Banca de DEFESA: LUIZ ANTONIO COSTA GOMES

Uma banca de DEFESA de DOUTORADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
DISCENTE : LUIZ ANTONIO COSTA GOMES
DATA : 19/02/2020
HORA: 14:00
LOCAL: ICBS
TÍTULO:

Metacommunity structure of phyllostomid bats (Mammalia, Chiroptera) in Brazilian Atlantic Forest

PALAVRAS-CHAVES:

Chiroptera, fragmented region, functional groups, precipitation, spatially structured environmental gradient, range turnover, species composition, temperature

PÁGINAS: 84
GRANDE ÁREA: Ciências Biológicas
ÁREA: Zoologia
SUBÁREA: Comportamento Animal
RESUMO:

Metacommunity ecology has provided the understanding of how multiple species
interact, vary and are organized in suits of communities throughout ecological gradients.
Community composition is determined by combinations of environmental and spatial
processes, and the emergent properties of species distribution form spatial patterns
(metacommunity structures). We used 54 species of phyllostomid bats and 30 sites
(with ≥ 19 species) along the Atlantic Forest biome of Brazil to (1) determine the
species distribution, (2) characterize the metacommunity pattern, and (3) identify
environmental and spatial characteristics that give rise to such pattern. Bats were
analyzed in term of metacommunity considering all species and functional groups
(carnivorous and herbivorous species). As environmental variables, we used 19 climate
variables, which are a suit of variations of temperature and precipitation, and latitude
and longitude to create spatial variables called Moran’s Eigenvectors Maps, which
represent variation at broad to fine spatial scales. The Elements of Metacommunity
Structure (coherence, range species turnover and range boundary clumping) were used
to determine the best-fit idealized metacommunity pattern in relation to empirical
distribution of bats. Canonical Correspondence Analysis and Variation Partitioning
were used to determine the latent environmental gradient and the relative contribution of
temperature, precipitation and space in structuring local species composition,
respectively. We also tested the effect of Coastal and Seasonal forests on phyllostomid
bat groups, using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Analyzes and tests were conducted in R and
PAST softwares. Both the phyllostomid bat metacommunity, and carnivorous and
herbivorous bats exhibited positive coherence, indicating that most species of each bat
group responded to a latent environmental gradient. However, all phyllostomids showed
a quasi-Clementsian structure, carnivores exhibited a quasi-nested structure with
stochastic species loss, and herbivores showed a Clementsian structure. The detected
environmental gradient comprised joint variation in temperature, precipitation, and
space, and was pervasive in all bat groups. These three factors together explained from

48.3% to 66.2% of variation in species composition among sites regarding bat groups.
No pure effect of suits of environmental variables was found for all phyllostomids or
carnivorous bats. However, pure space and precipitation features were significant for
herbivorous bats. The quasi-Clementsian and Clementsian patterns highlighted by all
phyllostomids and herbivores indicate that species with similar distributions share
evolutionary and ecological characteristics forming groups of species along the
observed gradient. Clementsian compartments were delimited by anthropogenic
historical processes, such as sites comprising fragments of original Atlantic forests and
sites comprising spatial alterations related to human land use. Conversely, the quasi-
nested pattern with stochastic species loss presented by carnivores indicates that range
boundaries of species were determined by species-specific environmental tolerances
throughout the observed gradient. Phyllostomid bat species present non-random
distributional patterns that are molded by a spatially-structured environmental gradients
throughout the Atlantic forest biome in Brazil. Analysis of functional groups of species
provided additional ecological information on species distributions that are obscured
when considering a functionally heterogeneous group of species. Finally, habitat
fragmentation associated with human activities likely plays a crucial role in modern
phyllostomid species distributions throughout the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

MEMBROS DA BANCA:
Externo à Instituição - RICARDO MORATELLI
Interno - 012.990.857-68 - ADRIANO LUCIO PERACCHI - UFRRJ
Externo ao Programa - 1481720 - ANDRE FELIPPE NUNES DE FREITAS
Externa à Instituição - CARYNE APARECIDA DE CARVALHO BRAGA
Interno - 387289 - ILDEMAR FERREIRA
Interno - 1728466 - JAYME MAGALHAES SANTANGELO
Externo à Instituição - MARCELO RODRIGUES NOGUEIRA