Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear un derstanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5–7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8–11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world’s most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepre sented in biodiversity databases.13–15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may elim inate pieces of the Amazon’s biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological com munities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple or ganism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region’s vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most ne glected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lostinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Heterogeneidade ambiental e diversidade de peixes de riachos na Amazônia

Amazon streams are highly heterogeneous systems that encompass a remarkable diversity. Due to the increasing threats to these systems, it is necessary to understand how ecological process in natural areas affect streams and their fish biota. This thesis was divided in three chapters and aims to answer the following questions: 1) How much do catchment variables affect the physical habitat of small streams in the Amazon? 2) What is the relative contribution of environmental and spatial variables on taxonomic and functional alpha and beta diversity of stream fish? 3) How much are distinct components of biodiversity (species diversity, taxonomic distinctness, and functional diversity) congruent and how much can they be predicted from catchment variables? Fifty seven streams were sampled across six river basins in the Amazon region. For environmental characterization, a standardized protocol was used to obtain more than 140 local variables, and 11 catchment variables were obtained from aerial images. Fish assemblages were sampled with hand nets during a six-hour period. Stream catchments were divided in two groups based on altitude and slope. These two variables influenced streams habitats, regulating flow velocity and the types and proportions of substrates. The taxonomic and functional patterns of fish assemblages were affected by environmental filters operating at the catchment scale. Nonetheless, variables at the local scale were particularly important to taxonomic and functional alpha diversity. Despite the significant role of environmental filters, limited dispersal was the main driver of variation in fish diversity, indicating a strong biogeographic factor. Finally, various components of diversity exhibited intermediate congruence, which suggests that no single component can describe patterns of fish diversity. In addition, catchment variables alone could not accurately predict diversity patterns, and therefore it is recommended that additional explanatory variables, including descriptors of local environmental conditions, are important to include in studies of stream fish diversity.CNPq - Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e TecnológicoOs riachos amazônicos são sistemas altamente heterogêneos e que abrigam uma enorme biodiversidade. Devido às crescentes ameaças a esses sistemas, aumenta-se a necessidade de entender como processos ecológicos em áreas naturais afetam os riachos e suas assembleias de peixes. Esta tese foi dividida em três capítulos e busca responder as seguintes questões: 1) O quanto das variáveis em escala de bacia regulam o hábitat físico de riachos amazônicos? 2) Qual a contribuição relativa do ambiente e do espaço sobre a diversidade alfa e beta, tanto taxonômica quanto funcional, de peixes de riachos? 3) O quanto diferentes componentes da biodiversidade (diversidade de espécies, distinção taxonômica e diversidade funcional) são congruentes e o quanto eles podem ser preditos a partir de variáveis em escala de bacia? Para responder estas questões, foram amostrados 57 riachos em seis bacias da região amazônica. Para a caracterização ambiental, foi aplicado um extenso protocolo padronizado, que gerou mais de 140 métricas locais, além da utilização de 11 variáveis em escala de bacia. As assembleias de peixes foram coletadas com redes de mão durante seis horas. Com os resultados, detectou-se que as bacias podem ser divididas em dois grupos a partir da altitude e declividade. Estas duas variáveis influenciaram os hábitats dos riachos, controlando a velocidade do fluxo e o tipo e proporção de substrato. Este controle foi fundamental para os padrões taxonômicos e funcionais das assembleias de peixes, que são afetadas pelo filtro ambiental na escala da bacia. Entretanto, variáveis locais foram particularmente importantes para a diversidade alfa, tanto taxonômica quanto funcional das espécies. Apesar do papel significativo dos filtros ambientais, a dispersão limitada foi o principal fator responsável por mudanças em todos os níveis de diversidade de peixes, o que indica um forte fator biogeográfico. Por fim, os diferentes componentes da diversidade exibiram congruência intermediária, o que demonstra que eles são complementares e que não é possível resumir a diversidade de peixes a um único componente. Além disso, as variáveis na escala de bacia mostraram capacidade intermediária de prever padrões de diversidade, sendo recomendável utilizar outras métricas preditoras, como variáveis locais, em estudos de diversidade de peixes

Effects of space and environment on the fish assemblages in streams of the Eastern Amazon

