New approaches to ecology and conservation: phylogenetic and functional diversity of amphibians and snakes of Brazilian Atlantic Forest

• Grant number: 14/23677-9
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: September 01, 2016 - February 28, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Jannini Sawaya
• Grantee: Ricardo Jannini Sawaya
• Home Institution: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas (CCNH). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

To understand the main factors structuring biodiversity is a major challenge in ecology. It is possible to test multiple structuring processes, including biogeographical, ecological and neutral, from recent theoretical and analytical advances in metacommunity ecology. Species diversity is often treated as a representative property of community structure, and more widely of metacommunities. When compared to taxonomic or species diversity, analyses of phylogenetic diversity (component of evolutionary history) and functional diversity (set of functional traits) of a community allow more objective assessments of its structure. Other important aspects for a better understanding of the structure and status of biodiversity conservation are population declines and extinctions caused by diseases. The chytridiomycosis caused by the fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is considered one of the major threats to amphibians worldwide. But little is known about its relationships with natural history, evolution and amphibian distribution. Other important factors relatively poorly studied in Brazil are the effects of habitat loss and forest fragmentation. Snakes are also model organisms for ecological studies and are quite sensitive to modification of natural habitats. The Atlantic Forest is one of the richest biomes in biodiversity, but one of the most devastated and threatened in Brazil. It is believed that its high species richness and endemism for amphibians and snakes are related to its structural heterogeneity. This project aims to analyze the species diversity, phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity of amphibians and snakes of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and their possible structuring factors, to assess the conservation status of these groups, and to propose additional guidelines and criteria for biodiversity conservation. (AU)

Scientific publications

(8)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DA MOTTA PORTILLO, JOSE THALES; OUCHI-MELO, LILIAN SAYURI; CRIVELLARI, LUCAS BATISTA; LOPES DE OLIVEIRA, THIAGO ALVES; SAWAYA, RICARDO J.; DUARTE, LEANDRO DA SILVA. Area and distance from mainland affect in different ways richness and phylogenetic diversity of snakes in Atlantic Forest coastal islands. ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, v. 9, n. 7, p. 3909-3917, APR 2019. Web of Science Citations: 0.

LOURENCO-DE-MORAES, RICARDO; MALAGOLI, LEO R.; GUERRA, VINICIUS; FERREIRA, RODRIGO B.; AFFONSO, IGOR DE PAIVA; HADDAD, CELIO F. B.; SAWAYA, RICARDO J.; BASTOS, ROGERIO P. Nesting patterns among Neotropical species assemblages: can reserves in urban areas be failing to protect anurans?. URBAN ECOSYSTEMS, v. 21, n. 5, p. 933-942, OCT 2018. Web of Science Citations: 1.

SILVA-SOARES, THIAGO; MALAGOLI, LEO RAMOS; GONCALVES CRUZ, CARLOS ALBERTO; CARAMASCHI, ULISSES. On the taxonomy and natural history of the secretive Ischnocnema lactea (Miranda-Ribeiro, 1923) (Anura: Brachycephaloidea: Brachycephalidae). Zootaxa, v. 4444, n. 2, p. 137-153, JUL 9 2018. Web of Science Citations: 1.

LEAO-PIRES, THIAGO A.; LUIZ, AMOM MENDES; SAWAYA, RICARDO J. The complex roles of space and environment in structuring functional, taxonomic and phylogenetic beta diversity of frogs in the Atlantic Forest. PLoS One, v. 13, n. 4 APR 19 2018. Web of Science Citations: 2.

NAVARRO-LOZANO, ALBA; SANCHEZ-DOMENE, DAVID; ROSSA-FERES, DENISE C.; BOSCH, JAIME; SAWAYA, RICARDO J. Are oral deformities in tadpoles accurate indicators of anuran chytridiomycosis?. PLoS One, v. 13, n. 1 JAN 10 2018. Web of Science Citations: 4.

GUEDES, THAIS B.; SAWAYA, RICARDO J.; ZIZKA, ALEXANDER; LAFFAN, SHAWN; FAURBY, SOREN; PYRON, R. ALEXANDER; BERNILS, RENATO S.; JANSEN, MARTIN; PASSOS, PAULO; PRUDENTE, ANA L. C.; CISNEROS-HEREDIA, DIEGO F.; BRAZ, HENRIQUE B.; NOGUEIRA, CRISTIANO DE C.; ANTONELLI, ALEXANDRE. Patterns, biases and prospects in the distribution and diversity of Neotropical snakes. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND BIOGEOGRAPHY, v. 27, n. 1, p. 14-21, JAN 2018. Web of Science Citations: 6.

MESQUITA, ANDREA F. C.; LAMBERTINI, CAROLINA; LYRA, MARIANA; MALAGOLI, LEO R.; JAMES, TIMOTHY Y.; TOLEDO, LUIS FELIPE; HADDAD, CELIO F. B.; BECKER, C. GUILHERME. Low resistance to chytridiomycosis in direct-developing amphibians. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 7, NOV 30 2017. Web of Science Citations: 9.

MALAGOLI, LEO R.; DE SA, FABIO P.; CANEDO, CLARISSA; HADDAD, CELIO F. B. A New Species of Hylodes (Anura, Hylodidae) from Serra do Mar, Southeastern Brazil: The Fourth with Nuptial Thumb Tubercles. Herpetologica, v. 73, n. 2, p. 136-147, JUN 2017. Web of Science Citations: 3.