A socioecologia investiga o efeito de fatores ecológicos sobre padrões de sistema social. Para muitos animais, o risco de predação tem sido apontado como a principal força seletiva favorecendo a sociabilidade. Entretanto, como determinante na variação dos sistemas sociais de primatas, esse fator tem sido considerado menos importante do que a competição por alimento. Os objetivos deste estudo foram (1) investigar a influência da disponibilidade de alimento e do risco de predação no uso do habitat pelo grupo estudado, para avaliarmos se o risco de predação é um fator relevante para essa população, (2) caracterizar o sistema social e (3) investigar se o risco de predação e/ou a oferta de alimento afetam o sistema social de Sapajus xanthosternos, espécie Criticamente ameaçada devido à caça e destruição do seu habitat, o que a torna relevante para o teste de hipóteses. Esta pesquisa foi realizada na Reserva Biológica de Una, cuja vegetação é classificada como floresta de tabuleiro e, na qual a população estudada ainda sofre pressão de caça. Um grupo foi acompanhado por 16 meses, num total de 2126 horas. O risco de predação foi avaliado em função do comportamento de vigilância, vocalizações de alarme, encontros com predadores e indícios de caça. Por meio do método focal árvore alimentação avaliamos o tamanho e qualidade das fontes agregadas. As interações agonísticas e afiliativas foram registradas pelo método de todas as ocorrências. A área de vida e os percursos diários foram calculados para avaliarmos a competição indireta intra e entre grupos. Os resultados foram comparados com os obtidos para uma população de S. nigritus e uma de S. libidinosus. O uso do habitat pelo grupo foi influenciado tanto pela distribuição e disponibilidade de recursos alimentares quanto pelo risco de predação. Os macacos-prego na Rebio Una formam grupos grandes e coesos, com filopatria de fêmeas e, a população é caracterizada por fissão de grupos grandes. O grande tamanho dos grupos favorece a hipótese de que o tamanho mínimo de grupo é determinado pelo risco de predação. O grupo apresentou um elevado número de machos (esperado devido ao número de fêmeas), o que também é considerado por alguns estudos como evidência de alto risco de predação. A estratégia reprodutiva das fêmeas foi relacionada à organização social e, consequentemente, ao risco de predação. S. xanthosternos consome tanto recursos agregados quanto dispersos e despendeu uma alta proporção de tempo forrageando por invertebrados. A hierarquia de dominância entre fêmeas foi parcial e as fêmeas de alto posto alimentaram-se conjuntamente com as fêmeas de baixo posto em fontes agregadas, enfatizando que fêmeas apresentaram relações tolerantes. A maioria das fontes agregadas utilizadas foi de tamanho intermediário em relação ao tamanho do grupo e produtiva e a competição direta por alimento envolvendo fêmeas intra-grupo não foi baixa. A competição indireta intra-grupo foi elevada, o que se constata pelas altas taxas de deslocamento e pelas grandes distâncias diárias percorridas. A competição direta entre grupos foi baixa e o risco de predação percebido foi alto em comparação com outros estudos. O padrão de sistema social, com grupo grande, elevado número de machos, e fêmeas com alto grau de afiliação e tolerância não está de acordo com o esperado por modelos que só consideram o efeito da competição por alimento, e sugere que o risco de predação afeta os componentes que caracterizam o sistema social deste grupo. Em conclusão, o sistema social de S. xanthosternos nesta população é uma resposta à pressão de predação e à oferta de alimento / Socioecology studies the effect ecological factors have on social system patterns. The predation risk has been said as the main selective force to favoring the sociability in many animals. However, as a determinant in variation of primates social systems, this fact has been considered less important than competition for food. The objectives of this study were (1) investigating how much the availability of food and the predation risk affect the habitat use by the group followed, in order to evaluate if the predation risk is a relevant issue in this population, (2) characterizing the social system and (3) investigating if the predation risk and/or availability of food affect the social system of Sapajus xanthosternos, a critically endangered species, owing to its hunting and habitat destruction, such fact makes it relevant for the hypothesis test. This study was made at the Una Biological Reserve, where the vegetation is classified as tabuleiro forest. The population in focus suffers from hunting stress. A group was followed during 16 months, a total of 2126 hours. The predation risk was evaluated concerning their vigilance behaviour, alarm vocalization, encounters with predators and hunting indication. We evaluated the size and the quality of the clumped food sources through the focal tree food method. Agonistic and affiliative interactions were recorded through all occurrences method. Home range and the daily traveling distances were calculated to evaluate if females experienced scramble competition within and between groups. The results were compared to the ones that had been obtained from a previous study with the population of the species S. nigritus and S. libidinosus. The use of habitat by the group was not only influenced by the distribution and availability food resources but also by the predation risk. The capuchin monkeys in Rebio Una live in large and cohesive groups, show