Throughout millennia, agriculture has undergone significant changes, with the Green Revolution being a phase that, despite promoting advancements, introduced environmentally harmful practices such as intensive monocultures and pesticides. In the pursuit of sustainable alternatives, researchers have turned their attention to agroforestry systems (AFS), which integrate agricultural and forest plants to promote environmental and social benefits. The literature highlights the lack of specific studies on agroforestry home gardens. Agroforestry home gardens, managed by family farmers and indigenous peoples, stand out as sustainable models that can also meet nutritional and economic needs. In addition to practical benefits, there is cultural and social relevance in agroforestry practices, as ancestral knowledge is recognized and mobilized, the role of women in managing agroforestry systems is valued, and income is generated for local communities. Despite their importance, the scarcity of research on agroforestry home gardens limits knowledge about them and public policy support for their promotion. Case studies indicate that these home gardens can enrich the soil, contributing to the fertility and productivity of the agroecosystem. Therefore, more comprehensive ecological research is needed to understand nutrient availability in these systems. In light of this need, the study's objective is to systematically review the available knowledge in the scientific literature on nutrient availability in agroforestry home garden soils. The study employed systematic review as a rigorous method preserving essential elements of a systematic review while adjusting procedures for a less extensive study. Google Scholar, Scielo, Scopus, and Web of Science were used for literature review, with searches conducted in Portuguese, Spanish, and English from 1992 to 2023. Specific keyword combinations were used to filter articles, theses, and dissertations on chemical analysis, cycling, and nutrient availability in agroforestry home gardens. Data analysis involved coding and categorizing the selected works to extract broad themes that facilitated the construction of a systematic understanding of nutrient availability and transfer in the soils of these home gardens, based on the available knowledge in the scientific literature. Seventeen documents were examined, generating 329 analysis records and 27 codes. Key themes included carbon availability (11.5%), water (6.6%), and phosphorus (9.5%). The studies covered home gardens in Brazil, India, Bangladesh, Peru, and Ethiopia. Based on the results of the systematic review conducted in this study, it can be concluded that agroforestry home gardens, especially in tropical environments, can positively impact nutrient availability in the soil, such as phosphorus, potassium, carbon, and nitrogen. Furthermore, the results demonstrate how the presence of organic matter and agroforestry management are crucial, especially in acidic soils, and that nutrients tend to concentrate in surface layers, influenced by various factors beyond management, such as the presence of aluminum, acidity, rainfall, and altitude. This study is important for understanding the nutrients available in agroforestry home garden soils and the mechanisms of nutrient availability.

Toxoplasma gondii is a parasite of zoonotic relevance, acting at the interface of birds and mammals, including humans. Dogs have been used as sentinels to estimate T. gondii infection in the environment due to their behavior and proximity to people. However, there is still a lack of information about environmental variables associated with this parasite in vulnerable communities. Therefore, our objective was to evaluate which demographic and environmental factors are associated with the seroprevalence of T. gondii in domestic dogs and the spatial distribution in vulnerable neighborhoods of Salvador, Brazil. This study was carried out in the Marechal Rondon (MR) and Pau da Lima (PDL) neighborhoods between October 2021 and February 2023 where serum samples were collected from domestic dogs and eco-epidemiological questionnaires were applied to their tutors. Antibody detection was performed using indirect immunofluorescence assay (IFI) with a cut-off point of 1:50. Samples were collected from 173 dogs in MR and 115 in PDL. The seroprevalence in MR was 30.6% and in PDL it was 47.0%. Using a generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) we identified that dogs with mixed feeding have 50% less chance of being exposed to T. gondii compared to those fed only with homemade food, while those fed only with commercial food have 80% less chance. Also, in PDL it was twice as high as in MR and, finally, the probability of exposure could increase in senile animals and decrease in puppies and juveniles compared to adults. The spatial distribution shows regions of high density of seropositive individuals and titers. The seroprevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in domestic dogs demonstrates contact with the parasite and its role as a sentinel in communities as it indicates a potential risk of exposure. Socio-environmental variables of the neighborhoods and feeding were the main associated factors and evidence the importance of communication and education about the modes of transmission of zoonoses to people and pets in vulnerable communities.

Carbon stocks are an ecosystem service, one of the many benefits provided by
nature. Anthropic actions, mainly due to economic growth through the implementation
and maintenance of projects, have been responsible for the loss and impairment of the
benefits derived from ecosystem services. The objective of this research was to measure
the environmental liability of the loss of one of the most important ecosystem services
provided by tropical forests, the carbon stock, in the area where Porto Sul, a large port
complex that is currently being installed in the municipality of Ilhéus in the interior of
Bahia, is located. Different phytophysiognomies were mapped in the area of influence
of the project, including forest in the initial and medium stages of regeneration, restinga,
mangroves and cocoa agroforests (Theobroma cacau) in a traditional system known
regionally as cabruca. For each phytophysiognomy, above-ground biomass was
calculated using allometric equations and the Empirical Bayesian Kriging tool was used
as a geostatistical interpolation method. After quantifying the above-ground biomass,
the total carbon found was priced in five different price scenarios and the price of the
timber forest product and the restoration product were added to the economic analysis to
arrive at the opportunity cost of the enterprise. The average carbon stock per
phytophysiognomy was 2.77 t/ha-¹ for cabruca, 2.90 t/ha-¹ in the forest in the initial
stage of regeneration, 3.39 t/ha-¹ in the forest in the medium stage of regeneration, 2.06
t/ha-¹ restinga and 3.15 t/ha-¹ mangrove. The carbon price varied from U$ 44,402.05
tC/ha/year to U$ 1,291,696.00 tC/ha/year, the price of the timber forest product was U$
58,541.26 and the average cost per hectare to restore the area with native vegetation was
U$2,562.91, cabruca U$31,583.40, restinga U$2,978.83 and in the mangrove
U$2,976.80. It was therefore possible to quantify and price one of the many ecosystem
services affected by the arrival of Porto Sul in the municipality of Ilhéus. Measuring the
environmental liabilities of these projects is fundamental for monitoring the effects of
human actions on biodiversity, while the economic analysis evaluates one of the
consequences of the degradation of these ecosystems on a social level.