Os igarapés amazônicos podem apresentar características ambientais rigorosas para diversas espécies de peixes devido à sua condição oligotrófica. Apesar disso, estes cursos d’água detêm uma ictiofauna rica e diversificada, que ocupa uma grande variedade de microhábitats nos igarapés. Em sistemas de lagos de ria, os rios e igarapés sofrem um represamento natural e passam a ter baixos valores de correnteza, o que pode tornar esses ambientes mais homogêneos, já que a correnteza afeta diversas características dos igarapés. Nesse caso, a distância entre os igarapés poderia ser um dos principais fatores estruturadores das assembleias de peixes. Este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a influência do espaço e do ambiente sobre a estrutura das assembleias de peixes de igarapés afogados em Caxiuanã, na Amazônia Oriental. As coletas de peixes foram realizadas durante o período da seca de 2010, abrangendo 34 trechos de igarapés. Foram mensurados oito fatores abióticos para testar os efeitos das características ambientais locais. Para analisar os efeitos do espaço, foram calculados filtros espaciais a partir das coordenadas geográficas, bem como a distância fluvial entre os trechos. As análises mostraram que o ambiente foi o único fator a influenciar a diversidade beta, refutando a hipótese do espaço enquanto fator estruturador e reforçando o papel do nicho ecológico na distribuição das espécies. Apesar disso, os fatores abióticos explicaram uma porcentagem baixa da variação na composição das espécies de peixe, o que mostra que outras variáveis podem afetar essas assembleias.ABSTRACT: The amazon streams have harsh environmental characteristics for several fish species due to their oligotrophic conditions. In spite of that, these watercourses possess a rich and diversified ichthyofauna, resulting from the various microhabitats found in streams. In ria lake systems, the rivers and streams suffer a natural impoundment, which provokes a lowering on current velocity values. This could homogenize the environment, since current velocity affects many of the streams features. Thereby, distance between streams could have its importance emphasized as a structural factor of stream fish assemblages. This study aimed to analyze the influence of space and environment on the structure of fish assemblages in drowned streams of Caxiuanã, in Eastern Amazon. The fishes were caught during the period of drought of 2010, including 34 transects of drowned streams. Eight abiotic factors were measured to test the effect of the environment. To analyze the effect of the space, space filters were calculated based on the geographical coordinates, as well as the distance among the streams following the watercourse. The analyses showed that the environment was the only factor to influence the beta diversity, refuting the hypothesis of the space as a structuring factor and reinforcing the paper of the ecological niche in the distribution of species. Nevertheless, the abiotic factors explained a low percentage of the variation in the fish composition, what shows that other variables can affect these assemblages

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Fatores ambientais influenciam o nicho trófico do tetra Copella arnoldi? um teste em um sistema lótico amazônico

Environmental variation affects the availability of spatial and trophic resources in Amazonian streams and may be important factors structuring the diet of fishes. We analyzed the diet composition and trophic niche breadth of the lebiasinid splash tetra, Copella arnoldi, aiming to evaluate how environmental variation in Amazonian streams affects the species’ trophic niche. Fish were captured and environmental factors were recorded in 20 streams in the Caxiuanã National Forest, in the eastern Amazon, in November 2010. We made a semi-quantitative analysis of stomach contents of 200 individuals. Copella arnoldi exhibited an omnivorous diet composed mainly of detritus and allochthonous invertebrates. Environmental variation (stream width, stream depth, canopy cover and flow) did not affect the diet composition or trophic niche breadth of the species, possibly due to the regional integrity of the forest within the boundaries of the protected area. Riparian cover probably minimizes the effect of the small-scale variations in food resources, thus leading to a locally homogeneous diet composition in the splash tetra C. arnoldi.Variações ambientais afetam a disponibilidade de recursos espaciais e tróficos em igarapés amazônicos e podem ser fatores importantes estruturando a dieta de peixes. Analisamos a composição da dieta e a amplitude de nicho trófico do lebiasinídeo Copella arnoldi, tendo como objetivo avaliar como a variação ambiental em igarapés amazônicos afeta o nicho trófico da espécie. Indivíduos foram capturados e fatores ambientais foram medidos em 20 igarapés da Floresta Nacional de Caxiuanã, na Amazônia Oriental, em Novembro de 2010. Fizemos uma análise semi-quantitativa do conteúdo estomacal de 200 indivíduos. Copella arnoldi apresentou uma dieta onívora composta predominantemente por detritos e invertebrados alóctones. A variação ambiental (largura e profundidade do igarapé, cobertura de dossel e correnteza) não afetaram a composição da dieta ou a amplitude de nicho trófico da espécie, possivelmente devido à integridade regional da floresta na área protegida. A cobertura ripária provavelmente minimiza os efeitos da variação ambiental nos recursos tróficos, levando, assim, a uma dieta localmente homogênea de C. arnoldi.BENONE, N. L.; MONTAG, L. F. A. Universidade Federal do Par