Orientadores: Luiz Francisco Lembo Duarte, Vera Nisaka Solferini / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-09T03:13:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 DeCapitani_JoanaDutilh_M.pdf: 5636529 bytes, checksum: 9756e9e22fb0418a7a5cd700c6e0c60d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: A riqueza de espécies, abundância, proporção de jovens, crescimento corporal, seleção de microhabitat, diversidade genotípica, variabilidade e estrutura genética de anêmonas-do-mar da região entremarés foram estudados no período de agosto de 2005 a julho de 2006. Cinco espécies foram encontradas e tiveram as suas populações acompanhadas em duas praias do município de São Sebastião, SP: Bunodosoma caissarum, Bunodosoma cangicum, Anthopleura cascaia, Actinia bermudensis e Phyllactis flosculifera. Destas, as mais abundantes foram Bunodosoma caissarum, Bunodosoma cangicum e Anthopleura cascaia. Estas três espécies mostraram oscilações muito grandes em seus tamanhos populacionais, padrão não esperado considerando a longevidade de anêmonas-do-mar. As espécies B. caissarum e B. cangicum mostraram um padrão de recrutamento aparentemente contínuo e pequeno enquanto A. bermudensis e A. cascaia apresentaram um maior número de jovens principalmente na primavera. Não foi verificado um padrão claro de crescimento corporal das espécies estudadas, devido, possivelmente, à variação no número de indivíduos amostrados em cada mês, ou a uma taxa de crescimento muito pequena para ser detectada no período de um ano. Os microhabitats ocupados pelas espécies foram significativamente relacionados às suas preferências, mostrando que a localização espacial não acontece aleatoriamente. Bunodosoma caissarum, B. cangicum e Phyllactis flosculifera foram as espécies escolhidas para as análises genéticas. Cada uma delas teve duas populações amostradas, e as populações de B. caissarum foram também organizadas localmente em subgrupos. As três espécies apresentaram altos valores de diversidade genética e todas as populações apresentaram déficits de heterozigotos. Os valores de diferenciação genética encontrados para B. caissarum (? = 0.039) são significativos, considerando que a espécie apresenta larva planctônica e as populações amostradas estavam separadas por apenas 13 km. Além disso, foi encontrada evidência de estruturação microgeográfica para esta espécie. Bunodosoma cangicum apresentou valores baixos de estruturação genética (? = 0.021) e P. flosculifera valores moderados (? = 0.080). Phyllactis flosculifera e B. cangicum apresentam populações distantes (1000 km e 1300 km, respectivamente) geneticamente conectadas, o que sugere que ambas as espécies tenham larvas com capacidade de dispersão em grandes distâncias. Todos os indivíduos das populações estudadas das três espécies apresentaram genótipos únicos, o que sugere que nenhuma delas tenha reprodução assexuada / Abstract: We studied the richness of species, abundance, proportion of juveniles, growth, microhabitat selection, genotypic diversity, genetic variability and structure of intertidal sea anemones between August 2005 and July 2006. Five species were found and their populations were studied in São Sebastião, SP: Bunodosoma caissarum, B. cangicum, Anthopleura cascaia, Actinia bermudensis and Phyllactis flosculifera. The most abundant ones were Bunodosoma caissarum, B. cangicum and Anthopleura cascaia. These three species showed important oscillations in their populations sizes, a pattern that was not expected considering the long life of sea anemones. Bunodosoma caissarum and B. cangicum showed small and continuous recruitment, while A. bermudensis and A. Cascaia presented a bigger number of juveniles mainly in the spring. A clear pattern of growth was not observed for any of the species studied, probably due to the variation in populations¿ size during the study or it could have been caused by a growth rate too small to be detected in one year time. The microhabitats occupied by all five species were related to their preferences, indicating that the spatial distribution found was not at random. Bunodosoma caissarum, B. cangicum and P. flosculifera were also genetically analyzed. Each one of them had two populations sampled, and the ones of B. caissarum were sampled in subgroups following spatial distribution in situ. All the species showed high levels of genetic diversity and all the populations presented a deficit of heterozygotes. The values of genetic differentiation found for B. caissarum (? = 0.039) are significant given the long-lived planktonic larva of the species and the small distance between the samples (13 km) and we also found evidence of microgeographic structuring in this species. Bunodosoma cangicum showed low levels of genetic structuring (? = 0.021) while P. flosculifera presented a moderate value of structuring (? = 0.080). Phyllactis flosculifera and B. cangicum present distant populations (1000 km and 1300 km apart, respectively) genetically connected suggesting that both species have larvae capable of good dispersal distances. All of the individuals of the three species showed unique genotypes, suggesting that none of them have asexual reproduction / Mestrado / Ecologia / Mestre em Ecologia

