Madagascar figure parmi les cinq premiers pays « hot spots » prioritaires pour la conservation de la biodiversité mondiale, Apis mellifera unicolor est son abeille endémique. Depuis 2010, V. destructor a été introduit à Madagascar. Les objectifs de cette thèse étaient : d'étudier la diversité et la structure génétique de l'abeille A. m. unicolor et de l'acarien V. destructor, d'évaluer l'impact de V. destructor sur les colonies, d'étudier le comportement hygiénique des colonies. Nos résultats confirment que l'ensemble des échantillons collectés font partie de la lignée africaine, plus de 99% ont été identifiés comme A. m. unicolor. Malgré sa faible diversité nucléaire, les populations présentent une structuration génétique organisée en deux sous clusters correspondant à des régions géographiques. Un seul haplotype de V. destructor a été détecté, l'haplotype coréen (K1-1). Les études génétiques ont montré une proportion élevée de génotype homozygote (69.5%) et un nombre élevé de MLG sur les Hauts Plateaux par rapport à la côte Est. La présence de MLG particulier sur les Hauts Plateaux conforte l'hypothèse de son introduction dans la capitale. La propagation de V. destructor à Madagascar est relativement lente, sa dispersion reste encore confinée à certaines régions des Hauts Plateaux et de la côte Est. L'impact de parasite est sévère, en un an, la perte des colonies infestées est estimée à 60 %. En se basant sur le pourcentage des cellules nettoyées après 6 h de test à l'aiguille, l'efficacité des colonies à détecter et à désoperculer les cellules est comparable à celles des abeilles hygiéniques africanisées et semble beaucoup plus élevée que celle des abeilles européennes. La présence de colonies hautement hygiéniques au sein des populations offre une opportunité pour un futur programme de sélection de souches tolérantes. / Madagascar is among the top five priorities "hotspots" for global biodiversity conservation. Apis mellifera unicolor was an endemic honey bee. In 2010, Varroa destructor has been reported parasitizing A. m. unicolor. Objectives of this thesis were i) to study the genetic diversity and structure of both A. m. unicolor and V. destructor, ii) to estimate the impact of V. destructor on colonies, and iii) to investigate the hygienic behaviour of colonies. Our results confirm that all honey bees collected belonged to the African lineage and more than 99% were identified as A. m. unicolor. Despite its low nuclear genetic diversity, two genetic clusters have been detected, corresponding to geographic regions. Only one haplotype of V. destructor was detected, the Korean haplotype (K1-1). Genetic studies showed a higher proportion of homozygous genotype (69.5%) and a high number of MLG (Multi- Locus Genotypes) in the High Lands compared to the East coast. The presence of particular MLG on the High Land reinforces the assumption of its introduction into the capital. The spread of V. destructor in Madagascar is relatively slow, its presence remains confined to the High Land and the East coast. The impact of the parasite on A. m. unicolor was severe; with about 60% of colony losses in a year reported. Based on the percentage of cleaned cells observed 6 hour after pin killing broods, the efficiency colonies to detect and uncap cells was comparable to those of Africanised hygienic honey bees and was much higher than those of European honey bees. The detection of highly hygienic colonies is a great opportunity to develop a programme of selection of tolerant honey bee strains.

Masters of Science / Although the processes that promote biodiversity and speciation remain poorly understood, ecological factors are thought to be one of the causal agents responsible for promoting variation. Bladder grasshoppers (Orthoptera; Pneumoroidea) are a group of endemic southern African insects that provide an ideal model system to study the role of ecology in speciation. All species rely on acoustic communication for mate location, with males producing an extremely loud advertisement call that is highly species specific. Any alteration to the male call would thus likely have implications for species integrity. In this study, I examined geographic variation as well as potential ecological drivers of biological diversity within Bullacris unicolor, a variable and wide-ranging species of bladder grasshopper. The main aims of the study were to characterise the extent of acoustic and morphological variation among individuals sampled from five geographic locations and to correlate this variation with environmental data and host plant use. At the inter-population level, I found significant differences between populations with respect to both morphological and acoustic characters. Results of multivariate analyses showed significant differences in the body length, pronotum length and head width of males and in the pronotum length, abdomen width and head width of females. Similarly, the acoustic signals of males from the five populations differed significantly in both temporal and frequency components, with all but one variable (peak frequency of the introductory syllables) showing a significant difference. However, there was no correlation between morphological and acoustic variables among populations, and acoustic characters showed far greater divergence among populations than did morphology. In both males and females, the morphological variables that differed among populations were negatively correlated with mean annual temperature, indicating that grasshoppers are larger in areas with lower temperatures. Also, some of the call characteristics of males were correlated with temperature, precipitation, altitude, and slope. Although grasshoppers were observed feeding on a range of host plant species, neither morphology nor signal characteristics were found to vary according to host plant. At the intra-population level, multivariate analyses revealed that all acoustic characters differed significantly among individuals. Morphology may be influencing signal properties within a population to some extent as there were significant correlations between some of the call characters and both abdomen width and tibia length, with lengths of these two morphological variables being positively correlated with temporal components of the call and abdomen width being negatively correlated with frequency components. I also found a significant difference in the carrier frequency of male calls, as well as in some of the morphological characters of males and females, according to host plant. This indicates that host plant use has a greater effect on variation at the intra-population level than at the interpopulation level. In conclusion, the results of my study reveal significant variation in the morphology and acoustic signals of B. unicolor, both within and among populations, and suggest that this variation is at least partially related to ecological factors.

