Borboletas Neotropicais: uma perspectiva histórica sobre padrões biogeográficos

Author(s)

Patrícia Eyng Gueratto

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Campinas, SP.
• Institution: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Instituto de Biologia
• Defense date: 2023-08-10

Examining board members

André Victor Lucci Freitas; Alexandre Marcos Antonelli; Camila Cherem Ribas; Ronaldo Bastos Francini; Thaís Barreto Guedes

• Advisor: André Victor Lucci Freitas

Abstract

Integrating the different faces of biogeography and macroecology, this thesis aimed to investigate how historical and contemporary climatic conditions and biogeographic processes shape diversity patterns in the Neotropics. Butterflies of the genus Actinote - widely distributed in South and Central America - were used as a study model. To achieve the proposed objectives, the thesis was organized into three chapters, in the format of scientific articles. The first chapter aimed to create a robust dataset with the occurrence points of Actinote species. For this, data published in scientific articles and theses were compiled, as well as data obtained in biological collections from several museums and unpublished data from collaborating researchers. The second chapter proposed to investigate how historical processes affect the current distribution pattern of biological diversity. For this, ecological niche models were used to infer patterns of species richness and phylogenetic diversity across the Neotropical region, and the processes that generated these patterns were discussed, based on prior knowledge of the historical biogeography of the group. The results point to the Atlantic Forest as an essential source of Actinote diversity, and that dispersal events between the Atlantic Forest and the Andes that occurred throughout the evolutionary history of the group shaped the current distribution of diversity. The third chapter proposed to investigate how historical climatic conditions are related to the current distribution of neotropical mountain diversity and to historical and evolutionary processes proposed in chapter two (especially dispersal events). For this, different approaches to biogeography and macroecology were used, from the use of ecological niche models in scenarios present up to 800 thousand years ago, to the mapping of species richness and phylogenetic diversity over time and state reconstruction ancestor of the "altitudinal range" character. The results of this chapter indicate that geological periods with lower temperatures were more conducive to establishing connections between the mountainous regions of the Atlantic Forest and the Andes. Furthermore, species with a less restricted altitudinal range are more likely to disperse between both regions. The results of this thesis generated knowledge of how biological diversity is distributed in geographic space and over time, also helping to understand how biodiversity can respond to future events linked mainly to climate change (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 18/19171-3 - Butterflies of the Atlantic Forest: a historical perspective on biogeographic patterns
• Grantee: Patrícia Eyng Gueratto
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate