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| Author(s): |
Ricardo Siqueira Bovendorp
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | Piracicaba. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC) |
| Defense date: | 2013-10-18 |
| Examining board members: |
Alexandre Reis Percequillo;
Márcio Silva Araújo;
Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz;
Mauro Galetti Rodrigues;
Emerson Monteiro Vieira
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| Advisor: | Alexandre Reis Percequillo |
| Abstract | |
The Atlantic Forest is considered one of the most important global hotspot among the neotropical ecosystems. This study was conducted at the Morro Grande Forest Reserve - MGFR (23°39\'-23°48\'S, 47°01\'-46°55\'W), located in the Dense Montana Atlantic forest, Atlantic Plateau of São Paulo, Brazil, which is known by its high conservation value. The non-flying small mammals are the most diverse group of mammals in the Atlantic forest and recent data suggest Euryoryzomys russatus and Sooretamys angouya as the most common and abundant species in coastal forests and highlands in the state of São Paulo. These data also indicate that E. russatus is classified as endangered and S. angouya as data deficient in the state of São Paulo red list, and these species respond differently to the fragmentation process. This project evaluated the population structure, the living area, the use of space, the diet, and food selection displayed by E. russatus and S. angouya in MGFR. This study demonstrated that the species E. russatus features greater abundance than S. angouya in the study area. Thus, the temperature and the availability of fruits influenced the variation of the population of E. russatus, whereas the population variation of S. angouya showed no dependence of assessed biotic (fruits and arthropods) or abiotic factors (temperature and precipitation). Vertical stratification was observed in the use of space between S. angouya and E. russatus, once S. angouya presented escansorial locomotion and E. russatus was strictly terrestrial. The study suggests that the availability of resources, the reproductive period and the individual overall size are the main factors that affect the home range size, the use of space and mobility presented by the species. The results obtained by the study of diet demonstrate conclusively that E. russatus selects animal origin and S. angouya uses very little or does not use animal food resources, choosing plant sources rich in protein and carbohydrates, such as fruits. This study brought a better understanding of the life strategies adopted by E. russatus and S. angouya, which allowed the comparison of natural history of organisms that share the same spatial and temporal scale under an evolutionary perspective, which is a completely new approach within the tribe and subfamily. (AU) | |