The Laskeek Bay Conservation Society has been collecting data on the East Limestone Island population of Ancient Murrelets since 1990. For the first 15 years of this decades-long study, mark-recapture data was collected annually on the adult population using one method while chicks were captured and tagged each year soon after their birth using another method. We developed a Jolly-Seber type model that integrates the adult and chick data. Using a multi-state framework, our model separates the `alive' state of the JS model into several age-related states, allowing for different survival and capture parameters between states. In the Ancient Murrelet case study we found that a 6-state model with constant adult survival and capture parameters best fit the data. We determined that, since the detected chicks are rarely seen again, including these individuals in the model does not result in estimates which greatly differ from that of the standard Jolly-Seber model but in a population in which juveniles have high survival and re-capture probabilities, the MSJS model is able to reduce the bias in estimates of population parameters. / Graduate

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The Euglossini bees has a wide distribution in the Neotropical region, occurring in different types of vegetation formation. The Cerrado biome is composed of different physiognomies, such as savanna and forest. Among Cerrado humid forest physiognomies, we can mention the seasonal semideciduous forest (SSF) and gallery forest (GF), which present different flora and microclimatic conditions. Recent studies in SSF of Cerrado showed the occurrence of a low abundance of individuals compared with surveys in SSF in the Atlantic Forest biome, despite a similar richness. The overall objective was (i) to estimate the diversity of bees and population size of the most frequent species of Euglossini in SSF fragments of Cerrado; (ii) to assess the genetic diversity of Euglossa pleosticta; and (iii) to evaluate the influence of vegetation types (SSF/GF) and seasonality on Euglossini community. For population and genetic analyzes, samplings was carried out between October 2012 and April 2013 in five fragments of SSF in five consecutive days, using seven aromatic baits.The marking of individuals was performed by removing the pre-tarsus and one of tarsomeres (PTT) according to the day of collection. The PTT was used for subsequent genetic analysis of Euglossa pleostica using heterologous molecular markers. In order to study the influence of phytophysiognomies and season in the bee community, monthly samplings from October 2012 to September 2013 were performed in another fragment of SSF and one of MG. A total of 256 males of euglossine, distributed in 12 species were captured and marked. We estimated a population size of Euglossa imperialis in one of the fragments (1222 ± 162.6 individuals) and in another fragment Euglossa cordata (44 ± 9.4). Using the concept of ecological guild (orchid bees), it was possible to estimate the populations of those three fragments which were: 3772 ± 436.2, 376 ± 62.3 to 1424 ± 242.2 individuals. For Eg. pleosticta three loci presented an allele with a dominant frequency over others in the same loco. The estimated gene flow indicated a higher percentage of non-migrant individuals in both populations. In the experiment about influence of phytophysignomies on the euglossini bee communities, it was not observed difference in species diversity between fragments, but there was an interaction between phytophysignomies and season, with the FES presenting the highest abundance in the wet season. We conclude that euglossini bees have small populations in the sampled fragments,there is a limited gene flow among populations Eg. pleosticta and that species diversity is similar in the different phytophysignomies, despite the significant interaction between vegetation type and season on the bees abundance. / A tribo Euglossini possui ampla distribuição nos neotrópicos, com ocorrência reconhecida para diferentes tipos de formações vegetais. O bioma Cerrado é formado por diferentes fitofisionomias, tanto savânicas quanto florestais. Dentre as fitofisionomias florestais mais úmidas do Cerrado, podemos citar a Floresta Estacional Semidecidual (FES) e a Mata de Galeria (MG), as quais apresentam flora e condições microclimáticas diferentes. Estudos mais recentes nas FES do Cerrado têm evidenciado a ocorrência de uma baixa abundância de indivíduos, quando comparadas com as FES inseridas no bioma da Mata Atlântica, apesar das semelhanças quanto a riqueza. Os objetivos gerais do trabalho foram: (i) estimar a diversidade de abelhas e tamanho populacional das espécies mais frequentes de Euglossini em fragmentos de FES do Cerrado; (ii) avaliar a diversidade genética de Euglossa pleosticta; e (iii) verificar a influência de fitofisionomias (FES/MG) e estação do ano na comunidade de abelhas Euglossini. Para as análises populacionais e genéticas, as coletas foram realizadas entre outubro/2012 e abril/2013 em cinco fragmentos de FES durante cinco dias consecutivos, utilizando-se sete iscas aromáticas.A marcação dos indivíduos foi realizada com a remoção do pré-tarso e um dos tarsômeros (PTT), de acordo com o dia de coleta, sendo que o PTT foi utilizado para as análises genéticas de Eg. pleostica, por meio de marcadores moleculares heterólogos. Para estudo da influência da fitofisionomia e estação do ano nas comunidades, coletas mensais foram realizadas entre outubro/2012 e setembro/ 2013 em outro fragmento de FES e um de MG. Foi capturado e marcado um total de 256 machos de Euglossini, distribuídos em 12 espécies. Foi estimado o tamanho populacional de Euglossa imperialis em um dos fragmentos (1222 ± 162,6 indivíduos) e Euglossa cordata em outro (44 ± 9,4). Utilizando o conceito ecológico de guilda (abelhas das orquídeas), foi possível estimar as populações de três fragmentos sendo estas: 3772 ± 436,2, 376 ± 62,3 e 1424 ± 242,2 indivíduos. Para Eg. pleosticta, três locos apresentaram um alelo com uma freqüência dominante sobre os outros do mesmo loco. O fluxo gênico estimado indicou uma maior porcentagem de indivíduos não migrantes para as duas populações. No experimento sobre influência das fitofisionomias nas comunidades, não foi verificado diferença na diversidade de espécies entre os fragmentos, mas houve interação entre as fitofisionomia e estação do ano, sendo a FES responsável pela maior abundância de indivíduos na estação úmida. Conclui-se que as abelhas apresentam pequenas populações nos fragmentos amostrados, que existe um fluxo gênico limitado entre as populações de Eg. pleosticta e que a diversidade de espécies é semelhante nas diferentes fitofisionomias, apesar da interação significativa entre fitofisionomia/estação do ano sobre a abundância das abelhas. / Mestre em Ecologia e Conservação de Recursos Naturais

Large carnivores are in decline throughout their range primarily due to anthropogenic influences. This is a concern because these species have high social, economic and ecological value. African lion (Panthera leo) populations are in decline in most parts of the continent and this has been attributed largely to habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, wire snare poaching, black market trafficking in lion parts, retaliatory killings, and poorly regulated trophy hunting. In order to implement effective lion conservation actions, the effect of each factor on lion demography or population dynamics must be well understood. In the past, most studies have used indirect methods to quantify the effects of hunting on lion demography. The temporary ban on lion hunting in Zambia allowed me to study directly how removing a key source of mortality, for males in particular, changed the demography. Using data collected from 2008-2015, I studied how the lion population in and around South Luangwa National Park, Zambia responded to a 3-year moratorium on lion trophy hunting implemented in 2013. For the duration of the study ban, I monitored 386 known individuals in 19 prides and 15 male coalitions. Reproductive activity as represented by cub production appeared to improve after the hunting ban and the number of individually identifiable lions in the study area steadily increased from 88 in 2008 to 197 in 2015. Using a Cormack-Jolly-Seber model, I found that apparent annual survival increased in the absence of hunting for all adult male age classes. The temporary ban on hunting was lifted in 2016 and I recommend that quotas remain conservative in order to allow more time for the population to recover, particularly in the adult male age classes. Better monitoring protocols should also be implemented to promote compliance with hunting regulations.

