O efeito da fragmentação na diversidade específica e funcional de primatas no Brasil
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Data
2016-03-30
Autores
Campos, Vanessa Ellen Wendt [UNESP]
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Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp)
Resumo
As florestas tropicais representam um dos biomas mais ameaçados pelas ações antrópicas no mundo. Os primatas representam 40% da biomassa de vertebrados frugívoros nas florestas tropicais, mas mais da metade das espécies estão ameaçadas de extinção. Tendo em vista a importância dos primatas no funcionamento dos ecossistemas devido a sua função de dispersores de sementes, é de extrema relevância entender como a fragmentação das florestas tropicais afetam as comunidades de primatas e suas funções. Portanto, nossos objetivos são: 1) analisar a relação entre diversidade funcional e filogenética de primatas e como esses índices são influenciados pela riqueza; 2) determinar o efeito da fragmentação das florestas tropicais na riqueza específica e funcional dos primatas; 3) determinar quais características funcionais são perdidas com a fragmentação, na Amazônia e na Mata Atlântica brasileira. Para isso, montamos bancos de dados de ocorrência dos primatas e de suas características funcionais ligadas à dispersão de sementes para gerar os índices de diversidade funcional (FD), regularidade funcional (FEve) e divergência funcional (FDiv) e relacioná-los com métricas da paisagem: área do fragmento, isolamento médio entre os fragmentos, distância em relação à zona urbana, distância à floresta contínua, conectividade funcional e porcentagem de cobertura vegetal no entorno do fragmento. A diversidade funcional dos primatas é fortemente correlacionada com a diversidade filogenética (R2= 0.94 e p<0.001). A redução da área dos fragmentos e da conectividade funcional, assim como o aumento do isolamento médio entre os remanescentes florestais diminuem a diversidade (FD), a regularidade (FEve) e a divergência funcional (FDiv) dos primatas. As espécies de primatas de grande porte que possuem grandes áreas de vida e que dispersam grandes sementes são as espécies mais prejudicadas pela fragmentação. Nosso trabalho permitiu ressaltar que além da perda de riqueza específica de primatas, a fragmentação nas florestas tropicais também afeta o serviço de dispersão de sementes, o que, consequentemente, pode alterar a estrutura das comunidades vegetais.
Tropical forests are the most threatened biome by human activities worldwide. Primates represent almost 40% of the frugivore vertebrate biomass in tropical forests and more than half of their species are threatened by extinction. Given the importance of primates as seed dispersers for the ecosystem functioning, it is extremely important to understand how the fragmentation of tropical forests affects primate communities and the functions they provide. Therefore, this project aims at: 1) analyzing the relationship between primate functional and phylogenetic diversities and how those indices are influenced by species richness; 2) determining the influence of forest fragmentation on primate species richness and functional diversity; 3) determining which functional traits are lost with habitat fragmentation, in Amazonian and Atlantic Forests of Brazil. To do this, we built a database of primates’ occurrence and their functional traits related to seed dispersal to compute indices of functional diversity (FD), functional evenness (Feve) and functional divergence (FDiv). Then, we related these indices to landscape metrics: patch size, average isolation between patches, distance to the nearest urban area, distance to the nearest continuous forest, functional connectivity and percentage of forest cover surrounding the fragment. Functional diversity is strongly correlated with phylogenetic diversity (R2= 0.94 e p<0.001). The decrease of fragment areas and functional connectivity, and the increase of average isolation between forest remnants, reduce primate functional diversity (FD), regularity (FEve) and divergence (FDiv). Large primates with large home ranges that disperse large seeds are the most affected by fragmentation. Our results enable highlighting that beyond the loss of primate species richness, the fragmentation of tropical forests also affect seed dispersal service, which consequently may alter the structure of plant communities.
Tropical forests are the most threatened biome by human activities worldwide. Primates represent almost 40% of the frugivore vertebrate biomass in tropical forests and more than half of their species are threatened by extinction. Given the importance of primates as seed dispersers for the ecosystem functioning, it is extremely important to understand how the fragmentation of tropical forests affects primate communities and the functions they provide. Therefore, this project aims at: 1) analyzing the relationship between primate functional and phylogenetic diversities and how those indices are influenced by species richness; 2) determining the influence of forest fragmentation on primate species richness and functional diversity; 3) determining which functional traits are lost with habitat fragmentation, in Amazonian and Atlantic Forests of Brazil. To do this, we built a database of primates’ occurrence and their functional traits related to seed dispersal to compute indices of functional diversity (FD), functional evenness (Feve) and functional divergence (FDiv). Then, we related these indices to landscape metrics: patch size, average isolation between patches, distance to the nearest urban area, distance to the nearest continuous forest, functional connectivity and percentage of forest cover surrounding the fragment. Functional diversity is strongly correlated with phylogenetic diversity (R2= 0.94 e p<0.001). The decrease of fragment areas and functional connectivity, and the increase of average isolation between forest remnants, reduce primate functional diversity (FD), regularity (FEve) and divergence (FDiv). Large primates with large home ranges that disperse large seeds are the most affected by fragmentation. Our results enable highlighting that beyond the loss of primate species richness, the fragmentation of tropical forests also affect seed dispersal service, which consequently may alter the structure of plant communities.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Dispersão de sementes, Funções ecológicas, Fragmentação, Seed dispersal, Ecological functions, Fragmentation