Top-down control of meiofauna and microphytobenthic biomass by the fiddler crab Uca burgersi (Decapoda: Ocypodidade)

• Grant number: 13/23623-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: February 26, 2014
• End date: May 25, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Tânia Marcia Costa
• Grantee: Monique D Assunção Fortuna
• Supervisor: Henrique José de Barros Brito Queiroga
• Host Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Universidade de Aveiro (UA), Portugal
• Associated to the scholarship: 13/14828-0 - Top-down control of meiofauna and microphytobenthic biomass by the fiddler crab Uca burgersi (Decapoda: Ocypodidae), BP.MS

Abstract

The use of fatty acid profiles as biomarker tracers have been used to understand trophic chains in benthic, pelagic and estuarine ecosystems. In the Masters project about top-down control of meiofauna and microphytobenthos biomass by the fiddler crab Uca burgersi, the predation is evaluated on the decrease of quantitative microphytobenthos biomass and abundance and diversity of meiofauna of crabs treated over time. The main food source of the predator will also be determined through the fatty acids profile available in the sediment during the foraging of U. burgersi, in the profile of what is absorbed in the tissue and discarded through the feces. The request for a fellowship to do research abroad with researchers from Aveiro University specialized in this subject, is to assist in the analyses of the fatty acids profile data, the discussion and interpretation of results, as well as in the writing of the paper, which will be submitted for publication. The results of the fellowship will bring positive effects for the student, who will learn more about fatty acids analyses and benefit greatly from the experience of working with reknown researchers. (AU)