Natural history and ecology of two sympatric species of rodents of the tribe Oryzomyini (Cricetidae: Sigmodontinae) in the Atlantic Forest

• Grant number: 11/21152-8
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: February 01, 2012
• End date: June 30, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Alexandre Reis Percequillo
• Grantee: Ricardo Siqueira Bovendorp
• Supervisor: Pedro Jordano
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain

Abstract

The genera Euryoryzomys and Sooretamys are distinct species from the standpoint of evolutionary and ecological. These two strains phylogenetically belong to different ages and possibly distinct evolutionary into the oryzomyini tribe. Moreover Euryoryzomys russatus and Sooretamys angouya have different responses to the fragmentation process, however there is insufficient information available on natural history and autoecology to a better understanding of these responses to the environment.This project aims to evaluate the abundance, diet and use of resources for understanding the coping strategies adopted within the population in a continuous environment. Also recognize and analyze reproductive attributes and seasonal variation of reproduction for a better understanding how the fluctuation behaves against climate change. Finally, investigate the movement of species in the environment and calculate the area of life to assess how species behave in the environment to search food resources, shelter, or reproduction and territoriality. To investigate above objectives the development of the project began in January 2008 with the literature of the species and implementation of three grids in an Atlantic Forest area (Morro Grande Forest Reserve, Cotia, SP) to set up the traps to catch small mammals non-flying (Sherman) and pitfall traps (bucket). The capture sessions have taken place in early March 2008 to obtain data on abundance and density. Collections were made for 23 consecutive months. The data such as gender, age and reproductive condition by marking the individuals with the earrings capture-recapture method to evaluate the natural history and population dynamics for the study area. To evaluate parameters associated with diet and home range data were collected to obtain the area and daily life, total area, diet, nest structure, reproductive structure and recruitment from two samples, one in cold, dry season (July 2010) and in a hot and humid season (January 2011) at climate changes view. We used 16 days of camp in July 2010 and 13 days in January 2011 for the technique "spool and line", seed predation experiment and collecting fruits and individuals for screening of stomach contents and analysis of reproductive structure. Currently I have a large volume of data concerning the two species under study (Euryoryzomys russatus and Sooretamys angouya) and the study area. Finally these results allow obtaining a comparative analysis of the natural history and ecology from an evolutionary context of organisms that share the same geographical and temporal scale, which is unprecedented within the tribe and subfamily results allow obtaining a comparative analysis of the natural history and ecology from an evolutionary context of organisms that share the same geographical and temporal scale, which is unprecedented within the tribe and Subfamily. (AU)