Orientadores: Sergio Furtado dos Reis, Marcio Silva Araujo. / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T20:53:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Costa_JoaoCarlosLopes_M.pdf: 677158 bytes, checksum: b1c8a350aeb6b46bf7f5c1573c624dec (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008 / Resumo: A dieta é um dos principais atributos do nicho ecológico de qualquer espécie animal. Geralmente nos estudos ecológicos os indivíduos de uma população são considerados ecologicamente equivalentes em relação ao uso de recurso. Contudo, esta abordagem tem se mostrada inadequada na descrição da utilização de recurso para várias espécies, como demonstrado por dados empíricos. A variação intrapopulacional pode ser ocasionada por fatores exógenos ou fenômenos endógenos ocasionados pelas diferenças sexuais e/ou ontogenéticas. Além disso, indivíduos pertencentes à mesma classe etária, ao mesmo sexo e dentro da mesma localidade podem também exibir variação no nicho. Esse fenômeno é denominado de "especialização individual" e sua ocorrência tem sido descrita para comunidades temperadas ou depauperadas até o presente momento. Para verificar quais fenômenos podem produzir a variação no nicho de lagartos tropicais foi utilizado como modelo Tropidurus hispidus. Os objetivos deste estudo foram: descrever a composição da dieta; investigar a existência de variação intrapopulacional no nicho trófico; determinar em que níveis essa variação se expressa; e testar se a morfologia é um mecanismo subjacente ao uso de recursos alimentares nesta espécie. Dentre os fenômenos analisados, a variação intrapopulacional parece ser ocasionada unicamente pela especialização individual. Os itens mais consumidos por T. hispidus, formigas, besouros e cupins, produzem uma variedade de substâncias químicas tóxicas que podem impor um alto custo para desintoxicação e gerar preferências alimentares individuais. Outra possível fonte de variação é a ocorrência de diferentes comportamentos de forrageio por indivíduos da mesma população. Este é o primeiro registro da ocorrência de especialização individual em lagartos tropicais e reforça a percepção de que esse fenômeno esta presente em comunidades tropicais de alta diversidade, contrariando o padrão estabelecido na literatura, relacionando à ocorrência da especialização individual a comunidades temperadas e depauperadas. / Abstract: The diet is one of the main atributes of the ecological niche of animal species. Generally, the individuals of a population are considered ecologically equivalent in ecological studies that focus on resource use. Nevertheless, this approach has been inadequate to correctly describe resource use by various species, as demonstrated by empirical data. Intrapopulation variation may be caused by exogenous factors or endogenous phenomena such as sexual and/or ontogenetic differences. Additionally, individuals belonging to the same age or sex, and within a single site or time can also show differences in niche. This phenomenon has been defined as "individual specialization" and its occurrence is related to temperate and/or depauperate communities. To verify which phenomena produce niche variation in tropical lizards, we used Tropidurus hispidus as a model system. The aims of this study were to describe the diet composition; to investigate the existence of intrapopulational variation in trophic niche; to determine at which levels this variation is expressed, and test if the morphology is an underlying mechanism in food resource use in this species. The intrapopulation variation seems to be caused uniquely by individual specialization. The most consumed items by T. hispidus, ants, beetles and termites, produce a variety of toxic chemical substances that can impose a high cost for desintoxication and generate individual alimentary preferences. Another possible source of variation is the occurrence of different forage behaviors by individuals of the same population. This is the first record of the occurrence of individual specialization in tropical lizards, which suggests the presence of this phenomenon in highly diverse tropical communities, contradicting the established literature relating the occurrence of individual specialization to temperate and depauperate communities. / Mestrado / Mestre em Ecologia

A new sampling method that decouples spatial and environmental correlations was developed and applied to a temperate forest understory. Data were used to contrast niche theory with neutral theory, and only showed support for niche theory. A spatial and environmental partitioning analysis indicated that the effects of dispersal are primarily important within the spatial extent of environments suitable for a given species. The same sampling data were used to test correlates of non-native species invasion at a species level and as a group. The distributions of non-native plant species are also better explained by the niche model; however, non-native species do not appear to negatively impact native species, nor to be negatively impacted by native species. Together, these results suggest that the forest understory is strongly niche-structured, but likely not saturated. Diversity in this forest appears to be primarily determined by regional processes, and only secondarily by local species interactions.

