What are the factors that structure the tadpoles communities in Pantanal at different scales and sub-regions?

Author(s)

Fernanda Simioni

• Document type: Master's Dissertation
• Press: São José do Rio Preto. 2016-04-08.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências Letras e Ciências Exatas. São José do Rio Preto
• Defense date: 2016-03-15
• Advisor: Denise de Cerqueira Rossa Feres

Abstract

One of the main approaches in Ecology involves understanding the structure of metacommunities and clarifying the environmental and spatial processes responsible for it. The Pantanal floodplain is an interesting system for assessing anuran metacommunities structure because local periodic floods connect ponds and facilitate anuran dispersal. In this scenario, were sampled 75 tadpole metacommunities, in three sub-regions of the Pantanal, and evaluated in local (each subregion) and broad scale (all the subregions): the structure of the metacommunities, the relative influence of environmental and spatial processes and if the results are similar between the three subregions. In general, we find weak influence of spatial and environmental processes structuring the studied metacommunities. The flood seems to facilitate dispersal of the anurans, explaining the weak influence of spatial processes. By increasing the success in the colonization of new habitats, the generalist reproductive habits of most the species seem to explain the weak influence of the environmental features structuring the metacommunities. Structure types found here corroborated the results of the relative influence of the environmental and spatial process, reaffirming the complementarity of the methodologies. On broad scale and in two of the subregions sampled were detected quasistructures (Nhecolândia and broad scale) and random structure (Porto Murtinho), supporting the weak structuring effect of the environment features in the process analysis. MirandaAbobral was the only sub-region with a nested structure, confirming the strength of the environmental gradient in this metacommunity, as evidenced by the processes analysis in which was the only subregion with a significant environmental component. Miranda-Abobral was the only sub-region that did not present a quasi-structure but a nested structure instead and the only one with a significant environmental component, thus confirming the strength of the environmental gradient evidenced by the processes analysis. We detected similar patterns and processes structuring the tadpole metacommunities at each Pantanal sub-region. The flood pulse and the life history of the species in this seasonally flooded environment are indicated as the factors responsible for structuring these metacommunities (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/05254-3 - What are the factors that structure the tadpoles communities in the Pantanal at different scales and sub-regions?
• Grantee: Fernanda Simioni
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master