female philopatry, and fission of very large groups. The large size of the groups favours the hypothesis that the minimum size of a group is determined by the predation risk. The group has shown a high number of males (expected due to the high number of females), a fact that is also considered by some studies as evidence of high predation risk. Female reproductive strategies were related to social organization and, therefore, to predation risk. S. xanthosternos consumes clumped and dispersed resources and spent more time foraging for invertebrates. There was a partial dominance hierarchy among females and the high-ranking females ate with the low-ranking females in clumped food sources. Such fact emphasizes that females hold tolerant relations. The majority of used clumped food sources had an intermediate size, concerning the size of the group, and was productive. The contest competition within group for food involving females was not low. Scramble competition within group was high, as shown by the high moving rates and the long daily travel distance. Contest competition between groups was low and the perceived predation risk was high in comparison to other studies. The social system pattern - large group size, high sex ratio, and females that show a high level of affiliation and tolerance - is not in accordance with the expected by models that only consider the result of competition for food. It suggests that the risk of predation affects the elements of social system in this group. As a conclusion, the social system of S. xanthosternos is affected by the risk of predation and food availability

Elasmobranchs are among the oldest and most successful predators in the ocean, yet one of the most vulnerable to the direct and indirect effects of fishing. Many populations are rapidly declining around the world, and an increasing number is listed as threatened or endangered. The broader ecosystem consequences of these declines, and whether other marine predators can replace sharks, are open questions. In this thesis, I used a diverse set of data and modeling techniques to analyze long-term changes in elasmobranch populations in the Mediterranean Sea, and the consequences of shark declines on marine ecosystems. Because of its long history of fishing, the Mediterranean offers a unique perspective on the response of marine communities to exploitation over long time scales. Here, I reconstructed the history of elasmobranch exploitation over the past 200 years in pelagic, coastal and demersal communities. Results were combined meta-analytically to derive a general pattern of change for the entire region. Overall, I detected multiple cases of regional species extirpations, a strong correlation between historical intensity of exploitation and the stage of community degradation, and some cases of compensatory species increases. My results suggest that compared to other marine ecosystems worldwide, the Mediterranean Sea might be in an advanced stage of overexploitation. To gain more general conclusions about the patterns and consequences of shark declines in the ocean, I reviewed and reanalyzed documented changes in exploited elasmobranch communities around the world, and synthesized the effects of sharks on their prey and wider communities. This work revealed that sharks are abundant and diverse in little exploited or unexploited marine ecosystems but vulnerable to even light levels of fishing. The decline in large sharks has reduced natural mortality in a range of their prey, contributing to changes in abundance, distribution, and behaviour of marine megafauna that have few other predators. In some cases, this has resulted in cascading changes in prey populations and food-web structure. Overall, my thesis greatly enhanced our knowledge about the critical state of elasmobranchs in the Mediterranean Sea and the consequences of the declines of these important marine predators on marine ecosystems.

There has been a global decline of specialist species observed in recent decades due to the impacts of climate change, invasive species, and habitat loss. Habitat loss and degradation may lead to a mismatch between habitat attractiveness and actual quality, otherwise known as an ecological trap. Ecological traps occur when an organism is constrained by its evolutionary past to select for cues that no longer accurately predict habitat quality. Specialist species are more susceptible to ecological traps due to greater reliance on and fidelity to historic sites and resources. The burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia), a specialist bird species adapted to open ecosystems, has declined throughout its extent. Anthropogenic activity has drastically and rapidly altered burrowing owl native habitat, exposing their habitat to disturbances such as cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) invasion. The presence of cheatgrass is known to impact the biota of a region and understanding those impacts is becoming increasingly important. The purpose of this study was to quantify the impact of cheatgrass on burrowing owl populations. By assessing how cheatgrass influences the resource selection, nesting success, and food habits of burrowing owls, we provided information that can be utilized to make more informed decisions on how to conserve burrowing owls and their critical nesting habitat. In addition, this information can provide insight into the risk of ecological traps occurring to all specialist species experiencing degradation of their native habitat.

