Long-term effect of land use for agropastoral activities on zooplankton communities and water parameters of small shallow reservoirs.

• Grant number: 23/14899-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Stela Maioli Castilho Noll
• Grantee: Guilherme Calixto Sanches de Sousa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas (IBILCE). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José do Rio Preto. São José do Rio Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Land use and management for agropastoral activities has been one of the world's main impacts on terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity. In recent years, these activities have intensified, which can have even more damaging effects on water bodies. In lentic environments, the zooplankton community plays an important role, as it represents an important link in aquatic food chains and can respond quickly to changes in the adjacent terrestrial environment. The aim of this study is therefore to evaluate the temporal effect of intensification of land use on the taxonomic diversity of the zooplankton community and on the water parameters of small shallow reservoirs in agropastoral landscapes in the northwest of the state of São Paulo. To do this, we will use data produced during the Biota Fapesp Project carried out in 2008 (Fapesp process no. 04/04820-3) and data that will be obtained from new samples in the same reservoirs. These samples will be taken by filtering the water through a 45-mesh net in the limnetic zone of eight of the same reservoirs studied in the previous project. In addition to the zooplankton community, the variables temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen and conductivity will also be assessed using a multi-parameter probe and the concentrations of phosphorus and total nitrogen will be analyzed. Rotifers, copepods and cladocerans will be identified down to species level and counts will be made to determine population densities. With this data, it will be possible to determine taxonomic diversity indices such as the Shannon-Winer index, Pielou's evenness and Simpson's dominance and ² diversity. The data will be compared between 2008 and 2024, giving a time span of 15 years. It is expected that lower taxonomic richness, higher dominance, lower equitability and consequently lower diversity of zooplankton species will be observed in the 2024 samples, as well as greater similarity between the communities, indicating ecological changes in the reservoirs as a result of the continuous use and management of the land for agropastoral activities.