taxa de notas, largura de banda e frequ?ncias, no qual bicos maiores produzem sons com menor taxa de notas e com frequ?ncias mais restritas. O nosso trabalho teve dois objetivos relacionados a um grupo de aves Oscines (Sporophila), o primeiro (cap?tulo I) foi analisar a evolu??o do volume do bico e da estrutura do canto para verificar a exist?ncia de limita??es e coevolu??o entre os mesmos. No segundo (cap?tulo II) testamos a rela??o entre volume do bico e a capacidade de mordida com a estrutura do canto de tr?s esp?cies simp?tricas de Sporophila spp., al?m de verificar como estas aves organizam seus cantos para evitar a sobreposi??o deles no ambiente. No cap?tulo I analisamos cantos territoriais representando 11 esp?cies de Sporophila. Encontramos que a largura de banda e m?xima frequ?ncia tiveram rela??o negativa com o volume do bico; al?m disso, a frequ?ncia m?nima apresentou uma tend?ncia para o mesmo padr?o. O volume do bico, taxa de notas e frequ?ncia m?nima demonstraram ter sinal filogen?tico, sugerindo que esp?cies proximamente relacionadas apresentem essas vari?veis mais similares. Nossos resultados mostram que o volume do bico atua como limitador na estrutura do canto al?m de indicar que esse fator pode coevoluir com o canto destas aves, corroborando a literatura. Entretanto, a frequ?ncia dominante, taxa de notas e dura??o do canto n?o apresentaram limita??o pelo volume do bico, o que sugere que ainda existem muitas informa??es sobre o tema para serem descobertas. Assim ? interessante que se teste a influ?ncia filogen?tica, al?m dos caracteres morfol?gicos sobre as caracter?sticas do canto em aves Oscines. No segundo cap?tulo n?s selecionamos S. beltoni, S. caerulescens e S. hypoxantha como modelos de esp?cie grande, m?dia e pequena respectivamente. Estes tr?s t?xons costumam coexistir e se reproduzir nas mesmas ?reas no sul do Brasil e foram amostrados concomitantemente no nordeste do Rio Grande do Sul. Machos adultos foram observados e gravados e ap?s foram capturados, tiveram seus bicos medidos e passaram pelo teste de press?o de mordida em campo. N?s encontramos que S. beltoni e S. hypoxantha s?o as esp?cies que mais divergem em par?metros ac?sticos, sendo que a primeira apresenta bico mais volumoso dentre as tr?s esp?cies. A maior rela??o entre for?a/tamanho do bico e o canto foi observada em Sporophila caerulescens na qual a largura de banda e frequ?ncia m?xima/m?nima do canto apresentaram rela??o positiva com a for?a e o tamanho do bico, evidenciando que este car?ter n?o limita o som deste t?xon ao contr?rio do que outros estudos t?m mostrado. Referente ? ocupa??o do espa?o ac?stico, as maiores diferen?as encontradas foram relacionadas ?s vari?veis de tempo do canto e taxa de notas. Cogita-se que estes podem ser alguns dos fatores usados para evitar a sobreposi??o dos cantos na natureza. Em termos gerais nosso estudo mostra que a limita??o do canto por caracteres do bico n?o ? uma regra geral em Oscines embora exista uma rela??o negativa entre varia??es no canto e tamanho do bico quando mais esp?cies s?ao adicionadas ao modelo. Com esses resultados n?s acreditamos que ? interessante seguir pesquisando sobre os fatores ?limitadores do canto? j? que n?o existe um padr?o generalizado para aves canoras. ? importante conhecer como as mudan?as na morfologia de todo o trato vocal podem alterar a estrutura do som das aves e como caracteres morfol?gicos e ac?sticos evolu?ram atrav?s da sua hist?ria filogen?tica, j? que este entendimento ? essencial para melhor compreender o processo de especia??o destes grupos.