Increased interaction between human populations has facilitated the dispersion of exotic species and vessel traffic is considered the main vector for the invasion of organisms in marine environments. In recent decades, the sun coral, the popular name given to some species of the genus Tubastraea, became prominent as an invasive species on the Brazilian coast and ever since it has been dispersing even more. In this work, we detail the current conditions and geographic distribution of this group in Todos os Santos Bay (TSB) - BA, a place of great ecological and economic importance for the entire region. Expeditions were carried throughout the TSB using video-transect methodology and the results showed that the sun coral complex is widely distributed, from the innermost to the outermost regions of the bay. Using coverage and density data, we show that there is a preference for artificial substrates and vertical and negative surfaces. Furthermore, a high number of colonies were found at great depths. Interspecific interactions with some groups were also evidenced. In the current state, we suggest that efforts be focused on continuing monitoring, controlling populations in coral reefs and studies that aim to investigate whether there are impacts caused by these species on ecosystem functions and services. This way, we will have valuable information not only for the management and mitigation of impacts at TSB, but also for other locations.

Leptospirosis remains a serious health problem in impoverished urban communities in developing countries. The presence of polluted bodies of water and open sewage contributes to environmental contamination by the Leptospira bacteria and the abundance of rodents, representing the main source of exposure for residents in these locations. Ineffective rodent control programs and the absence of sanitary interventions contribute to the high incidence of Leptospira infection. Once sanitary and/or sewage interventions are implemented, their impacts should be evaluated to understand their effects on disease transmission, such as leptospirosis, and environmental health. This work is a study to evaluate the impact of government and community sanitary interventions on the environmental burden of Leptospira, the presence of rats, and Leptospira infection in the city of Salvador, Brazil. In the first chapter, we found that sewage intervention reduces rat refuge and movement sites, decreasing the likelihood of their presence in these areas. However, the intervention did not reduce the incidence rates of Leptospira infection, as residents' exposure did not vary between the periods before and after the intervention, limiting the understanding of the intervention's effect on disease burden. In chapter two, we show that government interventions to close sewage reduce the burden of Leptospira in the environment. The canalization and blocking of sewage and bodies of water prevent overflow during heavy rains, directing all water flow and reducing soil contamination. Integrated sanitary interventions, with local community involvement, in conjunction with other urban basic services such as garbage collection, paving, and stormwater drainage, may be crucial in reducing the pathogen burden and transmission. This study proposes an evaluation protocol for government sewage interventions with social participation (chapter three). This model of co-participatory sanitation interventions, i.e., integrating decision-makers with the local community, can contribute to the effectiveness of reducing multifactorial environmental diseases. Additionally, we evaluated how restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic affected the circulation of zoonotic reservoirs, rats, within an urban community in Salvador-Ba (chapter four). We found an increase in rat sightings during the pandemic period, which may represent a risk of leptospirosis, reinforcing the need for urgent actions to control the reservoir and the disease in these communities. Finally, we suggest comprehensive and integrated sanitation interventions; these actions can contribute to addressing the gap of how these actions can impact transmission mechanisms and the burden of Leptospira infection in residents, as well as guide future interventions with long-lasting effects in other locations around the world.

Resolving whether species age is associated with extinction probability can help us understand the extinction dynamics of living and extinct clades. This pattern is called Age-dependent extinction (ADE), and there is no theoretical nor empirical consensus about its direction. In this thesis, as the first chapter, we propose the Clade Replacement Theory (CRT) as a framework that considers clades' evolutionary and ecological aspects of generating testable predictions on ADE patterns. During the ADE study, we realized a conceptual difference in species age definition between paleontology and neontology. Besides, because the branch lengths of phylogenies estimate it, the latter has substantial uncertainty sources. Therefore, in the second chapter, we evaluated the error rates of phylogenetic ages associated with speciation modes and different extinction scenarios through simulations. Complementarily, we proposed an approach to correct age estimates under the assumption of bifurcating speciation. We formalized CRT with two propositions. The first one is incumbency effects by the old clade over the niche space, limiting the diversification and dominance of new clades. Due to the colonization and subsequent rapid diversification of the old clade, we hypothesize that this niche occupation trajectory would generate a pattern of older species occupying central niche positions. In the third chapter, we explore this hypothesis in the context of Neotropical tetrapods. We found no generality in the relationship between species age and niche position for these groups. However, the relationships that were significant supported our expectations. The CRT's second proposition is an ecological shift that would select against the old clade, opening up an opportunity for the new clade to diversify and rise to dominance. From CRT's propositions, we developed the prediction that the ADE scenario would be defined by whether an ecological shift happens or not. If it does not happen, we expect a negative ADE; i.e., older species would be less extinction prone. On the other hand, if it does happen, we expect a positive ADE; i.e., younger species would be less extinction prone.

During the last 50 years, urbanization has taken on new forms of development and accelerated due to the increase in urban population and built environments, contributing to irreversible changes in ecosystems, landscapes and biosphere. Understanding how the constant changes in the urban landscape affect local biodiversity, especially how the abundance and richness of species are changed in these environments, has been one of the biggest challenges for researchers working on conservation. Solitary bees and wasps that nest in preexisting cavities are known to be sensitive bioindicators to environmental changes, in addition to having great importance in environmental conservation. Based on this, we analyzed the effect of urbanization intensity on the composition, richness, parasitism rate, mortality and emergence of males and females of solitary bee and wasp communities that nest in preexisting cavities within a gradient of urban and natural landscapes in city of Salvador and Metropolitan Region, in Bahia, Brazil. Traps-nests were installed in 24 sampling points along the urban and peri-urban perimeter of Salvador and the Metropolitan Region, with a radius of 1 km analyzed in relation to the landscape structure at each sampling point, and with an estimate of the percentage of impermeable coverage. From a total of 36,720 trap-nests available in the field, 879 nests were occupied by bees (n=350) and wasps (n=529). From the nests occupied by bees and wasps, a total of 3899 individuals emerged, accounting for 1501 bees, 2257 wasps and 197 other natural enemies that emerged inside the nests occupied by bees and wasps. The results obtained partially support our hypothesis that urbanization exerts a negative influence, acting as a limiting factor on the communities of wasps and solitary bees that nest in preexisting cavities, with lower diversity and parasitism rates recorded in areas with the highest levels of urbanization, however, the abundance of nests, the mortality rate and the emergence of females and males do not seem to be directly influenced by urbanization, suggesting that other factors would be modulating their responses, such as the availability of food resources, such as floral sources for the bees and prey for wasps. We also observed a temporal action of the impacts resulting from urbanization on the communities of these insects. These questions suggest that to capture the real effects of urbanization on insect communities that nest in preexisting cavities, long-term observations are needed to document temporal and seasonal changes in species inventories over time. For a more complete view of the effects of urbanization on wasp and bee communities, complementary sampling methods should be encouraged in future studies.

Bioinvasion events are one of the main causes of loss of diversity in coral environments, being a worldwide concern. Considering that invasive species eradication actions are more likely to be successful in the early stages of their introduction, it is essential to develop monitoring methods that are effective and faster in detection, preferably in the early stages of infestation. In the present work, we compared three different monitoring protocols used in Brazil for the detection of marine bioinvasions, two planned for monitoring communities, the ReBentos/AGRRA protocol and the VideoTransect and one focused on the detection of bioinvasive organisms, the DAFOR. The objective of the work was to investigate which of these protocols would have the lowest detection limit, this would allow a more effective and faster detection of non-native organisms in recent bioinvasion environments. However, we found no significant difference between the minimum detection thresholds of the protocols in the sampled conditions. Monitoring methods can be considered equivalent to each other in the efficiency of early detection of marine bioinvasions on coral reefs. However, we emphasize that the conditions of execution of the work may impose limitations on the interpretation of its results. The size of the plots (30 X 30 m) was much smaller than that of a real survey or environmental monitoring site, which makes the sampling effort much less representative than. The coverage of the target species in the sampling sites did not present coverage consistent with the beginning of the invasion, when the species could still be considered rare.

The vocalizations emitted by birds are classified as songs or calls, which are usually associated with mate choice, territory defense and alarms. These vocalizations play an important role on intraspecific recognition, and their variation bird vocalization can mediate pre-zygotic barrier and act in the speciation process. Most of the information regarding the vocal variation of birds comes from studies with birds that learn their songs, the oscines. Herein we evaluated the geographic variation for the two vocalizations (dawn song and day song) of Attila rufus, a tyrannid endemic to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, that has two subspecies described based on the plumage color pattern. Therefore, our study aimed to answer the following questions: (i) Is there geographic variation in day and dawn song for Attila rufus? If so, does it present different patterns between the two vocalizations? (ii) Is Vocal variation correlated to the effects of ecological selection (vegetation and climate) and/or drift (isolation by distance)? (iii) Do Attila rufus subspecies exhibit vocal differentiation? Our discriminant analyzes results did not reveal acoustic structure in the multivariate space that corroborated the described species, agreeing with the absence of population structure previously observed in the molecular data. Only two parameters of the third note of day song exhibited a significant relationship with habitat, most specifically the temperature variation, concurring with the hypothesis of acoustic adaptation. Overall, our results indicate: (i) similar vocal variation among the subspecies, with no distinct vocal signature; (ii) habitat and geographic distance do not significantly explain the vocal variation in A. rufus; (iii) among habitat variables, only temperature influenced spectral parameters. Further analyzes of plumage variation through species distribution will help to comprehend the results found in this study.

Urban rodents pose a challenge to public health, especially as reservoirs for pathogens of human interest. Current global control/eradication efforts are focused in lethal control regiments based in rodenticide deployment, a measure with short-term effect that allows population rebound with time. Studies in rodent ecology are fundamental to develop effective control programs and guide the implementation at a local scale. The present study evaluated aspects of landscape ecology and demography or urban rodents in the context of an endemic area for leptospirosis in Salvador. Rat infestation in Salvador is linked to resources associated to precarious urban infrastructure and urban poverty. Basic urban services (trash collection, rodenticide campaigns by local pest control, and visits from health agents) need further evaluation to elucidate their role in prevention and control of rodent-borne zoonotic spread. There is a clear gap in literature regarding empirical studies evaluating the effectivity of rodenticide deployment as zoonosis prevention measure. Finally, a predictive score for severe leptospirosis cases based in infestation signs is proposed.

In conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity approaches, proposals of integration between academic and indigenous and local knowledge have been common. Research in ethnoecology and ethnobiology acquire central importance in such integration proposals, as well as in dialogue initiatives, since they enable us to understand how local communities comprehend organisms and ecosystems. This makes it possible to mobilize potentially important knowledge in the conservation of biodiversity, but also to create more favorable conditions for these communities to have a voice and participate in conservation decision-making processes. Therefore, in this Dissertation we discuss potentialities and limitations of the dialogue between knowledge systems and knowledge co-production processes in Siribinha, an artisanal fishing community on the northern coast of Bahia. Siribinha, like other fishing communities in Brazil, suffers from various environmental, social and economic threats. Faced with these threats, it is important to carry out studies that document the bodies of knowledge and practices of fishers, thus contributing to the preservation of their identity, as well as for the recognition of their contribution to biodiversity conservation. Therefore, we discuss the need for them to have a voice in conservation decisions, especially in their territories. Thus, the present study seeks to analyze the local knowledge of fishers from Siribinha about biological and ecological aspects of the fish they interact with, as well as the local taxonomy related to these organisms. We sought to build an understanding of their knowledge systems and practices, which can inform the establishment of dialogic processes between artisanal fisheries and scientific-academic knowledge systems in the field of conservation and sustainable use of resources. In order to do so, we used methods such as free listing, semi-structured interviews and triad task. Our results show that the community has a great knowledge about fish (with 197 ethnospecies recorded, of which 33 were considered by the interviewees as salient). However, we found an intracultural diversity in the way fish are classified by the members of the community, which requires caution when making assumptions that it would have a unique model in this regard, which would constitute a cultural consensus. We also show how the knowledge of artisanal fishers can have a complementary relationship with scientific-academic knowledge, but also bring tensions that need to be addressed through intercultural dialogue. Finally, we show the importance of incorporating indigenous and local knowledge in the formulation of public policies, such as those related to closed fishing seasons. By doing so, we can improve sustainable biodiversity management practices and also contribute to the empowerment of traditional communities and indigenous peoples.

There is wide evidence of the worldwide decline in pollinating bee populations as a consequence of landscape homogenization due to intensive land use by large-scale agriculture. Empirical studies have shown that the bee community is positively affected by increasing landscape heterogeneity. This effect indicates that individuals are moving in search of complementary or alternative resources present in different elements that make up the landscape. However, there are no studies that have investigated the effect of landscape heterogeneity at different hierarchical levels taking into account different bee profiles and their movement patterns in real landscapes composed of agricultural areas interspersed with naturally heterogeneous native environments. Empirically addressing this relationship can be difficult with field studies, so in this thesis agent-based models were used to model a possible cause and effect mechanism by which landscape heterogeneity influences bee populations and communities with different characteristics, taking into account their movement patterns. In the first chapter, a model was created to simulate the foraging behavior of different bee profiles and the energy balance of individuals in structurally distinct agro-natural landscapes. This modeling allowed to create an index reflecting the quality of the landscape from the point of view of these bees, enabling comparisons with indices traditionally used to describe landscape structure. In chapter 2, a model was created that used the landscape quality index (created in chapter 1) as input to simulate population dynamics through the survivability, abundance, reproduction, and dispersal of different bee profiles to understand how the structure of agricultural landscapes can affect the diversity of these organisms over time. In addition, for both models the predictive capacity of the models was explored for the richness and abundance of bees sampled in the field in the Mucugê-Ibicoara Agropolo of the Chapada Diamantina, Bahia, Brazil. With these models it was possible to show that the landscape quality index generated can help predict the abundance and species richness of bees. Although there is a considerable correlation between the generated index and the landscape metric of proportion of native environments, it seems that this generated landscape quality index explains a different portion of the variation and therefore can be included as a complementary descriptor of the landscape. Also, landscape structure was found to be an important aspect that interfered with population dynamics and structure of the simulated communities, where bees with highly specialized profiles regarding nesting environment preference were penalized in more heterogeneous landscapes. Finally, the models created allowed for the evaluation of mechanistic explanations for causal relationships between landscape patterns and bee community structure.

Hantavirus infection is a zoonotic disease with a high rate of human morbidity and mortality. The Seoul Orthohantavirus virus (SEOV) is a pathogen, housed by rats (Rattus norvegicus) that can be transmitted directly, by physical contact between infected reservoirs or indirectly, with the environment as an intermediary. Studies evaluating the prevalence of SEOV in tropical rat populations are scarce, especially in disadvantaged urban communities, commonly referred to as slums. The aim of this study was to identify the prevalence of SEOV in rats in different urban communities in Salvador-Brazil. We later associated the status of SEOV infection with demographic and environmental variables that contribute to the presence of this pathogen in the rodent population. The enzyme immunoassay (ELISA) was used to detect SEOV antibodies in rats. A total of 117 rats (Rattus norvegicus) were captured in the study. We found a 32% prevalence of infection (37 out of 117 rats captured). The positivity of SEOV in rats was positively associated with age in the days of the animal. Using generalized linear models we identified that females are more likely to be positive compared to male individuals (aOR 4.62 CI 1.59 - 13.45)) and sexual maturity had a positive effect on infection (aOR 6.27 CI 1.39 - 28.27), suggesting that sexual encounters or specific behaviors, may be a source of infection among rats from disadvantaged tropical environments. Accumulated materials, especially building materials, were strongly associated with the presence of positive rats (aOR 6.44 IC 2.01 - 20.64). This implies a possible source of exposure for humans, since these materials provide shelter for the reservoir. The high prevalence of SEOV in urban rats is potentially a high risk to human health. The results described here provide information on the structure of SEOV infections in the reservoir population of less-favored tropical areas, being useful to rethink predictive measures of human overflow.

Habitat loss is the main cause of the continued loss of biodiversity worldwide. Fundamentally, it is increasingly clear that losses in forest cover at landscape scales result in substantial changes in a series of ecological processes and ecosystem functions that ultimately determine the future trajectory of many of the most diverse and threatened forests in the world. The objective of this study is to evaluate the response of the taxonomic richness and functional diversity of woody plants to habitat loss at the landscape scale in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. This study was carried out in eleven landscapes of 6 x 6 km (36 km²) with different proportions of forest cover (between 5% and 60%) in the Atlantic Forest of Bahia. Eight plots of 250 m² were established randomly chosen in each landscape, and branches of all woody individuals with a circumference above the chest (CAP) equal to or greater than 8 cm were sampled. The classification of species by functional characteristic was based on books, dissertations, theses, scientific articles and virtual ecological database. Forest coverage on the landscape scale negatively affected taxonomic and functional richness and these relationships were non-linear. Functional uniformity did not respond to the amount of forest cover in the landscape. The functional divergence responded positively within this scenario. The functional characteristics showed different responses to the amount of forest in the landscape, with the characteristics associated with climatic species being strongly affected by the loss of forest cover. However, we emphasize that even our most deforested landscapes still hold a significant part of the woody flora of the Atlantic Forest and can be important sources of carbon sequestration and should be considered in the policies for managing the biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest.