Les écosystèmes forestiers naturels du Sud-Ouest de l’océan Indien (SOOI) sont fortement impactés par la déforestation et font face à de nombreuses invasions biologiques pouvant altérer leur processus, en particulier les interactions de type plantes-pollinisateur. C’est dans ce contexte que s’inscrit cette thèse, décrivant les relations entre un pollinisateur généraliste indigène : Apis mellifera unicolor et la flore de deux écosystèmes de Ranomafana : RA et de Mare Longue : ML. La description palynologique de 135 espèces issues de 52 familles de plantes mellifères de la formation de RA, a fait ressortir les caractères spécifiques des pollens liés à une pollinisation entomophile. Dans un second temps, des suivis phénologiques mensuels de 131 espèces (90% d’indigènes) à RA et 120 espèces (53% d’exotiques) à ML ont permis d’identifier et d’estimer les ressources florales disponibles. Pendant un an, l’analyse mensuelle des miels et pollens collectés a permis de dresser l’inventaire des ressources florales réellement exploitées. Les espèces indigènes ont été significativement plus butinées que les espèces exotiques, malgré une diversité de ressources exotiques supérieures à celles des indigènes (ML). Le comportement de butinage de l’abeille sur le genre Weinmannia a été analysé sur la base de 104 h de vidéo (W. bojeriana et W. rutenbergii à Madagascar, et W. tinctoria à La Réunion). Les fleurs ont été visitées par un cortège de pollinisateurs potentiels : coléoptères, diptères, lépidoptères et autres hyménoptères. A. m. unicolor était le visiteur le plus fréquent à Madagascar. L’ensemble de ces résultats a permis de confirmer le comportement généraliste d’A. m. unicolor, avec toutefois une préférence forte et significative pour les espèces florales indigènes des strates arborées et arbustives et permet d’émettre des hypothèses sur la complexité des interactions entre l’abeille et les écosystèmes du hotspot de biodiversité SOOI. / The natural forest ecosystems of the Southwest Indian Ocean (SOOI) have been strongly impacted by deforestation and face many biological invasions that are alter their balance, particularly plant-pollinator interactions. It is in this context that this thesis is set, describing the relations between an indigenous general pollinator: Apis mellifera unicolor and the flora of two ecosystems of Madagascar (Ranomafana: RA) and Reunion (Mare Longue: ML). The palynological description of 135 species from 52 families of melliferous plants from the RA formation, highlighted the specific criteria of pollens associated with entomophilous pollination. In a second time, monthly phenological monitoring of 131 species (90% native) to RA and 120 species (53% exotic) to ML allowed to identify and estimate the available floral resources. During one year, the monthly analysis of honeys and pollen collected enabled an inventory of the floral resources actually exploited. Native species were significantly more visited than exotic species, despite a diversity of exotic resources superior to that of the natives (ML). The foraging behaviour of the honeybee on the genus Weinmannia was analysed on the basis of 104 hours of video (W. bojeriana and W. rutenbergii in Madagascar, and W. tinctoria in Reunion Island). The flowers were visited by many potential pollinators: Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera and other Hymenoptera. A. m. unicolor was the most frequent visitor to the two species from Madagascar. The results confirmed the generalist behaviour of A. m. unicolor, with, however, a strong and significant preference for native floral species of tree and shrub strata and makes it possible to speculate on the important place of this bee in the ecosystems of the SOOI biodiversity hotspot.

