Environmental variations and possible learning in renesting influencing the productivity of a bird from salt marshes of the Atlantic Forest Biome

• Grant number: 22/04847-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2023
• End date: October 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Marcos Ricardo Bornschein
• Grantee: Giovanna Sandretti da Silva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB-CLP). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus Experimental do Litoral Paulista. São Vicente , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/09718-3 - Effects of environmental heterogeneity on the population dynamics of a threatened bird endemic to subtropical salt marshes, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Productivity is an essential factor in population dynamics. Several factors can influence it, such as rain, temperature, environmental quality, predators, and parental behavior. In the tropics, predation is the factor that most causes reproductive failure. Salt marshes present high predation and frequent tidal floodings. The objective of the study is understand the influences on productivity in a dynamic tropical environment dominated by herbaceous vegetation and susceptible to flooding, such as the South American salt marshes. For this, we chose Formicivora acutirostris as a model. This is a small bird from salt marshes in the Atlantic Forest that lives in pairs that defend the territory throughout the year. It will be evaluated whether it learns to select factors based in successful or unsuccessful nests and what climatic conditions and which quality of the territories increase productivity. Altitude, temperature, rainfall, maximum tidal heights, and variables related to nest, territory, and maturity of the couple, for example, will be considered as predictor variables. Repetition or avoidance of selected characteristics in nesting that culminated with success or failure of the nest and number of offspring produced, for example, will be considered outcome variables. The study region is the Guaratuba Bay, south coast of Paraná. Biotic data by territory are being obtained since 2006. The altitude was obtained by Real Time Kinematic. The vegetation will be analyzed using satellite image time series available in Google Earth Pro. Climatic data will be obtained from SIMEPAR. Tidal heights will be provided by Centro de Hidrografia da Marinha Brasileira. The analyzes will be done by Generalized Linear Mixed Models, in part during internship abroad, in England.

Scientific publications

(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)

SANDRETTI-SILVA, GIOVANNA; TEIXEIRA, LARISSA; GOLEC, CLAUDIA; BORNSCHEIN, MARCOS R. R.. The Relationship Between the Establishment of Aquatic Macrophytes and the Death of Mangroves in a South American Estuary: New Assessments of a Serious Environmental Problem. WETLANDS, v. 43, n. 6, p. 9-pg., 2023-08-01. (22/04847-7)