Ichthiofauna of the Juréia Itatins Ecological Station: subsidies for the integrated management of mosaic of conservation units

• Grant number: 22/09920-4
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2023
• End date: September 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Agreement: Secretaria de Meio Ambiente, Infraestrutura e Logística - Fundação Florestal
• Principal Investigator: Milena Ramires de Souza
• Grantee: Milena Ramires de Souza
• Host Institution: Pró-Reitoria Acadêmica. Universidade Santa Cecília (UNISANTA). Santos , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: Santos
• Associated researchers: Amanda Aparecida Carminatto ; Bruno Lopes da Silva Ferrette ; Claudio de Oliveira ; Mariana Clauzet ; Matheus Marcos Rotundo ; Miguel Petrelli Junior
• Associated research grant(s): 25/03919-2 - BioEduca: development of teaching materials and teaching-learning strategies for Biology, AP.R

Abstract

The Jureia Itatins Ecological Station (EEJI) is part of an ecological and socio-environmental of the utmost importance, which houses a significant portion of the Atlantic Rain Forest with elevated levels of biodiversity and endemism. It is immersed in a Mosaic of Conservation Units (CUs) in the State of São Paulo. The EEJI diverse ichthyofauna establishes interactions with neighboring conservation units with different protection categories. The current project aims to evaluate the ichthyological community's structure of the EEJI and to estimate the genomic population structure of the fat snook Centropomus parallelus, one of the most important fisheries and regional socioeconomic resources. To this end, ichthyofauna specimens will be sampled through experimental fisheries with gillnets at eight points along the Una River along the four climatic seasons and sampling campaigns, while for the genomic population structure of C. parallelus, sampling will be conducted in Rio Verde and the adjacent coastal zone. Physico-chemical factors will be characterized at each sampling point. In the laboratory, fishes will be identified genetically and morphologically, measured, weighed, and the stages of gonadal macro maturation will be described for reproductive analysis. Analyzes will be performed considering the abundance by trophic guilds, diversity descriptors, and energy increment indices. In the molecular analysis, the genomic population structure, assessment of local adaptation, levels of genetic diversity, and estimation of effective population size (Ne) will be estimated. With these results, it will be possible to improve the integrated management of the CUs of the Jureia Itatins Mosaic, in line with the Aichi Goals and the Biodiversity Convention and to incorporate new results with those obtained in previous funding for research in the Jureia Itatins Mosaic area (FAPESP: 2019/19431-8), where it became evident that the snooks, especially C. parallelus, represent an essential fishery resource for the regional socioeconomy, which makes the biological knowledge about their populations indispensable for its sustainable management and conservation, as well as understanding their behavior and ecological functions in the different conservation units of the mosaic. (AU)