Submitted by isabela.moljf@hotmail.com (isabela.moljf@hotmail.com) on 2016-08-09T15:38:02Z No. of bitstreams: 1 guilhermeaugustodasilveira.pdf: 1284583 bytes, checksum: cd2152b32ccbfdb57ae8224070af4508 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2016-08-10T12:45:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 guilhermeaugustodasilveira.pdf: 1284583 bytes, checksum: cd2152b32ccbfdb57ae8224070af4508 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-10T12:45:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 guilhermeaugustodasilveira.pdf: 1284583 bytes, checksum: cd2152b32ccbfdb57ae8224070af4508 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-26 / CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / Nascentes são ecossistemas estáveis, onde a conectividade aquático-terrestre e a complexidade de microhabitats que apresentam permitem que estes ambientes suportem uma fauna diversa. Considerando a importância das nascentes na manutenção da biodiversidade de organismos aquáticos e sua relevância econômica e ecológica, aliado à escassez de estudos em ambientes tropicais, o presente estudo objetivou testar os modelos das teorias de nicho e neutra, bem como quantificar a importância do espaço e das variáveis ambientais como agentes estruturadores das comunidades de invertebrados em nascentes. Foram obtidas três amostras compostas de substratos (pedras, areia e folhiço) em quinze nascentes de cinco localidades no município de Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Um total de 11.239 invertebrados foram identificados. As nascentes do tipo helocreno, com área alagada difusa, e reocreno, cuja água ao sair do solo forma imediatamente um riacho apresentaram maior abundância e riqueza de invertebrados que limnocreno, nascentes que formam poça. A composição da fauna também diferiu entre os três tipos estudados, o que pode ser explicado pela heterogeneidade ambiental encontrada nestas nascentes e pelas diferenças físicas e químicas entre os diferentes tipos. Os resultados da análise de Redundância parcial mostraram que 23% da variação total da composição da fauna de invertebrados foram explicados pelas variáveis ambientais profundidade, temperatura da água, oxigênio dissolvido, pH, matéria orgânica e frações de areia média e areia muito fina, 4% foram explicados pela variação espacial e outros 12% pela interação entre estes fatores. Os 61% restantes corresponde à fração residual resultante de interações bióticas e outras variáveis não analisadas. Estes resultados podem ser relacionados ao efeito combinado entre os mecanismos enfatizados pela teoria de nicho e pela teoria neutra, e, portanto, estão de acordo com a abordagem de metacomunidades, seguindo o modelo de sorteamento de espécies de dinâmica de comunidades. Assim, pode-se concluir que os fatores ambientais e espaciais explicam parcialmente a estruturação da comunidade de invertebrados em nascentes, com maior importância dos filtros ambientais. / Springs are stable ecosystems, where the water-land connectivity and the complexity of microhabitats allow these environments to support a diverse fauna. Considering the importance of springs in the maintenance of biodiversity of aquatic organisms and their economic and ecological relevance and regarding with the lack of studies in tropical environments, the present study aimed to identify the influence of abiotic variables and spacial factors in the structuring of invertebrate communities in springs through a theoretical ecology approach. Three composite substrate samples (rocks, sand and litter) were obtained from 15 springs in five different areas in the city of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil. A total of 11,239 invertebrates were identified. Helocrenes and rheocrene springs showed greater invertebrate abundance when compared to the limnocrene and the fauna composition differed between the three types of spring studied, which may be explained by the environmental heterogeneity found in helocrenes springs and physical and chemical differences between the different types. Results on the partial redundancy analysis showed that 23% of the total variation of the invertebrate fauna composition was explained through the measured environmental variables, while other 4% was explained by spatial variation; this can be related to the combined effect between mechanisms emphasized by the niche theory and neutral theory, and thus a agreeing with the metacommunities approach. So, we conclude that the environmental factors and space can partially explain the structure of invertebrate communities in springs, with greater importance of the environmental filters, the remainder being possibly explained by the biotic interactions and other non-analyzed variables.

La structure et l’intensité des interactions ressources-consommateurs qui forment les réseaux trophiques régulent une très grande partie des transferts de biomasse mais aussi de contaminants biologiques et chimiques dans les écosystèmes. L’objectif de la thèse est de développer des modèles permettant d’étudier les mécanismes de transport des contaminants et d’évaluer ainsi d’une part la dynamique des maladies infectieuses et des pollutions chimiques, et d’autre part les réponses des réseaux trophiques soumis à ces contaminations.[...] À l’issue de ces travaux, une quatrième étape de la thèse a été d’intégrer les interactions trophiques, les dynamiques des parasites et les impacts des pollutions dans des méta-écosystèmes (i.e. avec dispersions d’individus entre écosystèmes). En utilisant la théorie des matrices aléatoires nous avons établi des mesures des risques d’émergence de parasites que nous avons évalués en fonction des perturbations extérieures.L’étude a ainsi montré que ces perturbations augmentent les risques épidémiques, mais que ces risques pouvaient être réduits par la dispersion des individus (sains et infectés) sous certaines conditions qui sont,par exemple pour les TTP, un nombre d’espèces plus grand que le nombre d’écosystèmes connectés, et un taux de virulence plus faible que le taux de contagion.Ainsi, dans un contexte planétaire d’augmentation des pressions anthropiques sur les écosystèmes,cette thèse de modélisation apporte un ensemble d’outils et de développements conceptuels permettant d’analyser quantitativement et qualitativement les transferts et les impacts des contaminants sur les écosystèmes. / Structure and strength of trophic interactions shaping food webs regulate a large part of biomass andenergy transfer in ecosystems, but also the transfer of biological and chemical contaminants. The aim ofthe PhD thesis is to develop models describing the mechanisms of contaminant transmission and using them to study the dynamics of infectious diseases and chemical pollutions, and also the response of trophic networks subject to those contaminations.[...] Following those works, a fourth step of the thesis has been to integrate trophic interactions, parasite dynamics and pollutions effects in order to study the stability of meta community (i.e. spatially connectedcommunities) and the risk of disease outbreaks. To do so, we use the theory of random matrices andwe introduced new criteria of metacommunity stability and of disease outbreak in metacommunity, both under external pressures. The study showed that external perturbations increase the risk of epidemics,but that those risks could be reduced with the dispersal of individuals (susceptible and infectious) underspecific conditions such as, for TTP, a greater number of species than that of connected ecosystems, and a smaller virulence than the contagion rate.In this way, in a context of planetary increase of anthropogenic pressures on ecosystems, this PhD thesis in modeling provides a set of tools and conceptual developments suitable to analyze quantitatively and qualitatively the transfers and impacts of contaminants in ecosystems.

