How fire management affects the interactions among plants, pollinators, and ants in the rupestrian field?

• Grant number: 21/09247-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Vânia Regina Pivello
• Grantee: Gudryan Jackson Barônio
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/04378-0 - Plant reproductive success and its responses to the fire: the role of pollen deposition, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Both the community structure and the net result of interaction networks can be variable and context-dependent according to the environmental conditions. Fire events can be decisive for the occurrence and maintenance of certain conditions, and consequently some interactions. In the rupestrian fields of the Sempre-Vivas National Park (PNSV, Minas Gerais state), traditional communities use fire to promote the flowering of some Eriocaulaceae species (named everlasting flowers) that provide them important material for handicrafts and commercialization. However, verbal records and some publications point to the decline of some everlasting flower species due to inadequate burning regime. There are knowledge gaps concerning the plants and animals' responses to fire, as well as about the interaction between fire and ecosystem processes related to plant survival and reproduction. In addition to plants and pollinators, the occurrence of fire affects different mutualistic organisms in the community, such as ants, which show variable recovery of colonies after fire events, and may be the first visitors to resume foraging activities after those events. In context-dependent scenarios of interactions, ants can play mutualistic or antagonistic roles - stimulating or reducing pollination, in this last case by repelling pollinators in face of their aggressive behavior against other floral visitors. As basis for understanding of some ecological mechanisms that evolved in response to fire effects, this research project proposes experiments and observations in the presence and absence of fire related to the availability of floral resources, interactions, and their rewiring, as well as on the net results of plant reproduction due to the interactions dissimilarities between plants and pollinators, including germination and seed removal. (AU)

Scientific publications

(9)

(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)

BARONIO, GUDRYAN J.; BARRETO, LAIS LEITE; CARDOSO, JOAO CUSTODIO FERNANDES; SILVA, THAIS VIRGINIA FIDELIS E; LEITE, ANA VIRGINIA DE LIMA; SANTOS, ANDRE MAURICIO MELO; CASTRO, CIBELE CARDOSO. Exploring edge effects on pollination syndromes in dry forests: implications for conservation strategies. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, v. N/A, p. 11-pg., 2024-06-17. (21/09247-5)

I. C. S. MAGALHÃES; C. S. DE SOUZA-NETO; G. T. DE SOUZA; G. J. BARONIO; C. C. DE CASTRO. Efeitos da polinização por abelhas na produtividade e composição química de frutos de maxixe (Cucumis anguria L., Cucurbitaceae) no semiárido brasileiro. Brazilian Journal of Biology, v. 84, 2024-08-26. (21/09247-5, 23/04378-0)

AZEVEDO, MARIA LUIZA DE; OLIVEIRA, MARIA NEUDES DE SOUSA; RECH, ANDRE RODRIGO; BARONIO, GUDRYAN JACKSON; SANTOS, JOSE CARLOS BARBOSA DOS; MACHADO, EVANDRO LUIZ MENDONCA; PEREIRA, ISRAEL MARINHO; GORGENS, ERIC BASTOS. Pollination is a major driver of germination in Comanthera bisulcata and may improve everlasting flowers (sempre-vivas) conservation in Brazilian campos rupestres. TURKISH JOURNAL OF BOTANY, v. 48, n. 5, p. 15-pg., 2024-01-01. (21/09247-5)

TEIXIDO, ALBERTO L.; SOUZA, CAMILA S.; BARONIO, GUDRYAN J.; SIGRIST, MARIA R.; RAIZER, JOSUE; AOKI, CAMILA. Post-fire temporal dynamics of plant-pollinator communities in a tropical savanna (Sept, 10.1007/s00442-024-05619-7, 2024). Oecologia, v. N/A, p. 1-pg., 2024-10-05. (21/09247-5)

BARONIO, GUDRYAN J.; BRESSAN, ANNA CAROLINA GRESSLER; ALMEIDA, ROBERTO BAPTISTA PEREIRA; PIVELLO, VANIA REGINA. Vegetation dynamics after fire in the Brazilian Campo Rupestre: Effects on native plant communities and flower harvesting. FLORA, v. 320, p. 11-pg., 2024-09-16. (23/04378-0, 21/09247-5)

BORGES, JOAO PAULO RAIMUNDO; FERREIRA, ILMARA APARECIDA OLIVEIRA; SILVA, DANUBIA NATALINA; NOVAES, CINTHIA SOARES; MACHADO, ANA CAROLINA PEREIRA; BARONIO, GUDRYAN JACKSON; JORGE, LEONARDO RE; RECH, ANDRE RODRIGO. Unveiling the reproduction of Proteopsis argentea (Asteraceae): how the complex pollination system might influence its conservation status. Rev. bras. Bot., v. N/A, p. 9-pg., 2024-07-12. (21/09247-5)

TEIXIDO, ALBERTO L.; SOUZA, CAMILA S.; BARONIO, GUDRYAN J.; SIGRIST, MARIA R.; RAIZER, JOSUE; AOKI, CAMILA. Post-fire temporal dynamics of plant-pollinator communities in a tropical savanna. Oecologia, v. 206, n. 1-2, p. 12-pg., 2024-09-13. (21/09247-5)

MONTEIRO, THAINA R.; GONCALVES, ROGERIO V. S.; TELLES, FRANCISMEIRE J.; BARONIO, GUDRYAN J.; NOGUEIRA, ANSELMO; BRITO, VINICIUS L. G.. A modified petal and stamen dimorphism interact to enhance pollen placement by a buzz-pollinated flower. ANNALS OF BOTANY, v. N/A, p. 11-pg., 2024-12-23. (19/19544-7, 21/09247-5)

PEREIRA MACHADO, ANA CAROLINA; BARONIO, GUDRYAN J.; SOARES NOVAES, CINTHIA; OLLERTON, JEFF; WOLOWSKI TORRES, MARINA; NATALINA SILVA LOPES, DANUBIA; RECH, ANDRE RODRIGO. Optimizing coffee production: Increases floral visitation and beans quality at plantation edges with wild pollinators and natural vegetation. JOURNAL OF APPLIED ECOLOGY, v. 61, n. 3, p. 11-pg., 2024-02-01. (23/04378-0, 21/09247-5)