The decrease in biodiversity of the main pollinators has been shown to be of concern for food security and human well-being as it directly affects agricultural production through the decrease in the stability and resilience of crops and native areas in its surroundings. These consequences occur, mainly because most of the causes are linked to economic development, for example, due to the expansion of agricultural areas, deforestation and the use of agrochemicals in extensive areas of monoculture. To solve this problem, management approaches based on the conservation of the pollination ecosystem service are being produced in the academy. However, despite the ecological contributions in relation to the management of locally located environmental resources, these approaches prove to be inefficient in decision making, as they do not dialogue with what is important and relevant for the social actors involved. Situated in this gap in relation to decision-making, behavioral approaches tend to complement these conventional ecological approaches when addressing the understanding of behavior favorable to the conservation of social actors. As a complement to these approaches, qualitative methods provide a diverse understanding of the complexity of behavior favorable to the conservation of farmers and social actors, seeking a robust understanding of behavior and its determinants, taking into account the specificities of the context and being able to raise questions that the researcher may not have taken it into account because he is out of context. However, for research in the field of Ecology, more specifically in relation to practices that impact the biodiversity of the main pollinators, qualitative behavioral approaches are still scarce. In this sense, this work sought to investigate, in a qualitative approach, the relationship of behavioral constructs with the intention of farmers and agricultural technicians involved in the coffee production of Chapada Diamantina, in Bahia, Brazil, to apply and to promote forms of planting management with high-impact practices and low-impact agricultural practices for biodiversity and the ecosystem service of pollination. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online to investigate beliefs associated with the behavioral constructs of attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control of five farmers and ten agricultural technicians, according to the Theory of Planned Behavior Theory of Icek Ajzen (TCP) of social psychology. From the answers, a thematic analysis was made, using the behavioral constructs of TCP as themes. To identify the relevance of each construct, the number of presence of the categories was counted for each type of management strategy, with the categories with strong relationship being those that obtained 75% or more of citations in the responses. According to the results, Attitude, Subjective Norm and Perceived Behavioral Control are related to the intentions of technicians and farmers to use high-impact and low-impact practices for the control of pests, diseases and spontaneous herb management. According to the analyzes, we concluded that the main influences on the behavior of the interviewed groups result from the Attitude and Subjective Norm, showing that the behavioral intention of the interviewed groups is associated with how they evaluate the practices and the social influences to which they are subject. The results found in this study will serve as subsidies for an ongoing research, which aims to increase the willingness of farmers in Chapada Diamantina to adopt agricultural practices that have a low impact on biodiversity.

Sexual behavior in many fruit fly species is essential for males to conquer females. They can gather information through social interactions and modify their behavior to obtain more matings in the future. It has been suggested that previous sexual experience and social interactions among males can change their sexual behavior, which, in turn, make them more likely to mate in subsequent courtships. The fruit fly Anastrepha fraterculus (Wiedemann, 1830) (Diptera: Tephritidae) is an agricultural pest that exhibits the complex sexual behavior of lek polygyny. The study of male courtship behavior in this species can contribute to improving the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT), a birth control method for insects. The success of SIT depends on the mass rearing and radiation-induced sterilization of millions of flies capable of competing with wild insects for mates after being released in the field. This study aimed to assess the mating competitiveness and sexual behavior of males kept in different social contexts to determine the extent to which previous mating experience or male-male interactions can improve their sexual performance and copulation success in subsequent courtships. Males were kept aggregated or isolated during their sexual maturation period, and these two groups were exposed or unexposed to virgin females, thus forming the four treatments tested: aggregated copulated males, isolated copulated males, aggregated virgin males, and isolated virgin males. Mating competitiveness tests and courtship behavior analysis were performed using the four groups of male treatments. The results of this study showed that previous sexual experience neither increased sexual competitiveness nor changed the courtship behavior of A. fraterculus males compared to virgin males. However, males exposed to social interaction during the sexual maturation were more sexually competitive than males kept in isolation and higher frequency of behavioral units associated with pheromone emission. These findings contribute to our understanding of how the courtship and mating behavior of A. fraterculus males can change with social interactions during their sexual maturation. Social interactions during the sexual maturity period may be an important factor to be considered in SIT programs, considering that the success of the technique rely on the ability of sterile males to compete and mate in the field with as many wild females as possible, thus inducing failure in the reproduction of this agricultural pest.

The ecology of mangrove ecosystems has advanced since Robertson's study (1986)
which demonstrated significant results of the role played by grampsid crabs in
mangroves, through the retention of leaves in burrows. Currently it is known that the
galleries built by crabs for shelter and food reserve, alter the distribution of sediment
particles, increase the contact surface between air and sediment and alter redox
conditions, temperature and salinity. In addition, evidence shows the contribution of
sesarid and ocipodid crabs in nutrient cycling processes in the ecosystem due to the
retention, macerated and burial of garbage and epileptic microalgae carpet. On the other
hand, vegetation influences the occurrence of bioturbating crabs, either due to the food
preference highlighted for some plant species or by the offer of shelter and protection
for the construction of burrows. Thus, the present study aimed to raise the state of the
art of research relating crab and mangrove population biology, to highlight trends and
gaps in mangrove ecology answering the following questions: (i) trend of studies
relating mangrove structure and population of bioturbadores crabs, (ii) journal that most
published the theme, (iii) partnership between authors and countries, (iv) continents of
the study sites (v) zonation, (vi) studied crab species, (vii) biological levels (viii)
sediment collection, (ix) main method of crab and vegetation collection.

