Analyzing the effectiveness of the Buffer Zone and its predictors in retaining ecological functions

• Grant number: 23/08511-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: November 01, 2023
• End date: August 28, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Adriano Garcia Chiarello
• Grantee: Barbara Lima Silva
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/02776-0 - Identifying landscape features that affect the retention of ecological functions of cerrado mammal assemblages, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

The Cerrado biome has a rich biodiversity that provides various ecosystem services. However, due to intense exploitation and land use, it is widely threatened. Therefore, protected areas (PAs), including their respective buffer zones, which aim to minimize anthropogenic impacts on PAs, are essential for biodiversity conservation and ecological processes. It is known that many species move through the surroundings of PAs, but the proportion and variables explaining the functional diversity maintained in these areas are unexplored questions. To address these questions, we will analyze the patterns of mammal richness sampled by camera traps in three areas in the northeastern state of São Paulo and in PAs of different protection categories. We will group species according to their ecological functions and use Principal Coordinate Analysis to examine the species ordination in relation to the areas and landscape characteristics. We will also employ Generalized Linear Mixed Models to assess the effect of predictor variables (landscape composition and configuration metrics) on taxonomic and functional richness. Through the obtained results, we aim to contribute to the management of protected areas by identifying missing or most impacted ecological processes in the buffer zones, as well as the landscape characteristics that are crucial for mitigating the decline of these processes.

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)

LIMA-SILVA, BARBARA; CHEREM, JORGE J.; RIBEIRO-SOUZA, PAULA; AYROZA, CAMILA R.; MEES, THEO C. G.; ALTHOFF, SERGIO L.; BUENO, MAURICIO T. P.; STANKE-SOBRINHO, ARTUR; SILVA-JUNIOR, JOSE O.; PIRES, JOSE S. R.; et al. Updated list of mammals of the Island of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil. ZOOLOGIA, v. 41, p. 15-pg., 2024-10-21. (23/08511-6)