Les îles du Sud-Ouest de l'océan Indien (SOOI) abritent une faune et une flore exceptionnelle et constituent l'un des cinq hotspot de biodiversité les plus importants au monde. L'abeille domestique Apis mellifera occupe divers habitats dans la majorité de ces îles et interagit avec une flore indigène et endémique. Elle est également exploitée par l'Homme pour l'apiculture. A. mellifera a divergé en plusieurs lignées évolutives et sous-espèces dans son aire d'origine. Parmi-elles, A. m. unicolor a été décrite comme endémique de Madagascar et appartient à la lignée africaine A. Les objectifs de cette thèse étaient de caractériser l'abeille dans les archipels des Mascareignes, Comores et Seychelles en identifiant les lignées évolutives et sous-espèces présentes avec des marqueurs mitochondriaux (région intergénique COI-COII, gène ND2). Dans un second temps, une étude de la diversité et de la structure génétique a été réalisée sur ces mêmes populations insulaires (15 microsatellites). Un total de 4095 colonies ont été échantillonnées dans le SOOI et 238 dans l'aire naturelle continentale. Trois des quatre lignées évolutives (A, C et M) ont été détectées dans les 10 îles étudiées et ce en différentes proportions. La lignée africaine A et A. m. unicolor sont prépondérantes dans le SOOI excepté à Rodrigues (100% lignée européenne C). Dans toutes les îles de l'archipel des Comores et des Seychelles, 100% des colonies échantillonnées appartiennent à la lignée A, 95,2% à La Réunion et seulement 54,2% à Maurice. Les îles de l'archipel des Comores constitueraient une zone de contact entre la lignée africaine continentale et les populations d'A. m. unicolor. La diversité génétique nucléaire est forte dans les archipels du SOOI et est structurée par îles et archipels. En outre, les populations du SOOI se différencient fortement des populations continentales africaines et européennes. La combinaison des différents marqueurs privilégie l'hypothèse d'une colonisation ancienne et naturelle d'A. m. unicolor depuis Madagascar à La Réunion, Maurice et aux Seychelles. / The South West Indian Ocean (SWIO) islands are home to an exceptional flora and fauna and are considered as one the five most important biodiversity hotspots in the world. In most islands of this region, the honeybee Apis mellifera occupies diverse habitats. Regarding its ability as a generalist pollinator, honeybee interacts with native and highly endemic flora. Furthermore, this species is used by human for beekeeping as it is able to produce honey, pollen and other hive products. Within the large group of bees (Apidae), A. mellifera is a model of diversity that has diverged into several lineages and subspecies in its native range. Among the 28 recognized subspecies, A. m. unicolor has been described as endemic to Madagascar and belongs to the African A lineage. The Mascarenes, Comoros and Seychelles archipelagos surround this continental island but the A. mellifera populations present have been little or never studied. The aims of this thesis were to characterize the honeybee from the Mascarenes (La Réunion, Mauritius, Rodrigues), Comoros (Anjouan, Mohéli, Grande Comore, Mayotte) and Seychelles (Mahé, Praslin, La Digue) archipelagos by determining the evolutionary lineages and subspecies present. Secondly, a study of genetic diversity and structure were conducted on these same insular populations. For that, a large sampling was carried (n = 4095 colonies from the SWIO, and 238 from native continental areas) and was combined to molecular analyzes using mitochondrial markers (sequencing of the COI-COII intergenic region and ND2 gene) and nuclear markers (15 microsatellite loci). Three of the four evolutionary lineages (A, C and M) were detected in different proportions in the 10 studied islands. The African A lineage and A. m. unicolor subspecies were predominant in the SWIO excepted for Rodrigues exclusively from the European C lineage. All sampled colonies from the Seychelles and Comoros archipelagos belong to the African lineage while in La Réunion the proportion reach 95.2% and only 54.2% in Mauritius. The presence of the Z African sub-lineage has been described for the first time out of Africa in two Seychelles islands. Moreover, Comoros islands may constitute a contact area between the continental African lineage and A. m. unicolor populations (insular African lineage). The SWIO populations show high levels of nuclear genetic diversity and a structuration by island and archipelago. In addition, SWIO populations strongly differentiated from African and European continental populations. The combined results from different molecular markers favor the hypothesis of an ancient and natural colonization from Madagascar to La Réunion, Mauritius and Seychelles islands. Therefore, the previous referenced interactions between the honeybee and the endemic fauna and flora in the SWIO might be explained by a long cohabitation in addition to its generalist pollinator ability.

Selection operates when the variability among individuals in heritable traits translates to differences in the number of offspring that survive to breed, which is a close estimate of fitness. Consequently, the outcome of sexual-selection should be higher reproductive success for individuals with a greater expression of the selected traits. In this thesis, the relationship between some male spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) traits and reproductive success was assessed. A particular focus was given to the role of throat feathers (TF) as sexually selected trait. The study was conducted in a wild population using a correlative approach in 2004, while in 2005 and 2006 the TF of males were experimentally shortened. The genetic parentage of the offspring was required for determining the reproductive success of males. Nine highly polymorphic microsatellites (with 11.7± 3.2 alleles per locus) were developed and optimised for this species. Parentage analyses were conducted in NEWPAT XL and CERVUS 3.0.3 and confirmed using observational data. Eighty-five percent of the offspring had at least one parent assigned. The levels of intra-specific brood parasitism, extra-pair paternity and quasi-parasitism were 7%, 7% and 1% of the offspring, respectively. Polygamy levels decreased with year, as the study population matured. The correlative study showed that males with longer TF and with better condition had a higher probability of reproducing and sired more offspring, but their offspring were not of higher quality as measured by their weight and immune response to phytohaemagglutinin. Polygynous males were also in better condition. In the experimental study, males in better condition had a higher chance of reproducing and sired more fledglings. Conversely, males with reduced TF sired significantly fewer eggs and lighter fledglings than control males. Body condition and TF length are shown to be good predictors of reproductive success and TF length is shown to be under sexual selection.

Internationally, the impacts of deer have been widely studied, but little work has been conducted in Australia. Sambar (Cervus unicolor Kerr) were introduced to Victoria in the 1860s from Sri Lanka, and have become established throughout eastern Victoria. This study is located in the Yarra Ranges National Park, 100 km north east of Melbourne. The park primarily consists of three protected water catchments that contribute approximately 50% to Melbourne’s water supply. This study was conducted from 2005 to 2008 in the Upper Yarra and O’Shannassy catchments. Large open areas covered by forbs and grasses periodically form adjacent to the water body of the Upper Yarra reservoir. Sambar are frequently observed at the largest of these areas known as The Flats. The impacts of sambar at this locality and in other areas of the catchments were investigated. / Faecal pellet transect surveys determined that sambar occupancy and density was greatest on open flats, lower on forest edges adjacent to open flats (< 250 m), and significantly less in other forested areas of the catchment. Observations of The Flats revealed that hinds were the main demographic class represented, with a mean group size of 39 individuals, and up to 70. This is the largest aggregation of sambar ever reported anywhere in the world, and equates to an approximate density of 200 km-2 at this site. / Selective exclosures effectively differentiated the offtake of forage by sambar from that of native herbivores. Sambar contributed to the majority of offtake at The Flats, and were able to obtain a substantial proportion of their daily food requirements from this source. A culling program began in the Yarra Ranges National Park in May 2008, to reduce the large numbers of deer in the park. The cull reduced the time spent by sambar on The Flats, as determined by faecal pellet accumulation plots, and significantly reduced faecal pellet load and forage offtake. / Sambar significantly decreased relative foliage cover of shiny nematolepis (Nematolepis wilsonii), a threatened understorey tree, through their antler rubbing activities. Thrashing of shiny nematolepis saplings also significantly decreased relative foliage cover, with sambar selecting saplings with a larger stem diameter from those available. Rubbed trees and thrashed saplings experienced damage to, on average, over half the stem circumference. / Selective exclosures allowed differentiation of sambar and native herbivore browsing on forest understoreys. Browsing by sambar in high densities prevented the vertical growth of plants in the understorey, with branches above 60 cm in height most commonly browsed. Plants in the understorey were more frequently and intensely browsed in areas of high sambar density. Three species were browsed to a significantly greater extent by sambar than native herbivores: hazel pomaderris (Pomaderris aspera), prickly tea-tree (Leptospermum continentale) and prickly bush-pea, (Pultenaea juniperina). Sambar significantly reduced plant biomass in forest understoreys where they occur in high densities. / The presence of large, open herb-rich areas drives the high local densities and associated impacts of sambar within the Yarra Ranges National Park. Future areas of research are identified and management recommendations are outlined. A sustained culling program appears to be the only practical option to reduce sambar density and impacts at this locality.