In uncertain times, marked by rapid changes that aggravate the various crises we face today (eg environmental, health, economic, social), scientists need to join and direct efforts to present practical and effective solutions that can mitigate the harmful effects of actions human beings, which put at risk the perpetuation of life on the planet in its most diverse manifestations. As a response to the continuous loss of biodiversity and unprecedented increase in species extinction rates, many have focused on proposing in situ conservation strategies, among which the establishment of protected areas (PAs) stands out. Underpinned by Systematic Conservation Planning (SCP) and supported by goals agreed in inter-governmental treaties, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), this strategy has been increasingly defended within a holistic perspective, capable of bringing together different aspects of the nature as conservation targets. Today, the multiple dimensions of biodiversity and ecosystem services have played a leading role in spatial planning proposals for the expansion of PAs. In biodiverse, but still little-known and severely threatened regions, such as the Caatinga biome, knowledge gaps about biodiversity along with anthropogenic pressures, conversion of natural habitats and people's strong dependence on natural resources and services arising from nature, figure among the main challenges for the implementation of conservation. Thus, strategies to support conservation today demand multi-dimensional and integrative approaches. With this perspective, we developed this thesis in three chapters in order to present the state of the art of spatial prioritization studies for conservation and to optimize the use of available data on the distribution of terrestrial vertebrates, plants and ecosystem services in the Caatinga to assess conservation actions implemented and/or proposed for this biome. Using systematic literature search methods, in the first chapter we summarize the main paths followed in studies of spatial prioritization and define the scope of the approach that founded the development of this thesis. Through the SCP approach, we performed a gap analysis to verify the representation of these conservation targets in the current network of PAs and indigenous lands (ILs) of the Caatinga, as well as in the priority area networks proposed through the Ministry of Environment Environment (MMA) and National Center for Flora Conservation (CNCFlora), to expand PAs in this biome. In order to improve the current Caatinga conservation framework, we also carried out spatial prioritization analyzes to identify areas that maximize the representation of species (considering their different profiles) and ecosystem services in scenarios that expand current protection to meet international goals of conservation for 2020 and 2030. In the second chapter, we focus on vertebrate analysis from a perspective of achieving conservation goals based on the taxonomic dimension of diversity. In general, PAs and ILs, covering 9.1% of the Caatinga, represent on average 9.8% of the species distribution, with 37 unprotected species. By protecting 15.3-32.0% of the biome, priority networks as proposed by the MMA can increase the current average to 15.2% -37.5% of the species distribution, still resulting in unprotected species. The solution we present represents on average 26.8-42.5% of the species distribution, including the entire set of species analyzed and effectively representing more than 91% of the tetrapods at greatest risk. Opportunity costs shifted priorities to areas less affected by human activities, mainly reducing the representation of threatened species. By focusing in the conservation of plants and its taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic dimensions together with ecosystem services, we observed, in the third chapter, that APs and ILs cover an average of 16.9% of the distribution of analyzed species, in addition to an average of 8.0% of the distribution of regulation services and 11.2% of the distribution of support services. According to the proposals of the MMA and CNCFlora, networks of priority areas whose territorial extension is close to the goal of protecting 30% of the biome can improve this representation, but with an increase in the spatial cost. Focusing on the conservation of threatened flora, the CNCFlora proposal represents the lowest mean distribution of the analyzed plants than the networks proposed by the MMA, which included different targets in addition to the plants. Aiming to protect 30% of the Caatinga, our solutions represented an average of over 60% of the species distribution, increasing up to 85% the representation of the most risky plants. Consequently, these solutions are more cost-effective in terms of area demand. Consequently, these solutions are more cost-effective in terms of area demand when compared to existing prioritizations. All evaluated networks represented ecosystem services in a homogeneous way, probably due to their wide distribution in the Caatinga. At the biome scale, species richness and phylogenetic and functional diversities were close to the maximum value (90-100%) in all analyzed networks. On the scale of planning units (ca. 30km²), however, our solutions concentrated the highest averages of these metrics. As noted in the second chapter, focusing on vertebrates, the inclusion of opportunity costs marginally reduced the representation of flora species in the selected areas. Overall, our solutions were able to represent biodiversity and ecosystem services. We therefore conclude that the optimal use of available information, through an approach that integrates different conservation targets, helps to support efficient conservation planning. In a region where people rely heavily on nature, improving conservation benefits becomes urgent. In this context, our multi-dimensional integrative approach can contribute to supporting more pragmatic and efficient conservation strategies in other vulnerable and little-known biomes, improving the protecting species in all dimensions of their biodiversity, in addition to protection of the ecosystem services.

After hatching on land, sea turtles need to reach the marine realm. However, how hatchlings orient themselves to find their preferred habitat at sea, which may vary among species from coastal (inshore) to oceanic (offshore), is almost entirely unknown. Given adult turtles may rely on olfaction for guidance at sea, it is possible that hatchlings’ first migration is based on chemoreception (olfaction and gustation). However, chemoreception is often impaired by chemical pollution. In one endangered sea turtles species, Caretta caretta, we determined the role of chemoreception on habitat choice, and test whether coastal chemical pollution interferes with this sensory mechanism. In a Y-tank, we presented concomitant distinct seawater flows (coastal and oceanic) and let hatchling turtles free to swim in any of these flows for a period of 10 min. Hatchlings spent significantly more time in oceanic seawater flow, with nearly 70% of the time. However, before reaching the oceanic realm, hatchlings are required to cross coastal waters, which, as a result of human activities, may be polluted (chemically or biologically), for example as a result of sewage discharge. In the second experiment, when hatchlings had to choose between coastal and polluted water (collected from a beach with runoff), the hatchlings could not distinguish between chemosensory cues, suggesting that pollutants disrupt the recognition of suitable habitats by chemoreception. However, this compromise of olfactory preferences in turtle hatchlings leads to higher mortality, increasing the risk of contamination and predation, leading to direct consequences on sea turtle populations.

