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Made available in DSpace on 2019-10-06T17:08:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2019-04-01 Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Instituto de Pesquisa Translacional em Saúde e Ambiente na Região Amazônica Changes in Earth's climatic conditions may affect the geographic distributions of species causing variations in diversity patterns through space and time. Projections of species distributions over time can measure how future climate scenarios will affect communities. We investigated how climate changes scenarios will influence primate biodiversity patterns in the Atlantic Forest. Specifically: (i) where are the largest changes in species richness expected? (ii) the spatial pattern of beta diversity will undergo homogenisation or heterogenisation? and (iii) where will occur the major changes in temporal beta diversity? We generated current and future species distribution models for Brazilian Atlantic Forest primates. We analysed the changes in the spatio-temporal patterns of alpha and beta diversity. Current high richness patterns will be maintained in future scenarios, with richer areas concentrated in the coastal zones. Regions closer to Cerrado will face a reduction in primate richness. Changes in richness will occur predominantly due to species loss. Communities will be more spatially heterogeneous in the future, with increased beta diversity. The heterogenisation may be driven by the reduction of species geographic distributions. The highest temporal changes will occur mainly in the midwest and the central region of the biome. Climate changes will cause primates diversity changes in both space and time. These changes will not be homogeneous through the Atlantic Forest. Our study is informative at a large spatial scale, providing an outlook on the impact of climate change on primate diversity, and indicating places of primates’ biodiversity maintenance, loss or gain due to climate change. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia Centro de Biociências Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) Laboratório de Ecologia Espacial e Conservação (LEEC) Departamento de Ecologia Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) Departamento de Ecologia Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, PO Box 68020 Departamento de Ecologia Centro de Biociências Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN) Laboratório de Ecologia Espacial e Conservação (LEEC) Departamento de Ecologia Instituto de Biociências Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)

Different extents, grains, and types of biodiversity data encompass the data sources used in investigations of spatial diversity. We evaluated the influence of geopolitical limits, data type, and grain size on complementarity networks of priority areas using Atlantic Forest primates, in Brazil. Priority areas were selected to represent primates from twelve research approaches that combine different data types (occurrence or distribution), geographical extents (entire biome or specific states) and grains (1°, 0.5° or 0.25° grids). We compared the size, irreplaceability and spatial concordance of the networks. Networks selected at the state extent had more grid cells than networks selected at the biome extent, independent of data type, and species locally rare but not globally rare may be driving these results. The number of irreplaceable cells and the networks selected were smaller using distribution data than using occurrence data. This effect was even more apparent at the state extent. Distribution data are more spatially distributed, leading to low irreplaceability of cells. Similarity among the selected networks depends on the extent and data type, and there was interaction between these factors. Similarities among networks selected at the state extent are higher than that of networks selected at biome extent. Networks obtained from different types of data were less similar than those selected using the same kind of data, and the ones selected using occurrence data were more similar than networks selected using distribution data. The effect of data type is stronger at smaller grain sizes, and the effect of extent is stronger at larger grain sizes. It is important to understand the consequences of data type choice, and this may be congruent with grain sizes.

Given the importance of fish movement to the dynamics and maintenance of stream dwelling fish communities from the Atlantic Forest, we analysed patterns of fish movement in a coastal stream from Southeastern Brazil, using mark-recapture technique. Displacement distance of each species were presented and discussed considering seasonal (rainy and dry) and body size patterns. We marked 10 species along the stream and recaptured 440 (34.6%) of the 1,270 marked fishes. The species with significant number of upstream moving individuals were Astyanax janeiroensis, Characidium interruptum, Astyanax hastatus, Parotocinclus maculicauda and Awaous tajasica. Only Pimelodella lateristriga presented significant differences between resident and moving individuals. Characidium interruptum and A. tajasica demonstrated greater downstream and upstream movement, respectively, moving up to 2,100 m. Even after controlling for species identity we found no significant correlation between fish length and individual displacement distance. Fishes moved longer distances during the rainy season, in accordance to the breeding season. Patterns of fish movement were in agreement to life-history traits of many of the studied species and can be reflecting specific behaviour and morphologies. RESUMO Considerando-se a importância do movimento de peixes para a dinâmica e manutenção das comunidades de peixes de riachos da mata Atlântica, nós analisamos os padrões de movimento de peixes de um riacho costeiro do sudeste do Brasil, usando a técnica da marcação e recaptura. Avaliamos a distância do deslocamento de cada espécie e também se os padrões de movimento apresentavam alguma relação com a estação do ano (chuva e seca) e o tamanho do corpo. Marcamos 10 espécies ao longo do riacho e recapturamos 400 (34.6%) dos 1.270 peixes marcados. As espécies com número significativo de indivíduos se movendo para cima foram Astyanax janeiroensis, Characidium interruptum, Astyanax hastatus, Parotocinclus maculicauda e Awaous tajasica. Apenas Pimelodella lateristriga apresentou diferenças significativas entre os indivíduos residentes e em movimento. Characidium interruptum e A. tajasica foram as espécies com maior movimento tanto para baixo como para cima, respectivamente, se movendo até mais de 2.100 m. Mesmo após controlar a identidade das espécies, não registramos correlação significativa entre o comprimento e a distância individual do deslocamento. Registramos maiores densidades de peixes se movendo para montante durante a época de chuvas, em coincidência com a estação reprodutiva. Os padrões de movimento registrados estão de acordo com os componentes da história de vida de várias das espécies estudadas, e podem estar refletindo componentes morfológicos e comportamentais específicos.