The validity of niche-assembly rules in explaining community structure is revisited by testing for ecological separation among ferns. An intensive, fine-scale survey of fern abundance and environmental variation was done in 1-ha of old-growth forest. Three methods of detecting niche segregation (canonical correspondence analysis, detrended correspondence analysis and GIS mapping) suggested that most fern species at the site are distributed according to distinct environmental preferences. The most important gradients separating fern species are first, the amount of soil moisture and second, soil nitrate concentration. Contrary to other findings, pH had little influence on controlling fern distribution. Spatial autocorrelation, detected by partialled ordinations, obscured the presence of niche partitioning. As well, sampling grain changed the apparent location of some species on environmental gradients and their ecological similarity to other species. Finer-scaled environmental heterogeneity or dispersal-mediated processes may account for the unexplained variation in fern species abundance of this site.

Orientador: Carlos Alfredo Joly / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-20T14:31:26Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Cavalin_PedroOrtman_D.pdf: 3253505 bytes, checksum: 2c0255c7d1c447ec6f4badb5c03b3993 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012 / Resumo: Um grande número de espécies co-ocorre em florestas tropicais. Diferenciação de nicho e processos estocásticos são invocados como mecanismos que possibilitam essa coexistência de espécies. Recentemente, métodos filogeneticamente explícitos ou com base em atributos funcionais (considerados bons indicadores de nicho de regeneração, história de vida e tolerância ambiental) vem sendo usados para analisar tais mecanismos. No presente trabalho, estudei comunidades de espécies lenhosas no sub-bosque ao longo de um gradiente de altitude na Floresta Ombrófila Densa (FOD) Atlântica no Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, SP, tentando relacionar a estrutura de comunidades com variáveis ambientais, e se tais relações variam de acordo com a altitude. Analisamos a estrutura filogenética em três sítios localizados em diferentes cotas altitudinais (FOD de Terras Baixas, 70 m; FOD Submontana, 370 m; FOD Montana, 1070 m). Em nenhum dos sítios foi observada estruturação filogenética, tampouco relações da estrutura filogenética com variáveis ambientais. Em seguida, analisamos a estrutura de comunidade baseada em atributos funcionais. Apesar de haver correlações entre atributos funcionais e variáveis ambientais no nível das espécies, as comunidades não apresentaram estrutura significativamente diferente do esperado pelo acaso, embora o conjunto de espécies comuns tenha apresentado boa correlação entre atributos funcionais e variáveis ambientais. Por fim, analisamos como a estrutura de comunidades, baseada em atributos funcionais, em um sítio (FOD Submontana) varia entre coortes de plantas de diferentes tamanhos. Em geral, plantas de menor tamanho são mais similares entre si do que o esperado pelo acaso, enquanto que plantas de maior tamanho não diferem do esperado pelo acaso. Quando árvores de dossel são analisadas em separado, nenhuma das classes de tamanho difere do esperado pelo acaso. Mortalidade causada pela abundância de vizinhos, e independente de suas identidades, pode ser responsável pela ausência de mudança na estrutura da comunidade baseada em atributos ao longo das coortes. Discutimos a ausência de variação na estruturação das comunidades ao longo do gradiente de altitude na FOD Atlântica, levando em consideração as características do mesmo, e propomos estratégias para o melhor entendimento da dinâmica dessas comunidades / Abstract: A large number of species co-occur in tropical forests. Niche differentiation and stochastic processes are commonly invoked to explain species co-occurrence. Recently, phylogenetically explicit or traitbased (functional traits are considered to be good proxies for regeneration niche, life history, and environmental tolerance) methods have been used to assess these mechanisms. In the present study, We have surveyed understory woody species communities along an altitudinal gradient on the Atlantic Dense Ombrophilous Forest at the Serra do Mar State Park, São Paulo State, Brazil, analyzing the relationships between community structure and environmental variables, and how these relationships vary along the gradient. Community phylogenetic structure was assessed in three sites differing in altitude (Lowland, 70 m; Lower Montane, 370 m; Montane, 1070 m). No phylogenetic structure was found in any site, nor correlations between phylogenetic structure and environmental variables. We then analyzed trait-based community structure. We observed no community structure, even though there were significant correlations between functional traits and environmental variables at specieslevel on a set of frequent species. Finally, we assessed how trait-based community structure varied between plant cohorts of differing sizes. In general, smaller plants were functionally more similar to each other than expected by chance, while larger plants showed no significant structuring. When only canopy trees are separately analyzed, no size-class cohort differs from the random expectation. This lack of change in structuring among cohorts may be due to mortality caused by neighboring stem density, irrespective of species identity. We then discuss the absence of community phylogenetic and functional structuring of understory woody plants communities along the altitudinal gradient on the Atlantic Forest, taking into account its peculiarities, and propose strategies that could advance the understanding of these communities' dynamics / Doutorado / Biologia Vegetal / Doutor em Biologia Vegetal

