Seasonal patterns in production, chemical composition, color and fruit contrast in the Cerrado

• Grant number: 12/19827-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): June 01, 2013
• Effective date (End): October 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany
• Principal Investigator: Leonor Patricia Cerdeira Morellato
• Grantee: Maria Gabriela Gutierrez de Camargo
• Supervisor: H. Martin Schaefer
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of Freiburg, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 10/01762-3 - Fruiting patterns and diversity in production, color and chemical composition of cerrado fruits: an integrated view, BP.DR

Abstract

In the Brazilian savanna (Cerrado), as in other tropical vegetation, animal-mediated seed dispersal is predominant, and most of these have frugivorous birds as their main seed vector. Despite the importance of the cerrado plant species as a food resource for these animals, little is known about the actual fruit production and how they become available in time. In addition to quantitative data, it is also important to consider the nutritional quality of fruit and how this can be associated with temporal data and fruit color, a fundamental trait for fruit removal by birds and that may be a signal of fruit quality. Considering the influence of climatic seasonality in this vegetation, we intend to investigate i) fruit availability of different species in terms of quantity and quality, over time and if fruit color could be a signal of fruit quality for birds and mammals; ii) propose a suitable methodology to assess changes in the fruits background and their contrast, considering seasonal changes in foliage coloration; and (iii) verify how the fruiting pattern and fruit color affect the fruit removal of Miconia albicans. For this, I will use data already collected and organized in a database. I intend to perform data analyses, including autocorrelation phylogenetic analyses in fruit color, phenology and nutritional composition and writing two manuscripts that will be part of the thesis to be presented. (AU)

Scientific publications

(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)

DE CAMARGO, MARIA GABRIELA G.; SCHAEFER, H. MARTIN; HABERMANN, GUSTAVO; CAZETTA, ELIANA; SOARES, NATALIA COSTA; MORELLATO, LEONOR PATRICIA C.. Bicolored display of Miconia albicans fruits: Evaluating visual and physiological functions of fruit colors. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY, v. 102, n. 9, p. 1453-1461, SEP 2015. (10/51307-0, 10/52113-5, 09/54208-6, 12/19827-0, 10/01762-3)

CAMARGO, MARIA GABRIELA G.; CAZETTA, ELIANA; MORELLATO, LEONOR PATRICIA C.; SCHAEFER, H. MARTIN. Characterizing background heterogeneity in visual communication. BASIC AND APPLIED ECOLOGY, v. 15, n. 4, p. 326-335, 2014. (10/51307-0, 10/52113-5, 12/19827-0, 10/01762-3)