Pour comprendre comment la sélection naturelle modèle les traits sexuels, l’emploi d’une approche intégrative des processus sélectifs en jeu semble aujourd’hui indispensable. Durant ma thèse je me suis ainsi intéressé aux influences simultanées des sélections de viabilité et sexuelle sur l’origine, l’évolution et le maintien des traits sexuels de la petite teigne de la ruche (Achroia grisella). Chez cette pyrale les mâles se regroupent en leks, produisent un chant d’appel ultrasonique intense et les femelles choisissent un partenaire sexuel en se basant sur des caractéristiques acoustiques spécifiques de ce chant. Cependant les signaux sexuels ultrasoniques des mâles peuvent également attirer des prédateurs : les chauves-souris insectivores. Ainsi, au sein des leks, les sélections sexuelle et de viabilité jouent et peuvent modeler (1) l’évolution du choix des femelles, (2) le maintien et l’évolution du lek, (3) l’origine de la communication acoustique sexuelle. Les travaux conduits durant cette thèse soulignent l’intérêt de l’étude du jeu des sélections sexuelle et de viabilité pour comprendre comment la sélection naturelle peut modeler l’origine, l’évolution et le maintien des traits sexuels. Les résultats indiquent en particulier le rôle crucial de la pression de prédation dans ces processus sélectifs. / In order to achieve a better understanding of how natural selection shapes sexual traits it is essential to consider the interplay of the various selective processes at work. For my thesis I investigated the simultaneous influences of viability and sexual selections on the origin, the evolution and the maintenance of sexual traits in the lesser waxmoth Achroia grisella. Females of this pyralid moth choose their mate based on acoustic characters of the ultrasonic calling song broadcasted by males while competing at lek. However male ultrasonic displays are very conspicuous and may attract specific predators: insectivorous bats. Therefore at leks sexual and viability selection pressures act simultaneously and can shape (1) the evolution of female mate choice, (2) the maintenance and evolution of lekking, (3) the origin of sexual acoustic communication. Taken as a whole this work emphasises the relevance of the study of selective interplays between viability and sexual selections in order to improve our understanding of how natural selection may shape the origin, evolution and maintenance of sexual traits. In particular results indicate the crucial role played by predation pressure within these evolutionary processes.

Previous research into bottom-up processes on saltmarshes has mainly focused on the influence of plant succession on herbivores. This study will present original research exploring the influence of bottom-up processes in a saltmarsh ecosystem between three trophic levels: Orchestia, redshanks, and sparrowhawks. Density dependence, may be the dominant top-down effect when higher numbers of sparrowhawks and redshanks are present, and may mask top-down and bottom-up trait effects which are constant. Bottom-up effects begin to emerge when cold conditions force redshanks from muddy creeks onto the saltmarsh to forage for Orchestia, because their primary prey, Corophium become less available. Larger flocks form and feeding on Orchestia requires them to balance a need to profit from the best available feeding patches and to be vigilant to sparrowhawk attack. Redshank vulnerability is compounded, because Orchestia hide in cold temperatures, so probing in the soil with their heads down makes them more vulnerable to sparrowhawk attack. Larger flocks may be able to exploit areas closer to sparrowhawk-concealing cover at the terrestrial boundary because they feel safer in greater numbers. Warmer temperatures make Orchestia more active which attracts redshanks, which can simultaneously feed and be vigilant because they peck and catch crawling and jumping Orchestia with their heads up. Consequently, increased flock size may temporarily depress Orchestia abundance, so that redshanks become spaced, leaving isolated individuals more vulnerable to attack. Therefore, it is a temperature-dependent bottom-up process which impacts upon both Orchestia and redshank behaviour, which then may influence the hunting success of sparrowhawks. Whether the characteristics of this saltmarsh ecosystem and the trophic dynamics can be compared to other examples is questionable. Saltmarshes probably differ in their topography and the way in which environmental conditions affect them that then defines which species are present and how these species interact.