Population surveys indicate a declining trend in abundance for the scoter genus at the continental level. Little is known about changes in life history traits responsible for the recent population decline of white-winged scoters (<i>Melanitta fusca deglandi</i>, hereafter scoters). Therefore, I studied nesting and duckling ecology of scoters at Redberry Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada during summers 2000-2001 when I found 198 nests. To examine nest-site selection, I compared habitat features between successful nests, failed nests, and random sites. Discriminant function analysis differentiated habitat features, measured at hatch, between successful nests, failed nests, and random sites; lateral (r = 0.65) and overhead (r = 0.35) concealment were microhabitat variables most correlated with canonical discriminant functions. I also modeled daily survival rate (DSR) of nests as a function of year, linear and quadratic trends with nest age, nest initiation date, and seven microhabitat variables. Nest survival from a time constant model (i.e., Mayfield nest success estimate) was 0.35 (95% CL: 0.27, 0.43). Estimates of nest success were lower than those measured at Redberry Lake in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to nest survival increasing throughout the laying period and stabilizing during incubation, nest survival showed positive relationships with nest concealment and distance to water, and a negative relationship with distance to edge. Considering these factors, a model-averaged estimate of nest survival was 0.24 (95% CL: 0.09, 0.42). I conclude that scoters selected nesting habitat adaptively because (1) successful sites were more concealed than failed sites, (2) nest sites (i.e., successful and failed) had higher concealment than random sites, and (3) nest sites were on islands where success is greater than mainland. I then estimated duckling and brood survival with Cormack-Jolly-Seber models, implemented in Program Mark, from observations of 94 and 664 individually marked adult hens and ducklings, respectively. I tested hypotheses about duckling survival and (1) hatch date, (2) initial brood size at hatch, (3) duckling size and body condition at hatch, (4) offspring sex, (5) maternal female size and body condition at hatch, and (6) weather conditions within one week of hatching. Most mortality occurred during the first six days of duckling age. Variation in both duckling and brood survival were best modeled with effects of hatch date and initial brood size, while effects of female condition, female size, duckling size, and duckling condition were inconsistent. Survival probability clearly decreased with advancing hatch date and increased with larger initial brood sizes. Effects of weather and offspring sex in 2001, the only year such information was collected, suggested survival was negatively related to poor weather, but sex of ducklings, beyond size-related differences (i.e., sexual-size dimorphism), was unimportant. Estimates of survival to 28 days of age (30-day period), whether for ducklings (0.016, 0.021) or broods (0.084, 0.138) in 2000 or 2001, respectively, are the lowest of published studies and first for scoter broods in North America. I suspect intense gull predation shortly after hatch had the largest influence on duckling survival. Further research is needed to ascertain if low nesting success and duckling survival as well as other life cycle components are limiting scoter populations locally and throughout the rest of their breeding range.

Population surveys indicate a declining trend in abundance for the scoter genus at the continental level. Little is known about changes in life history traits responsible for the recent population decline of white-winged scoters (<i>Melanitta fusca deglandi</i>, hereafter scoters). Therefore, I studied nesting and duckling ecology of scoters at Redberry Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada during summers 2000-2001 when I found 198 nests. To examine nest-site selection, I compared habitat features between successful nests, failed nests, and random sites. Discriminant function analysis differentiated habitat features, measured at hatch, between successful nests, failed nests, and random sites; lateral (r = 0.65) and overhead (r = 0.35) concealment were microhabitat variables most correlated with canonical discriminant functions. I also modeled daily survival rate (DSR) of nests as a function of year, linear and quadratic trends with nest age, nest initiation date, and seven microhabitat variables. Nest survival from a time constant model (i.e., Mayfield nest success estimate) was 0.35 (95% CL: 0.27, 0.43). Estimates of nest success were lower than those measured at Redberry Lake in the 1970s and 1980s. In addition to nest survival increasing throughout the laying period and stabilizing during incubation, nest survival showed positive relationships with nest concealment and distance to water, and a negative relationship with distance to edge. Considering these factors, a model-averaged estimate of nest survival was 0.24 (95% CL: 0.09, 0.42). I conclude that scoters selected nesting habitat adaptively because (1) successful sites were more concealed than failed sites, (2) nest sites (i.e., successful and failed) had higher concealment than random sites, and (3) nest sites were on islands where success is greater than mainland. I then estimated duckling and brood survival with Cormack-Jolly-Seber models, implemented in Program Mark, from observations of 94 and 664 individually marked adult hens and ducklings, respectively. I tested hypotheses about duckling survival and (1) hatch date, (2) initial brood size at hatch, (3) duckling size and body condition at hatch, (4) offspring sex, (5) maternal female size and body condition at hatch, and (6) weather conditions within one week of hatching. Most mortality occurred during the first six days of duckling age. Variation in both duckling and brood survival were best modeled with effects of hatch date and initial brood size, while effects of female condition, female size, duckling size, and duckling condition were inconsistent. Survival probability clearly decreased with advancing hatch date and increased with larger initial brood sizes. Effects of weather and offspring sex in 2001, the only year such information was collected, suggested survival was negatively related to poor weather, but sex of ducklings, beyond size-related differences (i.e., sexual-size dimorphism), was unimportant. Estimates of survival to 28 days of age (30-day period), whether for ducklings (0.016, 0.021) or broods (0.084, 0.138) in 2000 or 2001, respectively, are the lowest of published studies and first for scoter broods in North America. I suspect intense gull predation shortly after hatch had the largest influence on duckling survival. Further research is needed to ascertain if low nesting success and duckling survival as well as other life cycle components are limiting scoter populations locally and throughout the rest of their breeding range.

