Alpha, beta, functional and phylogenetic diversity of opilions in the Atlantic Forest: patterns and relationships with ecological and historical factors

• Grant number: 13/23736-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): January 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): April 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Acordo de Cooperação: NSF - Dimensions of Biodiversity and BIOTA
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Pinto da Rocha
• Grantee: André do Amaral Nogueira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/50297-0 - Dimensions US-BIOTA São Paulo: a multidisciplinary framework for biodiversity prediction in the Brazilian Atlantic forest hotspot, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

The aim of this project is to study several aspects of the diversity of the Atlantic Forest harvestmen. Due to their sensitivity to forest disturbance, and to their low dispersal capacity, harvestmen are good candidates as a target group for biogeography studies. Our goal is to inventory the diversity of harvestmen communities from 30 sites located through the Atlantic Forest, and to analyze the influence of environmental and historical factors on the observed patterns. We will employ four measures of diversity, alpha, beta, phylogenetic and functional diversity. We will assess the influence of environmental variables, such as temperature and humidity, through partial regressions and model selection. To evaluate the influence of historical factors we will use a recent historical biogeographical hypothesis, which proposed the division of the Atlantic Forest in 12 areas of endemism (AE) based on the distribution of 109 species of harvestmen. This study will serve as an historical framework, against which we can generate predictions concerning the diversity patterns. The harvestmen of the Atlantic Forest have been the subject of several studies in the past 15 years, from taxonomy and phylogeny to community ecology and behavior. We consider that our project, investigating several aspects of diversity under a macroecological and historical approach will represent a novel yet complementary contribution to the knowledge of the diversity of harvestmen of the Atlantic Forest. We also consider that this project is feasible, due to the fact that most of the sites included in our study have already been sampled (24 out of 30) and the data is available, and also to the existence of phylogenetic hypothesis for several groups. (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)

NOGUEIRA, ANDRE DO AMARAL; PINTO-DA-ROCHA, RICARDO. The effects of habitat size and quality on the orb-weaving spider guild (Arachnida: Araneae) in an Atlantic Forest fragmented landscape. JOURNAL OF ARACHNOLOGY, v. 44, n. 1, p. 36-45, 2016. (13/23736-2, 99/05123-4)

ANDRÉ A. NOGUEIRA; STEFAN R. DIAS. Nova espécie de Alpaida (Araneae, Araneidae) de Rondônia, Brasil. IHERINGIA SERIE ZOOLOGIA, v. 105, n. 4, p. 416-419, 2015-12-00. (13/23736-2)

NOGUEIRA, ANDRE DO AMARAL; BRAGAGNOLO, CIBELE; DASILVA, MARCIO BERNARDINO; CARVALHO, LEONARDO SOUSA; BENEDETTI, ALIPIO REZENDE; PINTO-DA-ROCHA, RICARDO. Spatial variation in phylogenetic diversity of communities of Atlantic Forest harvestmen (Opiliones, Arachnida). Insect Conservation and Diversity, v. 12, n. 5, p. 414-426, SEP 2019. (13/23736-2, 13/50297-0)