Submitted by Sandra Pereira (srpereira@ufrrj.br) on 2018-04-11T13:17:41Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2010 - Bruno Leite dos Anjos.pdf: 12893665 bytes, checksum: 99b4dd0f8ecdebb1f227aa0522ac061f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-04-11T13:17:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2010 - Bruno Leite dos Anjos.pdf: 12893665 bytes, checksum: 99b4dd0f8ecdebb1f227aa0522ac061f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-17 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cient?fico e Tecnol?gico, CNPq, Brasil. / Cases of diseases induced by toxic plants in domestic herbivores are well reported throughout the world and have been studied also in Brazil. However, not much is known about the epidemiological and pathological aspectos of these conditions in free-living wildlife or bred in captivity. The risk for developing the toxicoses in captivity has been increasing, since natural habitats are destroyed by human action, and more centers of wildlife conservation and zoological comes are created. This study describes the epidemiological, biological and clinicopathological, lectin-histochemical and ultrastructural aspects of an outbreak of lysosomal storage disease of oligosaccharides induced by ingestion of Sida carpinifolia in young Sambar deer (Cervus unicolor) in the Rio-Zoo Foundation in the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nine deer showed neurological signs characterized by motor and proprioceptive deficits. Then neurological signs were mainly depression, incoordination, dysmetria, ataxia, broad-based members, muscle tremors, loss of tongue tone, frequent falls and death. Grossly hematomas were observed secondary to trauma caused by dominant males of the flock, and whitish striations, especially in the renal cortex. Histologic changes included marked swelling/cytoplasmic vacuolization especially in neurons, progressing to neuronal lysis and axonal spheroids, in exocrine pancreas, thyroid follicular cells and renal tubular epithelial cells. In the lectin-histochemical examination the vacuoles were formed by the accumulation of oligosaccharides specially marked by the lectins WGA, WGA and Con-A. Ultrastructurally, the swelling/vacuolation corresponded to intense cytoplasmic distention of lysosomes, formation of residual bodies or dense granular fragments of membranes and mielinoides bodies. The study has shown the susceptibility of Cervus unicolor to swainsonine by ingestion of S. carpinifolia. Possibly poisoning the animals in this study was conducted by food restriction by the hierarchy among males in the group. It might also determine the marked similarity between clinical and pathological aspects in Sambar deer with the one presented by other herbivores. / Casos de doen?as induzidas por plantas t?xicas em herb?voros dom?sticos s?o bastante relatados por todo o mundo e v?m sendo estudados tamb?m no Brasil. Pouco se sabe, contudo, sobre os aspectos epidemiol?gicos e patol?gicos dessas condi??es em animais selvagens de vida livre ou criados em cativeiro. Os riscos de desenvolvimento dessas toxicoses em cativeiros v?m aumentando, conforme os habitats naturais s?o destru?dos pela a??o humana, e mais centros de conserva??o de vida silvestre e zool?gicos s?o criados. Nesse estudo s?o descritos os aspectos epidemiol?gicos, biol?gicos e clinicopatol?gicos, lectinohistoqu?micos e ultraestruturais de um surto de doen?a do armazenamento lisossomal de oligossacar?deos induzido pela ingest?o de Sida carpinifolia em cervos Sambar jovens (Cervus unicolor) no zool?gico da Funda??o Rio-Zoo no Estado do Rio de Janeiro. Nove cervos apresentaram sinais cl?nicos neurol?gicos caracterizados por d?ficits proprioceptivo e motor. Os sinais neurol?gicos inclu?ram principalmente depress?o, incoordena??o, dismetria, ataxia, membros em base ampla, tremores musculares, perda do t?nus lingual, quedas frequentes e morte. Macroscopicamente foram observados hematomas, secund?rios a traumas provocados por machos dominantes do rebanho, e estria??es esbranqui?adas, principalmente no c?rtex renal. As les?es histol?gicas inclu?am acentuada tumefa??o/vacuoliza??o citoplasm?tica especialmente em neur?nios, p?ncreas ex?crino, c?lulas foliculares da tireoides e do epit?lio renal, necrose neuronal com evolu??o para lise e esferoides axonais. Pelo exame lectino-histoqu?mico os vac?olos eram formados por ac?mulo de oligossacar?deos marcado especialmente pelas lectinas S-WGA, WGA e Con-A. Ultraestruturalmente, a tumefa??o/vacuoliza??o citoplasm?tica correspondeu ? intensa distens?o de lisossomos, forma??o de corpos residuais densos ou granulares, fragmentos de membranas e corpos mielinoides. O estudo demonstrou a suscetibilidade de Cervus unicolor ? swainsonina contida na S. carpinifolia. Possivelmente, a intoxica??o nos animais deste estudo ocorreu pela restri??o alimentar sofrida pelos animais mais jovens, decorrente da hierarquia entre machos no grupo. P?de-se determinar ainda a marcada similaridade do quadro cl?nico e patol?gico entre os cervos descritos nesse trabalho e outros herb?voros dom?sticos.