Converting exotic forages to native warm-season grasses (NWSG) such as big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), and Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans) offers a sustainable alternative because NWSG may yield comparative livestock gains with less fertilizer, as well as offer habitat for arthropods and declining grassland bird species such as Dickcissels (Spiza americana). In the Southeastern United States, the predominant forage species are exotics such as bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon) and tall fescue (Schedonorus arundinaceus), so NWSG conversion could substantially improve sustainability and wildlife habitat on private lands in the region. In 2011 and 2012, I studied response of Dickcissels and arthropods to forage origin, diversity, and grazing at the Mississippi State University Prairie Research Unit in Monroe Co., MS, USA. Four treatments were established among 12 pastures representing a gradient in management intensity, including a grazed bermudagrass and tall fescue mix (GMEP), grazed Indian grass monoculture (GINP), grazed mixed native pasture (GMNP), and a non-grazed mixed native pasture (NMNP). Grazed treatments were stocked with steers from May through August each year. I also evaluated the economic implications of each grazing system. In general, there was a positive response to native grasses among Dickcissels and arthropods and a negative effect from grazing. Dickcissel productivity (fledgling/ha) was highest in NMNP and lowest in GMEP, whereas productivity was intermediate and similar among grazed native pastures. This pattern was attributable to availability of suitable nest sites because nest survival and brood size did not vary by treatment. Several arthropod taxa responded positively to greater vegetation density in NMNP, but communities were largely similar among grazed pastures irrespective of forage origin or diversity, suggesting little short-term response to NWSG. In spite of unfavorable growing conditions due to drought, cattle grazing NWSG consistently outperformed conspecifics in GMEP, with 45–72% higher average daily gain. Partial budget analysis indicated that NWSG pastures yielded up to 36% marginal rates of return despite establishment costs. These results suggest NWSG conversion can benefit tall grass specialists such as Dickcissels while offering competitive alternatives to exotic forages, resulting in net benefits for both conservationists and producers.

A observação de gradientes latitudinais em aspectos da história de vida de aves tem motivado o estudo da evolução e variabilidade das histórias de vida nestes organismos. Um exemplo bem documentado é a variação no tamanho da ninhada, onde aves de latitudes menores tendem a ter ninhadas menores do que os seus homólogos de latitudes altas. Uma hipótese que visa explicar esta variação propõe que a sobrevivência em latitudes tropicais é maior para compensar o tamanho da ninhada menor e evitar a extinção das populações. Esta explicação tem tido grande aceitação e apoio por parte de alguns estudos, mas tem sido questionada por outros que não encontraram taxas de sobrevivência mais elevadas em aves tropicais. De modo implícito, todos estes estudos basearam seus resultados na sobrevivência de indivíduos adultos. As populações com o tamanho da ninhada menor não poderiam crescer da mesma maneira que as populações com ninhadas maiores; portanto, se justifica acreditar que algo deve mudar com a latitude para manter o balanço em tamanho populacional. Na busca por explicações alternativas para a persistência das populações de aves tropicais com relativamente pequenos tamanhos de ninhada, surge outra hipótese que propõe que, se não houver diferenças na sobrevivência de indivíduos adultos entre latitudes, o aspecto fundamental que varia é a sobrevivência juvenil, com sobrevivência maior para os juvenis das zonas tropicais em comparação com os juvenis das zonas temperadas. No entanto, atualmente há pouca evidência que suporta esta conclusão. Os resultados contrastantes desses estudos sugerem a falta de um consenso geral sobre a hipótese de que as aves tropicais têm taxas de sobrevivência mais elevadas do que as aves de regiões temperadas, motivando a formulação de hipóteses alternativas e convidando novos testes de hipótese. Neste estudo, pretendemos a) avaliar o efeito da idade sobre a sobrevivência em aves tropicais, estimando as probabilidades anuais de sobrevivência aparentes idade-específicas para um conjunto de aves passeriformes de sub-bosque na Amazônia central brasileira; e b) contribuir