Studies over the past few decades have provided a considerable amount of information on anuran vocalization, which in turn has expanded our knowledge of how this key trait is influenced by environmental factors, morphological characteristics, and biotic interactions. However, while a large body of work has been dedicated to understanding drivers of intraspecific calling variation in anurans, few studies have investigated general biogeographic and evolutionary patterns of acoustic differences among species. Here, we describe the spatial and phylogenetic patterns in the vocalization of the monkey tree frogs (Phyllomedusidae) and examine the factors that drive these patterns. We first measured the spatial and phylogenetic signal on acoustic parameters: call duration, dominant frequency, and number of pulses. Contrary to expectations, our results showed no spatial or phylogenetic autocorrelation, indicating an absence of niche conservatism along Phylomedusidae acoustic evolution, as well as a lack of spatial structure on calling parameters. We used multiple linear regression to test whether body size, temperature, and precipitation could affect the acoustic parameters. The results from this analysis showed a negative relationship between body size and dominant frequency, consistent with the allometric pattern found for other anurans and vertebrates. The results also indicate a positive effect of the temperature on the number of pulses emitted by the species, which could be explained by higher metabolic rates found in warmer regions. Taken together, the results of this work point out to rapid evolution and modification of Phyllomedusidae singing-related characteristics, leaving no spatial or phylogenetic signal, but at the same time restricted by endogenous (body size) and exogenous (temperature) factors.

Ecological functions are important for maintaining ecosystems and can be defined as

the roles that organisms played in the environment. The functional approach allows a

better understanding on ecosystem functioning over other approaches (e.g. taxonomic

classification). Functions can be studied through the functional traits of individuals and

ecosystem properties (e.g. resilience) depend on their distribution and abundance over

time and space. However, several studies have used arbitrary functional traits that are

not necessarily associated with the functioning of ecosystems. Many studies in estuarine

ecosystems investigate the distribution of benthic macrofauna and spatial and / or

temporal patterns. However, the distribution of the functions performed by macrofauna

throughout this system is still little known. In the present work, our hypothesis is that

the functional composition of benthic macrofauna does not change significantly over

gradients and at different periods, although the taxonomic composition changes, since

taxa may have similar sets of characteristics to perform a given function. We used a lot

of data from 3 estuaries of Todos os Santos Bay along a salinity gradient with 10 or 11

sampling stations in the least 4 different times for each estuary. First, the important

ecological functions for the estuarine environments and the combinations of functional

traits directly related to the ecological functions were surveyed. Subsequently, potential

differences in the distribution of functions between estuarine salinity zones were tested

over the years. The ecological functions considered important for the estuaries were

bioturbation, fragmentation of organic matter, stabilization of sediment, nutrient cycling

and secondary production. A total of 11 categories of traits were used to describe the

ecological functions mentioned above, including: mobility, type of movement, feeding

mode, food deliver mode, presence of jaw, sedimentary compartment, body size,

reproduction mode, age of first reproduction, life span and fecundity rate. In general,

functional redundancy was identified for the traits associated with sediment bioturbation

and nutrient cycling in the finer-grained marine regions, while in the upstream estuaries

with coarse-grained sediment it was identified traits mainly associated with

fragmentation function of organic matter. The abundance of organisms with traits

associated with sediment stabilization was low and the feature sets associated with

secondary production appear to increase as salinity decreases. Not all functions were

maintained along the estuarine gradient, due to the absence of similar traits capable of

compensating for the loss of polychetes in certain regions. The ecological functions

performed by polychetes showed significative differences between salinity zones (i.e.,

Jaguaripe estuary), as well as interactions between sampling years and salinity zones

(i.e., Paraguaçu estuary), and years (i.e.,Subaé estuary). The results of this study

contribute to understand the functioning and management of estuarine ecosystems.

Empirical studies are necessary to test the relationship of the described functional traits

with the mentioned ecological functions in order to measure the real potential of the

functional traits of organisms in the functioning of ecosystems.

In southern Bahia, a center of endemism, cacao is the most traded agricultural product and about 70% of production is made under the agroforestry system known as cabruca. This system reconciles cacao production with maintaining the original biodiversity. Although we know that arthropods can cause a reduction in annual cacao production, we do not know if changes in the abundance of predatory birds and arthropods, triggered by changes in the amount of forest in the landscape or the structural simplification of cacao crops due to increased intensity. Management through the removal of native vegetation and the use of agrochemicals to increase productivity can influence the local herbivory rate. Therefore, the objective of this study is to investigate the impact of the deforestation process and the simplification of vegetation structure on local herbivory patterns and to experimentally test whether these changes may be due to a relaxation of top-down control at a landscape scale in Atlantic Forest of southern Bahia State. This study was conducted on 18 goats on a forest cover gradient (3-66%), in which artificial caterpillar models were placed and observed for 4 days to verify the predation rate. We sampled understory birds and arthropods on cacao trees, and collected leaves to measure herbivory. Data were also collected from five local descriptors (vertical stratification, basal area, shading, abundance of native trees and cacao abundance). Statistical analysis was based on structural equation modeling and multiple linear regression. We reveal that predation pressure on herbivorous arthropods of cacao leaves, herein assessed by mold caterpillars, was mainly carried out by invertebrates and not by birds or other vertebrates. Such top-down control was further corroborated by the findings of our path analysis, in which the actual increasing abundance of herbivorous arthropods of cacao leaves local was not related with the local abundance of birds but rather, occurs as a response of a decreasing in the local abundance of predatory arthropods. Interesting, although predation rate of dummy caterpillars increased with deforestation while lessened under higher densities of cacao trees, we found no evidence that landscape or local features herein assessed influenced neither the actual invertebrate assemblages (predators or herbivorous) nor cacao leaf damage. Although we detected a trophic cascade involving invertebrates, i.e. predators controlling herbivorous, this interaction did not influence the actual amount of observed leaf damage in cacao trees. 

