Submitted by Paulo Bobrowiec (paulobobro@gmail.com) on 2021-05-06T13:24:47Z No. of bitstreams: 4 license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Carta de Encaminhamento para o Autodep??sito.pdf: 467893 bytes, checksum: 89288981b42dc3adf2240710a1675ef8 (MD5) Ata de Defesa P??blica.pdf: 511437 bytes, checksum: d72fb71a6196b2495585406093d17563 (MD5) Tese - Paulo Estefano Dineli Bobrowiec.pdf...
Morphological identification of prey fragments in vampire bat feces is impossible because of an exclusively blood-based diet. Therefore, studies of their foraging ecology require innovative approaches. We investigated the diet of Desmodus rotundus using a PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) molecular method by amplifying the cytochrome b mitochondrial gene (380 bp) from DNA fecal samples collect...
Vegetation clutter is a limiting factor for bats that forage near ground level, and may determine the distribution of species and guilds. However, many studies that evaluated the effects of vegetation clutter on bats have used qualitative descriptions rather than direct measurements of vegetation density. Moreover, few studies have evaluated the effect of vegetation clutter on a regional scale. Here, we evaluat...
Ant gardens (AGs) are a multi-partner specialized ant-plant interaction involving several ant and epiphyte species. Although studies on AGs have reported possible roles for some species in this system, there are unanswered questions regarding the process of epiphyte incorporation in the AGs and the role of less aggressive ant species in AG protection. In this study, we used AGs in the Brazilian Amazon forest fo...
Across the tropics, vast deforested areas are undergoing forest regeneration due to land abandonment. Although secondary forest is an expanding type of landscape matrix that has been shown to buffer some of the negative consequences of forest loss and fragmentation on taxonomic diversity, little is known in this regard about the functional dimension of biodiversity. We took advantage of an ecosystem-wide fragme...
Tropical forest loss and fragmentation are due to increase in coming decades. Understanding how matrix dynamics, especially secondary forest regrowth, can lessen fragmentation impacts is key to understanding species persistence in modified landscapes. Here, we use a whole-ecosystem fragmentation experiment to investigate how bat assemblages are influenced by the regeneration of the secondary forest matrix. We s...
Recent studies predict a future decrease in precipitation across the tropics, particularly the Amazon, likely causing significant droughts that have negative consequences for Amazonian freshwater biomes, especially lakes. Furthermore, immediate consequences of global warming for terrestrial fauna associated with tropical lakes are poorly understood as the vast majority of studies come from temperate regions. He...
The subgenus Phyllodia (genus Pteronotus) comprises 9 species ranging from the western coast of Mexico to central Brazil, including Greater and Lesser Antilles. Two of them, Pteronotus rubiginosus and Pteronotus sp. 1, form an endemic South American clade within Phyllodia and are reported in sympatry for several localities in Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and northern Brazil. We herein performed a comprehens...
Succession in the Brazilian Amazon depends on prior land-use history. Abandoned clearcuts become dominated by Cecropia trees and exhibit species replacements characteristic of natural succession in forest lightgaps. In contrast, abandoned pastures are dominated by Vismia trees that inhibit natural succession for a decade or more. Here we explore how advance regeneration and limited seed dispersal may contribute...
Várzea forests account for 17% of the Amazon basin and endure an annual inundation that can reach 14 m deep during 6–8 months. This flood pulse in combination with topography directly influences the várzea vegetation cover. Assemblages of several taxa differ significantly between unflooded terra firme and flooded várzea forests, but little is known about the distribution of medium and large sized terrestrial ma...