Submitted by PPG Zoologia (zoologia-pg@pucrs.br) on 2017-11-16T18:24:38Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_de_doutorado_Tirelli, Fl?via.pdf: 5027623 bytes, checksum: 81a5590c184505adcd79dad015861356 (MD5) / Rejected by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br), reason: Devolvido devido ? falta de capa institucional no arquivo PDF. on 2017-11-22T18:49:41Z (GMT) / Submitted by PPG Zoologia (zoologia-pg@pucrs.br) on 2017-11-27T12:18:11Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_de_doutorado_Tirelli_Fl?via.pdf: 5108938 bytes, checksum: 3109955638e7a5001b25fd2a66f33aaf (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-12-04T12:20:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_de_doutorado_Tirelli_Fl?via.pdf: 5108938 bytes, checksum: 3109955638e7a5001b25fd2a66f33aaf (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-04T12:27:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_de_doutorado_Tirelli_Fl?via.pdf: 5108938 bytes, checksum: 3109955638e7a5001b25fd2a66f33aaf (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-03-29 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico - CNPq / The Geoffroy?s cat (Leopardus geoffroyi) and the pampas cat (L. colocolo) are small Neotropical felids that typically occur in open landscapes. These species are distributed simpatricaly in the Uruguayan Savannah ecoregion. In this region, Geoffroy?s cat and pampas cat are considered, respectively, to be abundant and rare species. The present study aimed to evaluate these propositions and to characterize ecological aspects of these species in this threatened ecoregion. The study was conducted from November 2013 to September 2015 in privately owned areas in ?Serra do Caver??, southernmost Brazil. We installed and monitored 26 camera-traps and we performed eight capture campaigns aiming to fit individuals of both species with VHF radio-collars and to collect blood samples. As a result, we obtained 516 image records of Geoffroy?s cat and captured 12 different individuals of same species, seven of which were monitored by radio-telemetry. We did not find any record of pampas cat, which demonstrated the rareness or absence of the species in the study area. From the Geoffroy?s cat data, we observed that males had home-range (HR), core-area and body weight that were larger than those of females. We also observed that male body weight significantly and positively influenced HR size, whereas in females such relationship was not significant. We observed extensive HR and core area overlap, with minor changes in overlap between seasonal partitions. These results indicate some degree of sociability in this population. Interestingly, our kinship analyses indicated that the majority of the cats sampled in this population were unrelated, and that genetic relatedness did not significantly influence the levels of HR and core area overlap. This indicated that the population, in the studied scale, has a socio-spatial structure that departs from what could be expected based on a model assuming male dispersal and female philopatry. Additionally to the socio-spatial patterns, we also investigated factors that influence the persistence of the species in the threatened Uruguayan Savannah. We observed that this population significantly selected riparian vegetation and avoided open grassland with cattle. It is noteworthy that the protection of riparian vegetation is required by Brazilian national law. Hence, this habitat may provide shelter for Geoffroy?s cats, and hypothetically it could serve as an ecological corridor for the species, an important issue that should be tested deepened in the future. This population also presented significantly nocturnal activity patterns, which consequently avoids human contact. The density estimation was considered reasonable in comparison to other areas within the Geoffroy?s cat range, agreeing with the initial estimate for the species in the region. In these studies, we obtained insights that help us understand some ecological characteristics of the species, and to assess the bases for its persistence in these human-dominated landscapes. Such insights could not be obtained for the pampas cat, as it seems to be currently absent from the study site. Its absence or rarity at this site and several others within the ecoregion is a worrisome observation, from a conservation perspective. This is especially the case given that the Uruguayan Savannah contains a distinct ?Evolutionarily Significant Unit? (ESU) of pampas cats. Therefore, in the fourth chapter, we aimed to assess the current spatial distribution and conservation status of the pampas cat in the Uruguayan Savannah. We collected 107 spatial records and constructed two models (with and without anthropogenic variables), each of them built separately with two different algorithms (Maxent and Maxlike). All models were very similar, indicating higher suitability (or probability of occurrence [PO]) in grassland areas from sea level to 400m of altitude. The best-fit models were those including anthropogenic variables, which also yielded a more restricted distribution of higher suitability and higher PO areas, supporting the conclusion that this pampas cat population is affected by human disturbance. The estimation of the population size for high-suitability and high-PO areas resulted