Influence of aquatic-sourced subsidies on the resilience of receptor food webs in riparian forests

• Grant number: 23/10051-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Support Program for Fixating Young Doctors
• Start date: August 01, 2023
• End date: June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Theoretical Ecology
• Agreement: CNPq
• Principal Investigator: Gustavo Quevedo Romero
• Grantee: Fátima Carolina Recalde Ruiz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 23/01589-0 - Influence of aquatic-sourced subsidies on the resilience of receptor food webs in riparian forests, AP.R

Abstract

Subsidies are allochthonous resources that influence interactions in the receipt ecosystem. Subsidies of aquatic origins benefit terrestrial predators and the food web. However, most studies are based on receipt community responses in relatively stable environments, without taking into account disturbances resulting from climate change.For example, the increase of extreme precipitation can make natural disasters increasingly intense and frequent. In dense forest, branches or entire trees can fall, affecting understory locations, including the associated food web. The objective of these project is to investigate the importance of aquatic subsidies on resilience of riparian food web subject to unpredictable disturbances. A manipulative experiment will be carried out in riparian forests of the Serrado Mar State Park, where we will exclude the entry of emerging aquatic insects (the subsidies) and will emulate the disturbance in the form of falling branches and destruction of understory vegetation, in several plots established in an orthogonal design. Beyond BACI analyses will be carried out, in addition to testing linear models of the subsidy disturbance interaction on the variability (PV) and recovery time of the terrestrial food web (resilience). The execution of the project will be structured in two phases: (i) periodic fieldwork to assemble the structures and collection the field; and (ii) laboratory work and writing, where the collected data will be organized. Understanding how allochthonous subsidies act to mitigate the adverse effects of disturbances in vulnerable ecosystems becomes vitally important, not only to contribute to the knowledge of biological interactions, their causes and consequences, but also to provide clear information that is useful to plan strategies for conservation and mitigation of climate change.