Spatial structure in assemblages of Ephemeroptera Haeckel, 1896 (insecta) in streams of Serra da Mantiqueira and Serra do mar, State of São Paulo

Author(s)

Ana Emilia Siegloch

• Document type: Doctoral Thesis
• Press: Ribeirão Preto.
• Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (PCARP/BC)
• Defense date: 2010-03-26

Examining board members

Claudio Gilberto Froehlich; Pitágoras da Conceição Bispo; Alaíde Aparecida Fonseca Gessner; Fabio Santos do Nascimento; Frederico Falcão Salles

• Advisor: Claudio Gilberto Froehlich

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to i) inventory the taxonomic composition the mayfly fauna, larva and adult, in two slopes of the Mantiqueira Mountains (Campos do Jordao State Park and Pindamonhangaba Region) and of the Serra do Mar (Santa Virginia and Picinguaba Nuclei), located in São Paulo State, ii) analyze the spatial scales (mesohabitat, stream, slope and mountain) that best explain the spatial structure of Ephemeroptera assemblages and iii) identify and quantify the environmental variables that affects the communities of Ephemeroptera larvae. In all, 8 families, 33 genera and 21 species of Ephemeroptera were recorded. In the Serra da Mantiqueira 8 families, 28 genera and 18 species were found and in the Serra do Mar, 7 families, 30 genera and 15 species. Both mountains had a very significant portion of the genera reported to Brazil (41% and 45% of genera and 80% and 70% of families, respectively). The high Ephemeroptera richness in the areas may be related to the sampling methodology used, that included the collection of larvae and adults and explored several kinds of mesohabitats and streams. Considering the entire hierarchical model, there was a significant variation in both richness and abundance of the assemblages among the four slopes and between stone and leaf mesohabitats. Moreover, the highest variation in richness and abundance occurred among the samples from the same mesohabitat, which reflects the clumped distribution pattern of the assemblages of Ephemeroptera. Stone was the mesohabitat with the highest estimated richness, similarly Santa Virgínia Nucleus was the slope with highest estimated richness. The ordination showed a trend of segregation of samples from slopes and mesohabitats, this trend was confirmed by multivariate analysis of variance (Permanova). Thus, the spatial structure of the assemblages seems predicted by environmetal factors of local scale related to mesohabitats and the features of regional scale, associated with slopes. The Redundancy Analysis (RDA) showed elevation, electrical conductivity, water temperature and width as the local environmental variables that contributed most to explain the spatial structure of communities. However, local enrironmental factors explained only 19.3% of the data variability, 7.9% of the General Abstract 12 data variability was explained by environmental variables inseparable from the geographical matrix, 23.4% was explained by the geographical location of streams and 49.4% remained unexplained. The results of this study showed the similar contribution of local environmental variables and the geographic location in the community structure, indicating that the biological processes, as dispersal, also influenced the structure of the assemblages of Ephemeroptera larvae. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 05/59778-4 - Spatial Distribution of communities Ephemeroptera haeckel, 1896 (Insecta) in streams of the Serra da Mantiqueira and of the Serra do Mar, State of São Paulo
• Grantee: Ana Emilia Siegloch
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate