What are the factors that structure the tadpoles communities in the Pantanal at different scales and sub-regions?

• Grant number: 14/05254-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: June 01, 2014
• End date: February 29, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Denise de Cerqueira Rossa-Feres
• Grantee: Fernanda Simioni
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The distribution patterns of species are influenced by factors operating at multiple spatial scales. One of the major current debate in ecology focuses on the relative influence of local and regional variables on species distribution. The few studies analyzing variables in both scales have produced conflicting results. The Pantanal and Chaco wetlands in the flood plain of the Rio Paraguay Basin represent a knowledge gap about Ecology of anuran and, specifically, tadpole communities. Water bodies in this region can become connected, facilitating processes of dispersion being a very interesting system to assess the influence of regional and local processes in communities assembly. Our goal is to assess whether communities of tadpoles of seasonally flooded areas are niche-structured (local processes), a result of spatially structured habitats or a simple reflex of the distance between habitats (spatial processes). The study will be conducted on the database about species composition, 12 variables of water bodies and three variables of landscape, obtained in 106 pools of three areas in the Pantanal and Chaco Biomes. The geographic coordinates of water bodies will be used to represent the spatial relationships. The analysis of variation partitioning will be applied to determine the relative influence of spatial and environmental variables in structuring communities of tadpoles. We hope to find a greater influence of processes related to the niche, because dispersal processes in the sampled areas are facilitated by connectivity between water bodies, allowing the species to reach suitable habitats. (AU)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

SIMIONI, Fernanda. What are the factors that structure the tadpoles communities in Pantanal at different scales and sub-regions?. 2016. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências Letras e Ciências Exatas. São José do Rio Preto São José do Rio Preto.