in assignment to the ?Critically Endangered? and ?Endangered? categories, respectively. Based on these results, we highlight the urgent need for conservation plans targeting pampas cats in the Uruguayan Savannah. In the global study, we observed that similar felid species seem to respond differently to human impacts, and obtained results that can contribute to the design of conservation actions aiming to ensure the long-term survival of these two species in this threatened ecoregion. / As esp?cies Leopardus geoffroyi e L. colocolo s?o fel?deos neotropicais de pequeno porte, t?picos de ambientes abertos, que possuem distribui??o simp?trica na ecorregi?o da Savana Uruguaia. Nesta regi?o, L. geoffroyi ? considerada uma esp?cie abundante e L. colocolo um fel?deo raro. O presente estudo teve por objetivo avaliar essas proposi??es e caracterizar aspectos ecol?gicos das duas esp?cies nesta ecorregi?o amea?ada. O trabalho de campo foi conduzido entre novembro de 2013 e setembro de 2015, em propriedades rurais, na Serra do Caver?, sul do Brasil. Foram instaladas e monitoradas 26 armadilhas-fotogr?ficas e foram realizadas oito campanhas de captura visando ? coloca??o de radio-colares VHF, bem como a coleta de amostras de sangue dos indiv?duos de ambas as esp?cies. Como resultados, foram realizados 516 registros fotogr?ficos de L. geoffroyi e foram capturados 12 indiv?duos desta esp?cie, sete dos quais puderam ser monitorados com radio-telemetria. N?o foram encontrados registros de L. colocolo, indicando a escassez de indiv?duos desta esp?cie na ?rea de estudo. Em rela??o aos dados de L. geoffroyi, observou-se que os machos possuem ?reas de vida, de uso e peso corporal maiores do que as f?meas. Os resultados indicaram que o peso corporal dos machos influenciou positiva e significativamente no tamanho das ?reas de vida dos mesmos, rela??o esta que n?o ocorreu entre as f?meas. Tamb?m foi observada uma extensa sobreposi??o de ?reas de vida e de uso, sem grandes mudan?as sazonais, indicando algum grau de sociabilidade nesta popula??o. Os resultados da an?lise de parentesco indicaram que a maioria dos indiv?duos capturados desta popula??o n?o eram parentes. Ao mesmo tempo, a rela??o gen?tica parece n?o influenciar a sobreposi??o de ?rea de vida, o que sugere que esta popula??o, na escala estudada, possui uma estrutura s?cio-espacial aparentemente distante da proposi??o tradicional na qual os machos tenderiam a dispersar por maiores dist?ncias e as f?meas seriam filop?tricas. Al?m dos padr?es s?cio-espaciais, este estudo investigou fatores que influenciam na persist?ncia desta esp?cie na Savana Uruguaia. Foi poss?vel observar que esta popula??o selecionou significativamente mais as ?reas de vegeta??o rip?ria e evitou as ?reas de campos com gado. Cabe ressaltar que a prote??o da vegeta??o rip?ria ? exigida pela legisla??o nacional brasileira. Assim, este habitat pode fornecer abrigo para L. geoffroyi e hipoteticamente poderia servir como corredor ecol?gico, uma quest?o importante que precisa ser aprofundada no futuro. Esta popula??o tamb?m apresentou padr?es noturnos significativos que, consequentemente, evitam o contato humano. A estimativa de densidade foi considerada razo?vel em compara??o com a observada em outras ?reas, concordando com a proposi??o inicial para a esp?cie na regi?o. Os resultados desses estudos auxiliaram na compreens?o das caracter?sticas ecol?gicas da esp?cie e dos fatores que auxiliam sua persist?ncia nesta regi?o de paisagens dominadas por humanos. Tais esclarecimentos n?o foram poss?veis para L. colocolo, que n?o foi encontrado na ?rea de estudo. A aparente aus?ncia nesta ?rea, bem como em outras ?reas dentro da ecorregi?o, sugerem preocupa??o em termos da conserva??o desta esp?cie, o que torna-se ainda mais relevante tendo em vista que esta popula??o ? considerada uma ?Unidade Evolutivamente Significante? (UES) distinta. Assim, o quarto cap?tulo da tese objetivou estimar a distribui??o espacial atual e o status de conserva??o da UES de L. colocolo presente na Savana Uruguaia. Foram coletados 107 registros da esp?cie e foram constru?dos dois modelos (incluindo ou n?o vari?veis antr?picas), cada deles sendo gerado com dois algoritmos (Maxent e Maxlike). Os modelos resultaram em distribui??es similares, indicando as ?reas de campo com altitudes entre o n?vel do mar e 400m como aquelas apresentando mais elevada adequabilidade ou maior probabilidade de ocorr?ncia (PO). Os modelos que apresentaram melhor desempenho foram os que inclu?am as vari?veis antr?picas. Esses modelos geraram distribui??es mais restritas das ?reas de maior adequabilidade e PO, apoiando a conclus?o que essa popula??o de L. colocolo ? afetada por perturba??es humanas. A estimativa do tamanho populacional presente nas ?reas de maior adequabilidade e PO resultaram, respectivamente, nas categorias ?Criticamente em Perigo? e ?Em Perigo? para esta UES. Destaca-se, portanto, a necessidade urgente de planos de conserva??o para esta unidade populacional de L. colocolo. O estudo, em sua totalidade, observou que esp?cies de fel?deos com caracter?sticas tradicionalmente similares respondem de forma diferente aos impactos antr?picos. Os resultados obtidos podem contribuir para o desenho de a??es de manejo e conserva??o a fim de assegurar a sobreviv?ncia, em longo prazo, das duas esp?cies nesta ecorregi?o amea?ada.