para o debate sobre o gradiente latitudinal na sobrevivência de adultos, comparando nossas estimativas com estimativas de outras latitudes. Para estimar a sobrevivência idade-específica ajustamos aos nossos dados um modelo Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) hierárquico para n espécies, que trata os parâmetros espécie-específicos como efeitos aleatórios, que são estimados e que descrevem todo o conjunto de espécies; para comparação de métodos, ajustamos uma versão de efeitos fixos do modelo. Para a determinação da idade das aves usamos o sistema WRP. Apresentamos uma nova variante do modelo CJS com um parâmetro de mistura para a sobrevivência de aves de idade incerta no momento da primeira captura. Encontramos efeito forte da idade na sobrevivência, com probabilidades de sobrevivência menor para os jovens do que para os adultos; evidência de efeito latitude sobre a sobrevivência, que suporta a hipótese amplamente aceita de variação na sobrevivência com a latitude; e discutimos diferenças metodológicas interessantes entre modelo de efeitos aleatórios e fixos relacionados com a precisão das estimativas e o âmbito de inferência, que nos levam a concluir que os modelos de efeitos aleatórios são os mais adequados para a nossa análise. Concluímos que não é necessário invocar uma hipótese alternativa de maior sobrevivência juvenil nos trópicos a fim de explicar o gradiente latitudinal no tamanho da ninhada. / The observation of latitudinal gradients in bird life history traits has motivated the study of avian life history evolution and variability. A well-documented example is the variation in clutch size, where lower latitude birds tend to have smaller clutches than their higher latitude counterparts. A hypothesis that explains this variation proposes that survival in tropical latitudes is higher to compensate for smaller clutch size and prevent population extinctions. This explanation has had a wide acceptance and support by some studies, but has been questioned by others who have not found such higher survival rates in tropical birds. In an implicit manner, all these studies have based their results on adult survival. Populations with smaller clutch size would not be able to grow as well as populations with larger clutches; therefore one is justified to believe that something else must change with latitude. In the search for alternative explanations to the persistence of tropical bird populations with relatively small clutch sizes it has also been proposed that, if there were no differences in adult survival among latitudes, the fundamental trait that varies is juvenile survival, with higher survival rates for tropical juveniles birds than for temperate ones. However, currently there is little evidence that supports this conclusion. The contrasting results of those studies suggest a lack of a general consensus about the hypothesis that tropical birds have higher survival rates than birds of temperate regions, motivating the formulation of alternative hypotheses, and inviting further tests of the hypothesis. In our study we aim to a) assess the effect of age on survival in a tropical bird community, estimating age-specific annual apparent survival probabilities for a set of passerine understory birds from the central Brazilian Amazon; and b) contribute to the debate about the latitudinal gradient in adult survival by comparing our adult survival estimates to estimates of temperate-zone adult survival probabilities. To estimate the age-specific survival we fit to our data a hierarchical multispecies Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) model for n species, that treats species-specific parameters as random effects that are estimated and that describe the whole assemblage of species; for comparison of methods, we also fit a fixed-effects version of the model. To age birds we use the cycle-based WRP system. We introduce a novel variant of CJS model with a mixture component for the survival of birds of uncertain age at the time of banding. We found strong effect of age on survival, with juveniles surviving less than adults; evidence of latitude effect on survival, that supports the widely accepted hypothesis of variation on survival with latitude; and methodological differences between random and fixed effects model related to precision of estimates and scope of inference, that lead us to conclude that random-effects models are more appropriate for our analysis. We conclude that there is no reason for an alternative latitudinal trend in juvenile survival to account for the general trend in clutch size.

A observação de gradientes latitudinais em aspectos da história de vida de aves tem motivado o estudo da evolução e variabilidade das histórias de vida nestes organismos. Um exemplo bem documentado é a variação no tamanho da ninhada, onde aves de latitudes menores tendem a ter ninhadas menores do que os seus homólogos de latitudes altas. Uma hipótese que visa explicar esta variação propõe que a sobrevivência em latitudes tropicais é maior para compensar o tamanho da ninhada menor e evitar a extinção das populações. Esta explicação tem tido grande aceitação e apoio por parte de alguns estudos, mas tem sido questionada por outros que não encontraram taxas de sobrevivência mais elevadas em aves tropicais. De modo implícito, todos estes estudos basearam seus resultados na sobrevivência de indivíduos adultos. As populações com o tamanho da ninhada menor não poderiam crescer da mesma maneira que as populações com ninhadas maiores; portanto, se justifica acreditar que algo deve mudar com a latitude para manter o balanço em tamanho populacional. Na busca por explicações alternativas para a persistência das populações de aves tropicais com relativamente pequenos tamanhos de ninhada, surge outra hipótese que propõe que, se não houver diferenças na sobrevivência de indivíduos adultos entre latitudes, o aspecto fundamental que varia é a sobrevivência juvenil, com sobrevivência maior para os juvenis das zonas tropicais em comparação com os juvenis das zonas temperadas. No entanto, atualmente há pouca evidência que suporta esta conclusão. Os resultados contrastantes desses estudos sugerem a falta de um consenso geral sobre a hipótese de que as aves tropicais têm taxas de sobrevivência mais elevadas do que as aves de regiões temperadas, motivando a formulação de hipóteses alternativas e convidando novos testes de hipótese. Neste estudo, pretendemos a) avaliar o efeito da idade sobre a sobrevivência em aves tropicais, estimando as probabilidades anuais de sobrevivência aparentes idade-específicas para um conjunto de aves passeriformes de sub-bosque na Amazônia central brasileira; e b) contribuir para o debate sobre o gradiente latitudinal na sobrevivência de adultos, comparando nossas estimativas com estimativas de outras latitudes. Para estimar a sobrevivência idade-específica ajustamos aos nossos dados um modelo Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) hierárquico para n espécies, que trata os parâmetros espécie-específicos como efeitos aleatórios, que são estimados e que descrevem todo o conjunto de espécies; para comparação de métodos, ajustamos uma versão de efeitos fixos do modelo. Para a determinação da idade das aves usamos o sistema WRP. Apresentamos uma nova variante do modelo CJS com um parâmetro de mistura para a sobrevivência de aves de idade incerta no momento da primeira captura. Encontramos efeito forte da idade na sobrevivência, com probabilidades de sobrevivência menor para os jovens do que para os adultos; evidência de efeito latitude sobre a sobrevivência, que suporta a hipótese amplamente aceita de variação na sobrevivência com a latitude; e discutimos diferenças metodológicas interessantes entre modelo de efeitos aleatórios e fixos relacionados com a precisão das estimativas e o âmbito de inferência, que nos levam a concluir que os modelos de efeitos aleatórios são os mais adequados para a nossa análise. Concluímos que não é necessário invocar uma hipótese alternativa de maior sobrevivência juvenil nos trópicos a fim de explicar o gradiente latitudinal no tamanho da ninhada. / The observation of latitudinal gradients in bird life history traits has motivated the study of avian life history evolution and variability. A well-documented example is the variation in clutch size, where lower latitude birds tend to have smaller clutches than their higher latitude counterparts. A hypothesis that explains this variation proposes that survival in tropical latitudes is higher to compensate for smaller clutch size and prevent population extinctions. This explanation has had a wide acceptance and support by some studies, but has been questioned by others who have not found such higher survival rates in tropical birds. In an implicit manner, all these studies have based their results on adult survival. Populations with smaller clutch size would not be able to grow as well as populations with larger clutches; therefore one is justified to believe that something else must change with latitude. In the search for alternative explanations to the persistence of tropical bird populations with relatively small clutch sizes it has also been proposed that, if there were no differences in adult survival among latitudes, the fundamental trait that varies is juvenile survival, with higher survival rates for tropical juveniles birds than for temperate ones. However, currently there is little evidence that supports this conclusion. The contrasting results of those studies suggest a lack of a general consensus about the hypothesis that tropical birds have higher survival rates than birds of temperate regions, motivating the formulation of alternative hypotheses, and inviting further tests of the hypothesis. In our study we aim to a) assess the effect of age on survival in a tropical bird community, estimating age-specific annual apparent survival probabilities for a set of passerine understory birds from the central Brazilian Amazon; and b) contribute to the debate about the latitudinal gradient in adult survival by comparing our adult survival estimates to estimates of temperate-zone adult survival probabilities. To estimate the age-specific survival we fit to our data a hierarchical multispecies Cormack-Jolly-Seber (CJS) model for n species, that treats species-specific parameters as random effects that are estimated and that describe the whole assemblage of species; for comparison of methods, we also fit a fixed-effects version of the model. To age birds we use the cycle-based WRP system. We introduce a novel variant of CJS model with a mixture component for the survival of birds of uncertain age at the time of banding. We found strong effect of age on survival, with juveniles surviving less than adults; evidence of latitude effect on survival, that supports the widely accepted hypothesis of variation on survival with latitude; and methodological differences between random and fixed effects model related to precision of estimates and scope of inference, that lead us to conclude that random-effects models are more appropriate for our analysis. We conclude that there is no reason for an alternative latitudinal trend in juvenile survival to account for the general trend in clutch size.