Les termites forment un groupe animal important en milieu tropical, où leur richesse spécifique est plus élevée que dans n’importe quel autre écosystème. Ils se nourrissent de matière organique végétale à différent état de décomposition, du bois dur à la matière organique minérale du le sol. Cette diversification du régime alimentaire ne se produit que chez les Termitidae, parfois appelés « termites supérieurs », alors que les autres familles se nourrissent exclusivement de bois ou d’herbe. Les termites humivores sont extrêmement abondants en Amérique du Sud et en Afrique tropicale, mais sont relativement peu étudiés par rapport aux termites xylophages. C’est particulièrement vrai pour le groupe Anoplotermes, qui représente le groupe de termites le moins bien connu. Ce travail vise à faire la lumière sur l’écologie et la diversité de ce groupe strictement humivore, et comprend les sections suivantes :(1) Des échantillonnages standardisés dans sept sites de Guyane Française ont révèle, avec quelques exceptions, que les termites xylophages sont relativement peu spécialisés à un site. Au contraire, les espèces du groupe Anoplotermes, ainsi que les termites humivores en général, sont spécialisés à un type de forêt. Cette spécialisation contribue plus que probablement à la diversification écologique, et donc, à une augmentation de la richesse spécifique des termites humivores. (2) En utilisant les ratios d’isotopiques δ13C et δ15N, nous avons aussi trouvé qu’il existe une spécialisation des espèces le long d’un gradient d’humification chez le groupe Anoplotermes, de l’interface entre le bois pourri et le sol au sol pauvre en matière organique. Donc, au moins deux facteurs favorisent la richesse spécifique du groupe Anoplotermes dans le sol, malgré le manque d’évidence pour une séparation spatiale et temporelle entre les espèces. Cette spécialisation spécifique réduit la compétition interspécifique aux espèces se nourrissant de matière organique au même état de décomposition. (3) Ce mécanisme n’est probablement pas restreint aux espèces du groupe Anoplotermes et le ratio isotopique δ15N varie considérablement entre les termites humivores de manière générale. Les termites humivores comptent des espèces avec des régimes alimentaires différents ne partageant pas toujours les mêmes niches écologiques. Cette diversification du régime alimentaire ne c’est pas produit de manière aléatoire durant l’évolution des termites et les espèces proches tendent à se nourrir du même substrat. (4) Au niveau intraspécifique, il semble que la compétition contraigne la dynamique des colonies. En effet, chez A. banksi, nous avons trouvé que les nids matures sont surdispersés. Les nouveaux nids se trouvent principalement à une certaine distance des nids établis, plus particulièrement dans les trous laissés par les nids morts. Si ce patron est le résultat d’une sélection des sites de nidification, ou plutôt d’une exclusion compétitive reste sujet à discussion, mais met néanmoins en évidence la présence de compétition chez les termites humivores du groupe Anoplotermes. (5) Au vu de la richesse spécifique locale du groupe Anoplotermes, le nombre d’espèces décrites reste remarquablement bas. Après inspection du matériel type, seuls 30 espèces du groupe se sont avérés valides en Amérique du Sud, alors que 80% des espèces que nous avons collectées sont nouvelles pour la science. Cette disproportion entre ce qui est connu et la diversité réelle du groupe, met en évidence le besoin de réaliser des études supplémentaires pour améliorer la connaissance de ce groupe peu connu, le groupe Anoplotermes. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

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Balancing increasing elephant numbers with biodiversity conservation in small reserves has become a concern for many protected area managers. Elephants are considered important agents of disturbance creating heterogeneity and thus contributing to the maintenance of biodiversity. However elephants also damage vegetation through their destructive feeding habits, and this has led to pressure to reduce elephant populations in many reserves. Quantitative data on the impact of elephants on invertebrates, the main component of biodiversity at the species level, are lacking. The aim of this project was to assess the effect that habitat alteration by elephants has on the diversity of selected ground-dwelling invertebrates (ants, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, scorpions and termites) through the provision of logs and dung as a potential refuge niche for these invertebrate communities, and to determine the effect of spatial (vegetation types) and temporal (season and age of dung) variation on the invertebrates using these refugia. Variation in impacts was considered important because savanna is not homogenous and the impact of the refugia is likely to be dynamic in terms of seasonal trends in invertebrate populations, and in terms of changes in the environmental conditions offered by the refugia. Elephant impact on vegetation, quantity of refugia (logs and dung) produced and invertebrate diversity associated with refugia were determined for 115 transects within Madikwe Game Reserve in the North Western Province, South