The objectives of this study were: 1) to compare and contrast the effects of variations in natural densities of two common freshwater predators of crustacean zooplankton, Chaoborus spp. and Mysis relicta; and 2) to determine whether the combined impacts of these predators together differed from their effects when alone. In deep (>10m) mesocosms, additions of Chaoborus and Mysis at natural densities did not result in large changes in zooplankton abundances, lengths, or biomass. Significant decreases in abundance were observed only for Bosmina longirostris and Daphnia spp. In small (~20L) enclosures, higher predator densities caused zooplankton declines over three days. Strong interactive effects between Chaoborus and Mysis were not detected in either the large or small enclosures. This suggests that the combined effects of these two predators can be predicted from their effects determined in isolation.

The objectives of this study were: 1) to compare and contrast the effects of variations in natural densities of two common freshwater predators of crustacean zooplankton, Chaoborus spp. and Mysis relicta; and 2) to determine whether the combined impacts of these predators together differed from their effects when alone. In deep (>10m) mesocosms, additions of Chaoborus and Mysis at natural densities did not result in large changes in zooplankton abundances, lengths, or biomass. Significant decreases in abundance were observed only for Bosmina longirostris and Daphnia spp. In small (~20L) enclosures, higher predator densities caused zooplankton declines over three days. Strong interactive effects between Chaoborus and Mysis were not detected in either the large or small enclosures. This suggests that the combined effects of these two predators can be predicted from their effects determined in isolation.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:33:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AlexanderCFR_TESE.pdf: 2277990 bytes, checksum: fde046b8c7771a53154cf0f53839f90c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-07-08 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / This study aimed to compare the development of crab and tree communities of two restored mangrove areas, one planted with Rhizophora mangle and the other naturally recovered, and also to compare the predation of Grapsid crab Goniopsis cruentata and the Ocypodid Ucides cordatus over the propagules of three mangrove trees: Rhizophora mangle, Avicennia schaueriana e Laguncularia racemosa. Specifically, we tested the hypothesis that Goniopsis predation is more important that Ucides predation, and that these consumers have antagonist effects over propagule consumption. In each area, 10 quadrates were selected at random to analyze tree richness, diameter, height, tree biomass and crab richness and density five years after restoration experiment start. Results show that tree height, biomass and crab density were significantly higher in artificially restored area. No significant differences were observed in crab species richness between areas, but higher tree richness was observed in self-recovered area. Results suggest that planting propagules of Rhizophora can significantly increase tree recovering if the aim was increase tree biomass and crab density, which can accelerate return of ecological functionality. Goniopsis is a more important propagule predator than Ucides both in natural and restored areas. The effects of Goniopis were higher in absence of Ucides, due to negative interactions among these two predator species. The preference of Goniopsis by Avicennia and Laguncularia can favor the dominance of Rhizophora observed in Neotropical mangroves. This study suggests that propagule predation by Goniopsis should be controlled in restoration programs, if dominance of Rhizophora is undesirable respect to more rich tree communities / O presente estudo teve como objetivo comparar o desenvolvimento das comunidades de ?rvores e caranguejos de duas ?reas de mangue restauradas, uma plantada com Rhizophora mangle e outra naturalmente recuperada, al?m de comparar a magnitude da preda??o do Graps?deo Goniopsis cruentata e do Ocypod?deo Ucides cordatus sobre os prop?gulos de tr?s esp?cies de mangue: Rhizophora mangle, Avicennia schaueriana e Laguncularia racemosa. Em particular, foi testada a hip?tese de que a preda??o de Goniopsis ? mais importante que a preda??o por Ucides e que esses consumidores possuem efeitos antag?nicos sobre a preda??o de prop?gulos. Em cada ?rea, 10 quadrantes foram aleatoriamente selecionados para analisar a riqueza arb?rea, di?metro, altura, biomassa arb?rea e riqueza e densidade de caranguejos cinco anos ap?s o in?cio do experimento de restaura??o. Os resultados mostraram que tanto a altura e biomassa arb?reas quanto a densidade de caranguejos foram significativamente maiores na ?rea artificialmente restaurada. N?o foram observadas diferen?as significativas na riqueza de esp?cies de caranguejos entre as ?reas, mas houve uma maior riqueza de esp?cies de ?rvores na ?rea auto-recuperada. Estes resultados sugerem que o plantio de prop?gulos de Rhizophora pode aumentar significativamente a recupera??o da cobertura vegetal, se o objetivo for elevar a biomassa arb?rea e a densidade de caranguejos, o qual pode acelerar o retorno da funcionalidade ecossist?mica. Goniopsis foi um predador de prop?gulos mais importante que Ucides tanto em ?reas naturais quanto restauradas. Os efeitos de Goniopsis foram maiores na aus?ncia de Ucides devido a intera??es negativas entre estas esp?cies de predador. A prefer?ncia de Goniopsis por Avicennia e Laguncularia pode favorecer a domin?ncia de Rhizophora observada nos mangues Neotropicais. Este estudo sugere que a preda??o de prop?gulos por Goniopsis em programas de restaura??o de mangue deveria ser controlada se a domin?ncia de Rhizophora ? indesej?vel em rela??o a comunidades com mais esp?cies de ?rvore