SUMMARYHuman population is a predictor of mammal extinction risk, an indicator of conservation conflict and habitat conversion, and is thus associated with the threats to primate species. Priority areas that represent endemic primates in Atlantic Forest were identified where all counties had the same cost or where the costs of counties varied according to human population size (HPS); networks for both approaches consisted of nine counties. In the networks without human constraint, the average HPS was not higher than expected by chance alone. In the approach with human population constraint, HPS was not lower than the average of the null distribution. Although it is possible to minimize human conservation conflict, available occurrence data of endemic primates seems to be related to highly populated areas. The sum of HPS is greater in counties with some occurrence data than expected by chance. Conservation conflicts in the Atlantic Forest will continue to exist once this is the Brazilian most populous region, and data availability is directly related to counties' HPS. Field surveys are necessary to minimize Wallacean shortfall and efforts must be made to maintain the few natural areas remaining in this biome to promote the conservation of endemic primates and other biodiversity elements.

Brazilian Atlantic Forest is recognized as a hottest hotspot of biodiversity, and plant endemism is a key criterion used to this definition. In this biome, although geographic range of most plant species is unknown, it is possible to define limits of vegetation types. Here we performed a reserve selection analysis using vegetation types for Brazilian Atlantic Forest, more specifically in Rio de Janeiro State. The area of 19 vegetation types was calculated in each of the 5 km × 5 cells km superimposed to the Rio de Janeiro State. The representation targets established in the reserve selection procedure was 30% of the total area for more common vegetation types, and a higher target was established for rare vegetation types. The final network that represents all the targets for vegetation types with the smaller possible number of cells contains 351 cells. Many cells selected are coincident with current strictly protected areas, but this study shows the urgency to increase the number of protected areas mainly in the North and Northeast regions of Rio de Janeiro State. Twenty three cells are coincident with priority areas indicated to be created as strictly use reserves by a government agency. However, there are several important cells selected in our analysis that are not covered by the actual strictly reserves system. Four vegetation types are not represented in the current strict use reserve system. Further analyses based on vegetation could be blended with scattered data of species geographic distribution to obtain more comprehensive results and strategies.

conservaTion Biology in Brazil: a review of Ten years Conservation biology is a multidisciplinary field with several specialized journals. The present paper presents a list of all dealing with conservation biology in Brazil from eight different journals published in a period of ten years (1998-2007). The list includes the number of articles per periodical, the affiliation of each author, the most frequently discussed biological groups, biomes, and themes. A total of 386 articles were found, and 71% of which published in three journals: Conservation Biology, Biological Conservation, and Biodiversity and Conservation. A steep increase in the number of articles in the field over the last five years was perceived, mostly focusing on biological issues rather than socio-economical and political issues. The authors of 268 articles currently reside and work in Brazil. Most discussed biological groups were plants (105 articles), mammals (100 articles), and birds (75 articles), and the most dicussed biomes were the Atlantic and Amazon forests.

This study is an exercise to check the efficiency of the existing reserve system, and to show how systematic conservation planning—using information available and the complementarity concept—can improve the basis for decisions and minimize costs. We verified the performance, in number of cells and primate species representation, of the existing Atlantic Forest (Brazil) reserve network with a quarter-degree resolution grid, with 1,884 cells. We used occurrence data of 20 endemic primate species, and the maps of 237 existing reserves. Reserve networks were selected to represent primate species first considering no pre-existing reserves in Atlantic Forest, and then, considering the existing reserve system, taking into account the minimum area for viable population of the larger species (Northern muriqui Brachyteles hypoxanthus). Reserve selection was carried out using the complementarity concept implemented by a simulated annealing algorithm. Primate species representation (at least one occurrence in the network) could be achieved with 8% of the existing reserve system (nine cells in relation to the 120 in the existing reserve system). We found that today’s reserve system represents 89% of endemic primate species, excluding the species Coimbra Filho’s titi monkey (Callicebus coimbrai) and Marcgraf’s capuchin (Cebus flavius). The networks selected without considering existing reserves contained nine cells. The networks selected considering existing reserves (120 cells), had two new cells necessary to represent all the primates. This does not mean that a viable alternative is to start from zero (i.e., nonexistent reserves). Identifying critical supplementary areas using biodiversity information to fill the gaps and then starting “conservation in practice” in these areas should be priorities.

The choice of surrogates of biodiversity is an important aspect in conservation biology. The quantification of the coincidence in the spatial patterns of species richness and rarity between different groups and the vulnerability of groups are different approaches frequently considered to accomplish this task. However, a more appropriate approach is to verify the efficiency of priority networks selected using information from one group of organisms to capture the biodiversity of other groups. Using a deconstructive approach, the main purposes of this study were to evaluate the performance of some orders and families of birds in the Cerrado biome (a savanna-like biome) as surrogates of other bird groups, in a pairwise analysis, and to investigate the characteristics of these groups that predict the efficiency in representation of other groups. We used biogeographical data on bird orders or families with more than 10 species that occur in the Brazilian Cerrado. The best surrogate group was the Thamnophilidae. Moreover, this group is not the most specious, favouring further survey efforts that are necessary to verify the conservation value of areas at suitable scales. The majority of the species from this family are dependent on forest habitats, one of the characteristics that most influenced representativeness level, probably due to the spatial distribution of these habitats throughout the Brazilian Cerrado. Beta diversity patterns of the different groups also affected representativeness, and our analyses showed that the networks selected by a surrogate group will be more effective in the representation of other groups of species if their patterns of beta diversity (not richness) are correlated.

The introduction of invasive species represents a major threat to the integrity of stream-dwelling fish populations worldwide, and this issue is receiving increasing attention from scientists, in particular because of potential impact on biodiversity. In this study, we analysed the dispersal of an exotic loricariid fish the red fin dwarf pleco (Parotocinclus maculicauda) in a stream of the Atlantic Forest biome in coastal south-eastern Brazil and evaluated the effects of this invasion on the native loricariid common pleco (Hypostomus punctatus). Specimens were collected at eight sites located along the course of the stream over a 15-year period. The distribution and density of the two species were determined by the Successive Removal Method. The introduction of P. maculicauda occurred in the medium sector of the stream, and during the course of the study, the species dispersed to new sites further upstream. By the end of the study, it was found at all points upstream from the original site. Hypostomus punctatus was registered at all sample sites both before and after the introduction of P. maculicauda, but its density decreased at all upstream sites after the arrival of the exotic species. Our analysis shows that colonisation by P. maculicauda seems to have a negative effect on H. punctatus densities. The maintenance of H. punctatus densities at the sites not colonised by P. maculicauda reinforces the conclusion that the colonisation of the stream by the exotic species had deleterious effects on the density of the resident H. punctatus populations, either by direct or indirect action.

Knowledge about biodiversity remains inadequate because most species living on Earth were still not formally described (the Linnean shortfall) and because geographical distributions of most species are poorly understood and usually contain many gaps (the Wallacean shortfall). In this paper, we developed models to infer the size and placement of geographical ranges of hypothetical non-described species, based on the range size frequency distribution of anurans recently described in the Cerrado Biome, on the level of knowledge (number of inventories) and on surrogates for habitat suitability. The rationale for these models is as follow: (1) the range size frequency distribution of these species should be similar to the range-restricted species, which have been most recently described in the Cerrado Biome; (2) the probability of new discoveries will increase in areas with low biodiversity knowledge, mainly in suitable areas, and (3) assuming range continuity, new species should occupy adjacent cells only if the level of knowledge is low enough to allow the existence of undiscovered species. We ran a model based on the number of inventories only, and two models combining effects of number of inventories and two different estimates of habitat suitability, for a total of 100 replicates each. Finally, we performed a complementary analysis using simulated annealing to solve the set-covering problem for each simulation (i.e. finding the smallest number of cells so that all species are represented at least once), using extents of occurrence of 160 species (131 real anuran species plus 29 new simulated species). The revised reserve system that included information about unknown or poorly sampled taxa significantly shifted northwards, when compared to a system based on currently known species. This main result can be explained by the paucity of biodiversity data in this part of the biome, associated with its relatively high habitat suitability. As a precautionary measure, weighted by the inferred distribution data, the prioritization of a system of reserves in the north part of the biome appears to be defensible.

