Influence of spatial scale and phytophysiognomy on metacommunity structure of anurans from the Atlantic Forest

• Grant number: 14/07591-7
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): July 01, 2014
• Effective date (End): February 29, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Cooperation agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal researcher: Denise de Cerqueira Rossa-Feres
• Grantee: Rodolfo Mei Pelinson
• Home 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 metacommunity concept encompasses processes that occur in local and regional scale. However, the same processes may result in different metacommunity structures, so we can not infer processes studying patterns of species distributions. For this reason, the structure-based approaches have being better considered than the process-based ones. With so it is important to identify patterns of species distribution in different ecological systems and different scales. In this study, we aim to identify amphibian metacommunity structure in different spatial scales and different phytophysiognomies from the Atlantic Forest Domain in São Paulo state: the Mesophytic Semideciduous Forest (MSF) and the Ombrophilous Dense Forest (ODF). We will use data already collected through standardized methodology of species richness and composition of amphibian larvae from four ODF areas and four MSF areas, accounting about 10 water bodies in each locality. We will evaluate three elements of metacommunity structure: i) coherence, by ordering a site-by-species matrix via correspondence analysis and comparing to null models; ii) species turnover, by comparing the number of species turnover in the ordered matrix to null models; and iii) boundary clumping, by applying X² test and Morisita's index. We expect to find a gleasonian structure for both phytphysiognomies in a restricted scale. In a wide scale, we expect to find a clementsonian structure for ODF and gleasonian structure for MSF. These predictions are based in dispersal ability and habitat availability in different phytophysiognomies and spatial scales. (AU)

Academic Publications

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

PELINSON, Rodolfo Mei. Estruturação de metacomunidades de girinos em diferentes fitofisionomias da Mata Atlântica : uma análise em diferentes escalas espaciais. 2016. 74 f. Master's Dissertation - Universidade Estadual Paulista "Júlio de Mesquita Filho" Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas..