Anthropogenic impacts and their effects on biodiversity, complex networks and flux between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems

• Grant number: 24/08898-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Agreement: Secretaria de Meio Ambiente, Infraestrutura e Logística - Fundação Florestal
• Principal Investigator: Gustavo Quevedo Romero
• Grantee: Leandro Pio de Sousa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/10765-3 - Anthropogenic impacts and their effects on biodiversity, complex networks and flux between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, AP.BTA.R

Abstract

The transport and flux of resources and energy from donor ecosystems subsidize a huge amount and biomass of consumers from adjacent recipient ecosystems. These allochthonous resources (i.e., derived from different ecosystems) can be represented by nutrients and living organisms. The latter, e.g., the aquatic insects, actively reach adjacent terrestrial ecosystems and are consumed by terrestrial predators such as spiders, birds and bats. If pollutants and contaminants in water influence aquatic organisms, cascading effects through terrestrial environments are expected. Pollution can reduce the abundance and diversity of less resistant organisms, resulting in a lower contribution of allochthonous resources to terrestrial consumers; consequently, terrestrial consumers may decrease in abundance and diversity when close to polluted aquatic environments. Alternatively, or concurrently, pollutants can increase the dominance of more resistant aquatic organisms. In both scenarios, it is expected to detect significant changes in the ecological networks and energy flows between aquatic and terrestrial organisms, compared to preserved environments. In this project, it will be verified how anthropic impacts (pollutants in streams) influence the relationship between aquatic and terrestrial components through modern techniques, including complementary methods of stable isotopes (15N and 13C) and of consumers' gut content eDNA molecular analyses for the construction of consumer-resource networks. A comparative approach between polluted environments (cities in the Baixada Santista and Vale do Ribeira region) and preserved environments (Jureia-Itatins Ecological Station) will allow us to build a theoretical framework about the importance of preserving aquatic and riparian environments in maintaining biodiversity in a multi-ecosystem context. This project jointly addresses the three priority themes of this Call.