Ecologia comportamental de mabuya agmosticha (MABUYIDAE) na bromeliaceae encholirium spectabile: relevância desta associação e da bromélia hospedeira para o semiárido brasileiro

Abstract

The success of a species in a particular habitat or ecosystem depends on a range of behaviors, each with a specific purpose, always taking into account maximizing energy gain and decreasing costs. The habitat where the species lives guides its behaviors, most of them focused on the way of life in these places. Bromeliads, for example, are important habitats for many species, including reptiles, among which Mabuya agmosticha, a species of lizard of the Mabuyidae family, bromelicolous habitat and endemic from northeastern Brazil. Considering its close relationship with the Encholirium spectabile, a rupicolous bromeliad in the Brazilian semiarid, this study addressed the behavioral ecology of M. agmosticha in association with E. spectabile in the Agreste region of the state of Rio Grande do Norte, besides analyzing the importance of these host plants for biodiversity and the socioeconomics of the northeastern semiarid. Methodology: The fieldwork was carried out during monthly excursions, for four consecutive days, over a year, when the behaviors of this species of lizard in association with the bromeliads were observed and recorded, such as period of activity, diet, foraging behavior, thermoregulatory behavior and detection and flight of predators. This part of this field study was observational; To analyze the diet, data were collected during part of the Master's research. For foraging behaviors, the activities of each individual were categorized into Proportion of Time Spent Moving (PTM), Number of Movements Per Minute (MPM), Number of Successful Attacks on Prey per Minute, and Time on Watch. The influence of seasonality on diet and foraging behaviors was also tested. Circular statistics were used to evaluate the relationship between lizard position and the angle of incidence of sun rays and hours. The period of activity was tested by the number of active individuals over hours and days, as well as the effects of seasonality and interspecific variations in the population. Escape behaviors were expressed by the Flight Intiation Distance (FID) index, and the predator potential simulation was performed by a human observer. Other predator models, such as snakes, ontogeny on FID values, as well as the effects of seasonality, substrate temperature, caudal autotomy and between the sexes were also tested. To evaluate the importance of E. spectabile for the semiarid biodiversity and its socioeconomic role, fieldwork was carried out over nine years, allied to extensive bibliographic research.