Tese
Diversidade e distribuição espacial de Elmidae (Coleoptera) no estado do Rio Grande do Sul
Fecha
2018-03-09Autor
Braun, Bruna Marmitt
Institución
Resumen
The objective of this study was to i) Analyze how the assemblages of larvae and adults
of Elmidae respond to forest conversion in a subtropical area preserved in semideciduous
Atlantic Forest; ii) Evaluate the influence of different buffers of riparian
vegetation (more than 40 m wide to less than 5 m) and substrate types (sedimentary and
organic), as well as their interaction in the community structure of Elmidae; iii) Model
the potential distribution of Elmidae taxa in the extreme south of Brazil, in relation to
climatic and landscape environmental predictors (topography, hydrology and land
cover) using species distribution models (SDM). In addition, we estimated the similarity
in the predicted distribution of the modeled taxa in order to investigate the niche
similarity between the genera Elmidae and Macrelmis. Forest integrity was an important
factor for the structuring of Elmidae communities, where in the converted areas the
lowest abundances of elmidae individuals were found. The larvae and adult stages were
affected by deforestation, just as the structure of the communities was distinct between
deforested and forested areas. Width of riparian vegetation and type of substrate were
also factors that influenced the structuring of communities. The results showed that the
communities were influenced by marked differences in widths of riparian vegetation.
Only the relative abundance of the genera of Elmidae and their stages of life were
different between the wide widths of vegetation. On the other hand, the strong influence
of the substrate type (organic and inorganic) on the structure of the neotropical
macroinvertebrate community was corroborated. The potential distribution of species
showed a relation of landscape and environmental factors of large scale with structures
of genera and species of Macrelmis. Factors such as declivity, precipitation, and
ecoregions were important for structuring the communities of genera and species, but
we verified that there may be an interaction between the predictors on a regional and local scale. It is critical to understand the complex relationships between large-scale
diversity patterns and the local ecological characteristics of species. The modeling
techniques are an effective tool to indicate areas for future sampling efforts and thus to
know the diversity of the Elmidae family in southern Brazil.