Submitted by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-12-15T13:19:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TES_TATIANA_GUTERRES_KAEHLER_COMPLETO.pdf: 2016956 bytes, checksum: b0fd61543fa1b3c26ae1a727287bfd0d (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Caroline Xavier (caroline.xavier@pucrs.br) on 2017-12-15T13:19:53Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TES_TATIANA_GUTERRES_KAEHLER_COMPLETO.pdf: 2016956 bytes, checksum: b0fd61543fa1b3c26ae1a727287bfd0d (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-15T13:20:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TES_TATIANA_GUTERRES_KAEHLER_COMPLETO.pdf: 2016956 bytes, checksum: b0fd61543fa1b3c26ae1a727287bfd0d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-30 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior - CAPES / In bees, foraging flight can influence spatial characteristics of interactions in the community, which have consequences at ecosystem levels, such as nutrient transfer, seed dispersal and pollination. The pollination service performed by bees, in addition to influencing plant reproduction, positively affects about 90% of 107 global crops. One of the fundamental components for understanding populations persistence and interactions among species is the bees' foraging ranges, which can be determinant for population dynamics, genetic structure and life history. Considering this, the present work aims to analyze the foraging of Tetragonisca fiebrigi (Schwarz, 19838) using artificial feeders. In addition to determining the flight distance for the specie, the workers' space-time learning to the feeder is evaluated, the relation between the visitation rate and the quality of the food resources offered and the influence of the meteorological factors on the foraging. The experiments were carried out in the Botanical Garden of Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, from December 2014 to April 2015 and from November to December 2016. To analyze bees? learning in relation to the feeder, during two days the resource was available at the entrance of the colony and the number of visiting workers was counted every 1 hour. Also, the influence of the meteorological factors in relation to the maximum distance reached by the workers was analyzed along with the relation to the visitation rate in the artificial feeder. In order to analyze the flight distance of the species, the feeder was arranged near the entrance of the hive and, from the bees? visitation, was moved every 30 min by 30m, 50m, 100m, 150m and so on until the maximum distance with foraging of workers. Five feeders containing sucrose solutions with different concentrations (10, 20, 30, 40, 50%) were simultaneously placed in front of each target colony to analyze the relationship between the quality of the resource and the visitation rate. These feeders were spaced apart at 10 m intervals and the number of visits counted at each distance for 30 min. The results showed that T. fiebrigi reached a forage distance of 600 m in the feeder. However, the number of visits decreased as the distance from the resource increased relatively to the colony. The sugar concentration in the syrup offered have influenced the workers? decision-making, that is, the quality of the resources was directly related to the visitation rate, since the workers increased visitation frequency at the highest concentrations, from 30 to 50%. At lower concentrations, 10 and 20%, the number of visits was lower and the workers stopped the foraging in a distance closer to the colony (80 m). Regarding the learning of the bees to locate the feeder, there was a visitation rate increase on subsequent days of availability of the resource. This study made it possible to relate visitation rate in relation to flight distance, meteorological factors and resource quality, enriching the understanding of the foraging pattern of T. friebrigi. Knowledge about the foraging of this species, as well as other bee species, allows inferences about migration, colonization, resource collection, pollination potential and the application of this information for management aimed at biodiversity conservation. In meliponiculture, this knowledge allows