Broad-scale correlations between species richness and human population suggest that processes driving species richness, mainly related to high ecological productivity, may also drive human populations. However, it is still under debate if this coincidence implies conflicts between biodiversity conservation and human development. In this paper, we analyzed the relationships among human population size, species richness and irreplaceability in Brazilian Cerrado. We analyzed a dataset with 131 species of anurans distributed in 181 cells with 1° of spatial resolution covering the biome. We found a positive correlation between human population size and anuran species richness (r = 0.46; P = 0.033 with 19.5 geographically effective degrees of freedom, v*), but the irreplaceability of each cell was poorly correlated with human population size (r = 0.075; P = 0.323; v* = 173.9). The 17 cells in the 97 optimal reserve networks contained a total human population ranging from 2942,195 to 4319,845 people, representing on average 11.8% of the human population in the entire Cerrado grid. The comparison of these observed values with 10,000 values from randomly generated networks suggests a relatively high flexibility in optimal complementarity sets for reserve selection. Our results indicated that correlation between richness and human population does not necessarily result in conflicts, given the opportunities for conciliating conservation and development. However, the analyses performed here are initial explorations within the framework of conservation biogeography, so more detailed studies are necessary to establish conservation planning at regional and local scales.

In this paper, we address the question of what proportion of biodiversity is represented within protected areas. We assessed the effectiveness of different protected area types at multiple scales in representing primate biodiversity in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. We used point locality data and distribution data for primate species within 1°, 0.5°, and 0.25° spatial resolution grids, and computed the area of reserves within each cell. Four different approaches were used – no reserves (A), exclusively strict use reserves (B), strict and sustainable use reserves (C), and strict and sustainable use reserves and indigenous lands (D). We used the complementarity concept to select reserve networks. The proportions of cells that were classified as reserves at a grid resolution of 1° were 37%, 64%, and 88% for approaches B, C and D, respectively. Our comparison of these approaches clearly showed the effect of an increase in area on species representation. Representation was consistently higher at coarser resolutions, indicating the effect of grain size. The high number of irreplaceable cells for selected networks identified based on approach A could be attributed to the use of point locality occurrence data. Although the limited number of point occurrences for some species may have been due to a Wallacean shortfall, in some cases it may also be the result of an actual restricted geographic distribution. The existing reserve system cannot be ignored, as it has an established structure, legal protection status, and societal recognition, and undoubtedly represents important elements of biodiversity. However, we found that strict use reserves (which are exclusively dedicated to biodiversity conservation) did not effectively represent primate species. This finding may be related to historical criteria for selecting reserves based on political, economic, or social motives.

Several variables have been used to indicate conflicts between socioeconomic interests and biodiversity conservation. Thus, efforts to minimize biodiversity losses are being based on the analysis of such conflicts, since there is more and more evidence that important sites to conservation could support high population densities and their impacts. However, in the Cerrado this might not be true due to the technological progress associated with human settlement. Consequently, the aim of this paper was to verify whether human population density ( H ) revealed conservation conflicts in the Cerrado. Through multiple regressions of Emberizidae richness (spilt into three groups according to their occurrence) as a biodiversity index and land-use variables, we verified that human population density was not the best indicator of conservation conflicts. Modern agriculture and cattle ranching indexes were the best indicators for the three Emeberizidae groups. Thus, the use of H as model selection to designate conservation units can be a mistake for Emberizidae species richness. In the Cerrado region, variables linked to modern agriculture and cattle ranching should be taken into account during systematic conservation planning

Building conservation units has been an important tool to minimize the loss of biodiversity. However, the allocation of these units need to be optimized to preserve the greatest number of species, under a series of socioeconomics restrictions that include the road network effect on biodiversity. An optimization process was made by using the “simulated annealing” algorithm, available on program SITES 1.0, to model a set of data on the distribution of 131 species of anuran amphibians occuring in Cerrado, distributed in 181 cells with 1o of spatial resolution. This study shows a couple of conservation units networks in Brazilian Cerrado, one of them based on the concept of complementarity and another on the distribution of roads. This paper points out the most important sites to create conservation units, attempting to preserve anuran amphibians from Cerrado and the places that should protect all anuran species spread on this biome, along the roads’ length. The results suggest that both networks should be used to combine conservation plans and human development, evaluated by means of road network.