Analysis of the functional connectivity through the characterization of movement of the species Heliconius erato

• Grant number: 15/08211-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2015
• End date: February 28, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues
• Grantee: Julia de Lima Pinheiro
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/50718-5 - Ecological restoration of riparian forests, native forest of economic production and of degraded forest fragments (in APP and RL) based on restoration ecology of reference ecosystems in order to scientifically test the precepts of the New Brazilian Forest Code, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

The anthropic influence on natural habitats may cause forest fragmentation. This process changes species richness, compromising their conservation. The effects of forest fragmentation depend, among other factors, on the functional connectivity, namely on how an organism perceives and responds to the landscape structure. Understanding the factors that determine the quality of the matrix for the organisms and understanding animal movement are essential steps to guide conservation initiatives on fragmented landscapes. Therefore, from the characterization of the movement of individuals of the butterfly species Heliconius erato, which are indicated as good surrogates for environmental monitoring, it will be possible to infer about its dispersal ability and to analyze landscape functional connectivity for this species. The study will be conducted in the northern portion of Batatais - São Paulo. Individuals of the studied species, both wild and raised in the laboratory, will be translocated to the non-forested matrix at different distances from the forest patches. Translocated individuals will be observed in terms of the time and tortuosity of its way back to the forest. Path tortuosity will be measured through the Correlated Random Walk analysis. To relate this index with the distance to the forest, generalized linear models with different distributions of probability will be used. These models will be compared through a model selection perspective based on the information theory using the Akaike Information Criterion. Additionally, the rate of return of the translocated individuals to their original forest pacth in function of the distance will be evaluated with Cox survival analysis. (AU)

Academic Publications

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

PINHEIRO, Julia de Lima. Analysis of the functional connectivity through the characterization of movement of the species Heliconius erato. 2017. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC) Piracicaba.