The thesis describes the community composition, population structure and dispersal in a lowland rainforest community, extended to changes in butterfly composition along an altitudinal gradient. It tests the feasibility of mark-release-recapture studies in the understories of lowland primary forests, describes dispersal in relation to host plants and compares dispersal and demographic parameters with temperate species. Focusing on primary as well as secondary sites the thesis analyzes species richness and similarity between sites along an altitudinal gradient. It also tests ecological correlates for endemism in New Guinea butterflies, particularly their geographic and altitudinal range, as well as their optimum altitude.

Submitted by Automa??o e Estat?stica (sst@bczm.ufrn.br) on 2016-05-10T22:31:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 NicolasLucianoRuiz_DISSERT.pdf: 1952148 bytes, checksum: 19e4fee0d04c3075a81e4b5f5bbc52f1 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Arlan Eloi Leite Silva (eloihistoriador@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-05-17T20:26:25Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 NicolasLucianoRuiz_DISSERT.pdf: 1952148 bytes, checksum: 19e4fee0d04c3075a81e4b5f5bbc52f1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-05-17T20:26:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 NicolasLucianoRuiz_DISSERT.pdf: 1952148 bytes, checksum: 19e4fee0d04c3075a81e4b5f5bbc52f1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-04-16 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico (CNPq) / Fornecer informa??es sobre aspectos de hist?ria de vida das esp?cies neotropicais ? de fundamental import?ncia devido ? grande lacuna de conhecimentos que existe para essa regi?o, e ? atrav?s do estudo desses aspectos que verdadeiramente se conhece um organismo e se inspiram respostas ?s mais diversas teorias das ci?ncias biol?gicas. Dessa forma, o presente estudo, realizado no extremo norte da Mata Atl?ntica, divide-se em dois cap?tulos complementares com foco na esp?cie Turdus leucomelas (Vieillot 1818), cuja fam?lia ? amplamente conhecida por serem excelentes modelos para estudos ecol?gicos devido a sua ocorr?ncia e distribui??o. O primeiro cap?tulo aborda a biologia reprodutiva, onde estimamos o sucesso reprodutivo atrav?s do protocolo de Mayfield em 7,2 % para 2013 e 4,5 % para 2014, evidenciando uma elevada taxa de preda??o; analisamos sucesso e preda??o, nas fases de incuba??o e ninhego, em fun??o de vari?veis ambientais coletadas; descrevemos padr?o dos ovos e ninhos, triando os materiais que os comp?em; e acompanhamos o desenvolvimento dos filhotes, desde a eclos?o at? a sa?da do ninho. O segundo cap?tulo traz informa??es sobre a sua din?mica populacional acompanhada por quatro anos e analisada atrav?s dos modelos Cormack-Jolly-Seber e Desenho Robusto com o uso do programa MARK; estimamos sobreviv?ncia, detectabilidade e tamanho populacional em fun??o de co-vari?veis externas (tempo, ciclo reprodutivo, chuva e presen?a de cong?nere migrat?rio) e diferenciando indiv?duos adultos residentes daqueles transit?rios e juvenis. As sobreviv?ncias estimadas atrav?s da an?lise CJS para os adultos residentes foram sempre maiores (76,01-93,41%) que os transit?rios (65,47-87,16%) e os juvenis sempre intermedi?rios (72,00-91,43). Identificamos o per?odo reprodutivo como sendo a vari?vel que mais influencia a sobreviv?ncia, enquanto que a densidade do migrante Turdus amaurochalinus influenciou inversamente proporcional as taxas de recapturas. Estimamos valores similares de sobreviv?ncia e taxas de detectabilidade atrav?s do DR e estimamos tipo de movimento, dispers?o tempor?ria e tamanhos populacionais. Verificamos tamb?m que esse ?ltimo par?metro manteve uma rela??o inversa com o per?odo reprodutivo. Nossos resultados estimam as sobreviv?ncias mais altas para o g?nero Turdus e confirmam os padr?es de baixas taxas de recaptura e elevada dispers?o e cuidado parental estendido das regi?es tropicais. Por?m contestam a pluviosidade como principal fator influenciando a sobreviv?ncia, enquanto se refor?a o trade off entre reproduzir e sobreviver nessas latitudes.