the spatial planning of the colonies according to the distribution and abundance of the resources present in the landscape. Similarly, knowledge about the foraging of bees is important in agriculture, due to the possibility of landscape planning, or even directed pollination, to increase the productivity of the crops dependent on those pollinators. / Nas abelhas o voo de forrageio pode influenciar as caracter?sticas espaciais das intera??es na comunidade, as quais t?m consequ?ncias em n?veis ecossist?micos, como na transfer?ncia de nutrientes, dispers?o de sementes e poliniza??o. O servi?o de poliniza??o efetuado pelas abelhas, al?m de influenciar na reprodu??o de plantas, afeta positivamente cerca de 90% de 107 culturas globais. Um dos componentes fundamentais para entender a persist?ncia de popula??es e as intera??es entre as esp?cies ? o raio de forrageio das abelhas, o qual pode ser determinante para a din?mica de popula??o, estrutura gen?tica e hist?ria de vida. Diante disto, o presente trabalho objetivou analisar o forrageio de Tetragonisca fiebrigi (Schwarz, 1938) utilizando alimentadores artificiais. Foi avaliado o aprendizado das oper?rias ao alimentador, a rela??o entre a taxa de visita??o e a qualidade dos recursos alimentares ofertados e a influ?ncia dos fatores meteorol?gicos no forrageio. Os experimentos foram realizados no Jardim Bot?nico de Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil, no per?odo de dezembro de 2014 a abril de 2015 e de novembro a dezembro de 2016. Para analisar o aprendizado das abelhas em rela??o ao alimentador, durante dois dias, o recurso era disponibilizado na entrada da col?nia e n?mero de visitas de oper?rias era contabilizado a cada hora. Tamb?m foi analisada influ?ncia dos fatores meteorol?gicos em rela??o a dist?ncia m?xima alcan?ada pelas oper?rias e ainda em rela??o a taxa de visita??o no alimentador artificial. Para analisar a dist?ncia de voo da esp?cie, o alimentador era disposto pr?ximo da entrada da colmeia e, a partir da visita??o de abelhas, era movido a cada 30 min em 30m, 50m, 100m, 150m e assim sucessivamente at? a dist?ncia m?xima com forrageamento de oper?rias. Para analisar a rela??o da qualidade do recurso com a taxa de visita??o foram dispostos, simultaneamente, em frente a cada col?nia alvo cinco alimentadores contendo solu??es de sacarose com diferentes concentra??es (10, 20, 30, 40, 50%). Estes alimentadores eram distanciados em intervalos de 10 m e o n?mero de visitas era contabilizado em cada dist?ncia por 30 min. Os resultados demonstraram que T. fiebrigi alcan?ou a dist?ncia de 600 m para forragear no alimentador. Entretanto, o n?mero de visitas diminuiu na medida que a dist?ncia do recurso aumentou em rela??o a col?nia. Com rela??o ao aprendizado das abelhas para localizar o alimentador verificou-se aumento da taxa de visita??o em dias subsequentes de disponibiliza??o do recurso. A concentra??o de a??car no xarope ofertado influenciou a tomada de decis?o das oper?rias, isto ?, a qualidade dos recursos teve rela??o direta com a taxa de visita??o, dado que as oper?rias aumentaram a frequ?ncia de visitas nas concentra??es mais elevadas, de 30 a 50%. Nas concentra??es inferiores, de 10 e 20%, o n?mero de visitas foi menor e as oper?rias cessaram o forrageamento em dist?ncia mais pr?xima da col?nia (80 m). Este estudo possibilitou relacionar a taxa de visita??o com rela??o a dist?ncia de voo, aos fatores meteorol?gicos e a qualidade dos recursos, enriquecendo a compreens?o sobre o padr?o de forrageio de T. friebrigi. O conhecimento sobre o forrageio desta, bem como de outras esp?cies de abelhas, permite infer?ncias sobre a migra??o, coloniza??o, coleta de recursos, potencial de poliniza??o e a aplica??o destas informa??es para o manejo dirigido ? conserva??o da biodiversidade. Na meliponicultura, esse conhecimento possibilita o planejamento espacial das col?nias de acordo com a distribui??o e abund?ncia dos recursos presentes na paisagem. De modo semelhante o conhecimento sobre o forrageamento das abelhas ? importante na agricultura, devido ? possibilidade de planejamento da paisagem, ou mesmo de poliniza??o dirigida, para o aumento da produtividade das culturas dependentes desses polinizadores.