Submitted by Marlene Santos (marlene.bc.ufg@gmail.com) on 2016-06-15T18:33:41Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Diogo Soares Menezes Samia - 2015.pdf: 4976311 bytes, checksum: 317908c75deb4de1770cd68c544a5190 (MD5) license_rdf: 19874 bytes, checksum: 38cb62ef53e6f513db2fb7e337df6485 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-06-28T11:59:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Diogo Soares Menezes Samia - 2015.pdf: 4976311 bytes, checksum: 317908c75deb4de1770cd68c544a5190 (MD5) license_rdf: 19874 bytes, checksum: 38cb62ef53e6f513db2fb7e337df6485 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-28T11:59:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Diogo Soares Menezes Samia - 2015.pdf: 4976311 bytes, checksum: 317908c75deb4de1770cd68c544a5190 (MD5) license_rdf: 19874 bytes, checksum: 38cb62ef53e6f513db2fb7e337df6485 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-08-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Optimal escape theory states that animals should counterbalance the costs and benefits of flight when escaping from a potential predator. However, in apparent contradiction with this well-established optimality model, birds and mammals generally initiate escape soon after beginning to monitor an approaching threat; a phenomena codified as the “Flush Early and Avoid the Rush” (FEAR) hypothesis. Typically, the FEAR hypothesis is tested using correlational statistics and is supported when there is a strong relationship between the distance at which an individual first responds behaviorally to an approaching predator (alert distance; AD), and its flight initiation distance (the distance at which it flees the approaching predator; FID). However, such correlational statistics are both inadequate to analyze relationships constrained by an envelope (such as that in the AD-FID relationship) and are sensitive to outliers with high leverage, which can lead one to erroneous conclusions. To overcome these statistical concerns we develop the phi index (Φ), a distribution-free metric to evaluate the goodness of fit of a 1:1 relationship in a constraint envelope (the prediction of the FEAR hypothesis). Using both simulation and empirical data, we conclude that Φ is superior to traditional correlational analyses because it explicitly tests the FEAR prediction, is robust to outliers, and it controls for the disproportionate influence of observations from large predictor values (caused by the constrained envelope in AD-FID relationship). Importantly, by analyzing the empirical data we corroborate the strong effect that alertness has on flight as stated by the FEAR hypothesis. / A teoria do escape ótimo afirma que os animais devem contrabalançar os custos e benefícios da fuga quando vão escapar de um predador. No entanto, em aparente contradição com este bem-estabelecido modelo ótimo, aves e mamíferos geralmente empreendem fuga logo após inicio do monitoramento do predador em potencial; um fenômeno denominado “Flush Early and Avoid the Rush hypothesis” (a hipótese FEAR). A hipótese FEAR é geralmente testada usando estatísticas correlativas e seu suporte se dá por uma forte relação positiva entre a distância na qual um indivíduo responde comportamentalmente a um predador que se aproxima (distância de alerta; alert distance, AD) e a distância do início da fuga (flight initiation distance, FID). No entanto, o uso de estatísticas correlativas para testar a hipótese FEAR pode levar a conclusões errôneas, já que estatísticas correlativas são inadequadas para análise de relações em envelope (tais como a relação entre AD e FID) e são sensíveis a valores discrepantes (outliers) com elevado efeito de alavancagem. Por isso, nós desenvolvemos o índice fi (Φ), uma métrica não-paramétrica destinada a avaliar a qualidade do ajuste de uma relação 1:1 restrita por um envelope (tal como a observada na hipótese FEAR). Usando simulações numéricas e dados empíricos, nós concluímos que Φ é uma métrica superior às análises de correlação tradicionais porque testa explicitamente a predição da hipótese FEAR, é robusta a outiliers, e ainda controla pela influência disproporcional dos altos de AD (causado pela relação em envelope entre AD e FID). Como predito pela hipótese FEAR, a análise dos dados empíricos corroborou o forte efeito que a distância de alerta tem sobre a decisão de fuga das presas.

<p>Management of predation on sea turtle nesting beaches is vital to conservation efforts for the vulnerable loggerhead turtles (<i>Caretta caretta</i>) and olive ridley turtles (<i>Lepidochelys olivacea</i>). Sea turtles increasingly face threats from invasive and human-tolerant mammalian predators as human disturbances on nesting beaches rises. The intensity of mammalian predation has increased in Las Baulas National Park in Costa Rica which is an important nesting site for several species of threatened and endangered sea turtles. I analyzed loggerhead and olive ridley nest predation on four beaches in the United States and Costa Rica that were chosen for variations in degree of human disturbance and management strategies. My objectives were to 1) determine if egg predation rates differ at the four sites, 2) determine the most destructive predators at each location, and 3) suggest management options to alleviate mammalian threats to turtle clutches on Playa Grande and Playa Cabuyal in Costa Rica. My results show that the beaches without a nest protection or predator control program had very high rates of predation. Invasive mammalian predators and mammalian predators associated with human disturbance were the most destructive at the four sites. I recommend that regulations regarding dogs and the take of eggs from the beach are enforced at Playa Cabuyal and that physical nest protection is rapidly implemented at Playa Grande. I also recommend that the National Park consider managing raccoon predation by removing problem individuals, but caution that they do so in a way that maintains the animals’ role in the ecosystem.</p>