Effects of seasonality on temporal and spatial dynamics of herbaceous communities in tropical savannas

• Grant number: 22/03620-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Alessandra Tomaselli Fidelis
• Grantee: Gabriela Dezotti Oliveira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Seasonality in tropical savannas is an essential environmental component in community's dynamics. The well-defined contrast between dry and wet seasons favored the presence of organisms with attributes in response to seasonality. In Cerrado, the presence of seasonality, fire and other processes (such as different soil types), contributed to the formation of plant communities mainly composed of grassy and herbaceous species that concentrate most of the biodiversity of these environments. Changes in herbaceous composition may play an important role in structuring open ecosystems and seasonality directly impacts the environmental conditions that influence the variation in community composition. However, we still do not have practical information on how this phenomenon affects the temporal and spatial change of the herbaceous cover of tropical savannas. Furthermore, little is known about how changes in composition can be synchronized across communities. In this project we aim to contribute to fill the gaps and advance the knowledge in temporal and spatial variation of herbaceous communities of tropical savannas. For this, we will analyze data from the herbaceous layer of plant communities located in campo sujo areas. We expect to find higher beta diversity of species among communities during the wet season, when most grasses and herbs produce aerial biomass. On the other hand, in the dry season, communities are expected to become less diverse as a lot of species lose their aerial parts. This should especially happen in communities where fire is suppressed. We expect that seasonality promotes similarity at larger spatial scales, while smaller-scale analyzes show higher asynchrony between communities.