Africa. Invertebrate abundance, species richness and diversity were always higher under refugia than in areas without refugia. Vegetation utilisation, frequency of refugia production and invertebrate diversity showed strong temporal variation (seasonal); elephant impact and production of logs were higher in winter than in summer because elephants are more likely to feed on woody vegetation in winter when grass nutrient levels are low. Invertebrate diversity under the logs was higher in summer than in winter, and this probably reflected the higher abundance and diversity of invertebrates that are usually associated with the warmer, wetter summer months. The effect of adding refugia to three vegetation types on invertebrate diversity was tested experimentally at Makalali Private Game Reserve in the Limpopo Province, South Africa. Logs and elephant dung were set out in five plots each measuring 20m x 20m within Govender - iii mixed bushveld, riverine and mopane woodland. Significant differences were observed in invertebrate abundance, species richness and diversity between the refugia and control plots that lacked refugia and between the three vegetation types sampled. Similarity between invertebrate communities utilising the different refugia types and between the three different vegetation types were tested using the Jaccard similarity coefficient. The three vegetation types shared fewer than 50% of their species, as did the logs, dung and control sites. However the results obtained do illustrate a higher degree of similarity between the refugia substrates (logs and dung) than the control sites and between the more heterogeneous vegetation types (mixed bushveld and riverine) than the mopane veld. This indicated that invertebrate communities associated with refugia were not uniform, but were influenced by vegetation type. An experimental test of temporal changes in invertebrate community composition illustrated the importance of elephant dung as a microhabitat for different invertebrate groups over different ages of dung (three days, two, four, 12 and 32 weeks old). Colonisation of the dung, by dung beetles was immediate but as the microclimate of the dung changed with time, the new conditions were ideal for other invertebrate taxa. Over a period of eight months, the change of invertebrate communities utilising the dung included dung beetles, followed by millipedes and [mally ant and termite communities. The results of this study illustrated the importance of refugia (logs and dung) produced by elephants for ground-dwelling invertebrate species in the savanna environment. The extent of the influence of the refugia varied both spatially and temporally and this should be considered in future monitoring or in measuring impacts. While further research on a broader range of organisms and at larger scales is necessary, elephants do have a positive impact on at least some components of biodiversity, through the process of facilitation of refugia. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

At Cape Gantheaume, Kangaroo Island (South Australia), adult male, lactating female and juvenile New Zealand (NZ) and Australian fur seals regularly return to the same colony, creating the potential for intra- and inter-specific foraging competition in nearby waters. I hypothesised that these demographic groups would exhibit distinct foraging strategies, which reduce competition and facilitate their coexistence. I analysed the diet of adult male, adult female and juvenile NZ fur seals and adult male Australian fur seals and studied the diving behaviour of adult male and lactating female NZ fur seals and the at-sea movements of juvenile, adult male and lactating female NZ fur seals. Female diet reflected that of a generalist predator, influenced by prey availability and their dependant pups� fasting abilities. In contrast, adult male NZ and Australian fur seals used larger and more energy-rich prey, most likely because they could more efficiently access and handle such prey. Juvenile fur seals primarily utilised small lantern fish, which occur south of the shelf break, in pelagic waters. Juveniles undertook the longest foraging trips and adult males conducted more lengthy trips than lactating females, which perform relatively brief trips in order to regularly nurse their pups. Unlike lactating females, some adult males appeared to rest underwater by performing dives that were characterised by a period of passive drifting through the water column. The large body sizes of adult males and lactating females facilitated the use of both benthic and pelagic habitats, but adult males dived deeper and for longer than lactating females, facilitating vertical separation of their foraging habitats. Spatial overlap in foraging habitats among the age/sex groups was minimal, because lactating females typically utilised continental shelf waters and males used deeper water over the shelf break, beyond female foraging grounds. Furthermore, juveniles used pelagic waters, up to 1000 km south of the regions used by lactating females and adult males. The age and sex groups in this study employed dramatically different strategies to maximise their survival and reproductive success. Their prey and foraging habitats are likely to be shaped by body size differences, which determine their different physiological constraints and metabolic requirements. I suggest that these physiological constraints and the lactation constraints on females are the primary factors that reduce competition, thereby facilitating niche partitioning.