Abstract Freshwater ecosystems are severely threatened by a variety of anthropogenic stressors. In order to keep track with at least part of the changes, it is important to efficiently assess and monitor freshwater biological diversity. Biological assessment programs are developed to detect human-induced changes in the ecological state of aquatic systems. These programs typically rely on the assumption that environmental conditions are the sole drivers of biological communities occupying a site and, thus, these local communities would correctly inform about environmental conditions. Recently, this background principle of current bioassessment methods has faced some criticism, stemming from the idea that community structuring is a more complex process than just a mere result of local environmental conditions. In this thesis, I studied the natural and anthropogenic drivers of freshwater biodiversity. I was particularly interested if the various biodiversity metrics studied showed any spatial patterns and if so, for which reasons these patterns might occur. To obtain a comprehensive picture of spatial patterns in biodiversity, I studied multiple spatial contexts, biological groups and indices. I found that environmental conditions were not the only drivers of freshwater biodiversity. Instead, different spatial patterns, likely stemming from dispersal processes, were surprisingly powerful drivers of aquatic communities and index values derived from them. The spatial context (i.e. spatial extent and connectivity) of the aquatic study systems likely played a major role in structuring biodiversity. I also found that the distinct biological groups and indices studied were partly related to different predictor variables. The findings of this thesis are of importance to the development of new bioassessment methods. The results of this thesis also suggest that the spatial context of the study setting should be acknowledged when interpreting results based on current bioassessment methods. / Tiivistelmä Makeanveden ekosysteemit ovat hyvin alttiita ihmistoiminnalle. Ekosysteemissä mahdollisesti tapahtuvien muutosten havaitseminen vaatii tehokkaita vesistöjen ekologisen tilan ja luonnon monimuotoisuuden arviointi- ja seurantamenetelmiä. Näiden menetelmien toimintaperiaatteen yleisenä tausta-ajatuksena on, että biologiset yhteisöt määräytyvät paikallisten ympäristöolojen mukaan. Tietyn paikan yhteisön oletetaan siis heijastavan kyseisen paikan ympäristön tilaa. Viime aikoina tausta-ajatus paikallisten ympäristöolojen merkityksestä ainoana eliöyhteisöjä muovaavana tekijänä on kuitenkin kohdannut kritiikkiä. Kriitikot painottavat, että biologisten yhteisöjen rakenteeseen vaikuttavat monet muutkin asiat kuin paikalliset ympäristöolosuhteet ja niissä tapahtuvat ihmisperäiset muutokset. Väitöskirjassani tutkin sisävesien luonnon monimuotoisuuteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Olin erityisen kiinnostunut siitä, näkyykö tutkituissa biologisissa parametreissa maantieteellisessä tilassa ilmeneviä spatiaalisia säännönmukaisuuksia. Saadakseni mahdollisimman laaja-alaisen käsityksen luonnon monimuotoisuudessa esiintyvistä spatiaalisista säännönmukaisuuksista, tutkin useaa spatiaalista kontekstia, eliöryhmää ja indeksiä. Tutkimuksessa selvisi, että paikalliset ympäristöolosuhteet eivät ole ainoita luonnon monimuotoisuuteen vaikuttavia tekijöitä. Erilaiset spatiaaliset säännönmukaisuudet, todennäköisesti eliöiden levittäytymiseen liittyvien seikkojen aiheuttamina, olivat yllättävän yleisiä makeiden vesien eliöyhteisöjen rakenteessa ja niihin perustuvien indeksien arvoissa. Tutkimussysteemien spatiaalinen konteksti (alueen laajuus ja paikkojen väliset spatiaaliset suhteet) selvästi vaikutti luonnon monimuotoisuutta kuvastavien indeksien arvojen vaihteluun. Lisäksi selvisi, että eri eliöryhmät ja indeksit olivat useimmiten liitoksissa hyvin erilaisiin selittäviin muuttujiin, osoittaen, että nämä mittarit kuvastavat eri asioita. Väitöskirjassa esitetyt havainnot on tärkeää huomioida vesistöjen ekologisen tilan ja luonnon monimuotoisuuden arviointi- ja seurantamenetelmiä kehitettäessä. Spatiaalisen kontekstin merkitys olisi hyvä huomioida myös nykyisten arviointi- ja seurantamenetelmien tuottamien tulosten tulkinnassa.