Coral bleaching consists in the population decrease of zooxanthellae cells within coral tissue and is associated with coral starvation, being considered one of the main causes of coral mortality. There are two well-understood coral bleaching pathways, Oxidative Stress Bleaching and Bacterial Infection Bleaching; however, several evidences indicate a correlation between coral bleaching and viral infections. Several studies indicate a probable latent viral infection in zooxanthellae cells, where viral particles are expressed from algal cell exposure to stressors related to bleaching, such as intense UV radiation and high temperatures, leading to cell lysis. Although there is evidence of a possible role of giant virus infections in coral bleaching, there are still no mechanistic explanations for linking viral infections to coral health status. Here, we built a mathematical model to investigate the putative behavior of zooxanthellae population dynamics under the influence of the infectious dynamics of giant viruses, where viruses are able to establish a latent infection in the host. From an extensive study of the parameter values related to the infection process and reproductive strategy of giant viruses, we found that high rates of lysogenic infection and vertical transfer of viral infection are related to healthy coral status, whilst shifts from lysogenic to lytic reproduction are liked to a bleached state. In addition, we suggest that annual fluctuation of environmental factors may lead to the appearance of bleaching cycles. We suggest that this unique dynamics should play an important and previously neglected role in coral bleaching events. Here we propose a new hypothesis for coral bleaching - Viral Coral Bleaching - pointing out the theoretical conditions under which this bleaching pathway should be relevant.

Cooperative and altruistic behaviors have, for a long time, intrigued biologists around the world due to their apparent evolutionary countersense. After all, it is a behavior that generates a benefit to another organism at the expense of its performer. Although it has already been investigated by many researchers, little emphasis has been given to the biological elements necessary for the evolution of such traits, and only recently this issue was been approached by microbiology when considering bacteria, fungi and protozoa; groups of great importance that play relevant role in public health, economics and philosophy of science. We propose to carry out a review of the main biological factors that allow the evolution and maintenance of this behavior in microorganisms. The literature analysis allowed to classify the models in six main categories: Environmental conditions; Conditional Gene Expression; Partial Privatization of Public Goods; Enforcement mechanisms; Cooperative Hitchhiking; and Dispersion & Growth Trade-offs. Many of these models become intertwined with others, and can act together to establish cooperative behavior. Among the factors found, the spatial structuring between cooperating and selfish organisms seemed to be particularly important, since it was observed in several different models. This research allowed a comprehensive and quite deep appreciation of cooperative behavior and its evolution among microorganisms, enabling new and more directed studies that seek to elucidate in what ways this behavior is maintained in natural microbial populations.

The metacommunity theory arose with an interest in investigating how local and regional processes interact in the structure of the community and the importance of environmental and spatial factors in determining this structure. However, this focus has not been addressed in tropical estuarine regions for phytoplankton communities, formed by the main group of primary producers of aquatic ecosystems. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate how environmental filters and spatial predictors influence the structure of the phytoplankton metacommunity of lotic systems that flow into Camamu Bay. For this, we use two complementary approaches, one based on the mechanisms through Redundancy Analysis (pRDA) and the other based on the standards with the application of a hierarchical test called Elements of Metacommunity Structure (EMS). Sampling was carried out in April and October 2013, thus contemplating a dry and a rainy period. The distribution of the ten collection points in the Maraú, Orojó and Serinhaém rivers occurred along the salinity gradient, where qualitative and quantitative samples of phytoplankton were collected; water samples for nutrient analysis: silicate, phosphate, nitrate, ammonia and total nitrogen; and physical-chemical parameters were measured: pH, dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature and total dissolved solids. The analyzes indicated three patterns of metacommunity: Gleasonian, Clementsian and Quasi-nested, with a change in the pattern between the dry and rainy periods. Only the Maraú River exhibited the Gleasonian pattern in both periods. As for the mechanisms, there was a predominance of total variation explained by the shared influence of environmental and spatial predictors. Thus, we can conclude that changes in rain patterns can interfere in the structures of phytoplankton communities in tropical estuarine environments, however both spatial and environmental variables will be important in structuring these communities.

In the first chapter of this thesis we present a theoretical framework that aims to
contribute to the solution of compatibility problems between the hypotheses of positive effect of
landscape heterogeneity and biological diversity with the hypotheses of habitat loss and fragmentation,
proposing a hierarchical approach for the construction of mechanistic explanations, in addition to the
incorporation of the temporal dimension in a more explicit way in the estimation of landscape
heterogeneity. In the second chapter we discuss the theoretical implications of this framework for the
study of ecological interaction networks, showing how a hierarchical and mechanistic approach can help
to interpret the effects of landscapes on the interaction networks described in the literature. In the third
chapter we present a study on the interaction between the effects of substituting native vegetation for
agricultural areas and the heterogeneity of the landscape on plant-pollinator interaction networks in
Chapada Diamantina-BA, where interaction networks showed a positive response to the proportion of
agriculture, but in less heterogeneous landscapes this relationship is also associated with a loss of
diversity of pollinators in relation to more homogeneous landscapes. In the fourth chapter we explore the
effect of landscape heterogeneity on the stability of the pollination service and the formation of coffee
fruits over time in coffee plantations in Chapada Diamantina - BA. In this chapter we show how more
heterogeneous landscapes favor a more stable pollination service over time and how this stability
promotes higher average productivity, with a 44% increase in fruit formation over a five-year period. We
conclude the thesis by arguing that landscape heterogeneity is fundamental for maintaining more diverse
communities, with more complex plant-pollinator interaction networks and with more stable pollination
services, which promotes greater agricultural productivity over time. In addition, we conclude that there
is empirical evidence that we can expand the application of the same framework beyond pollination
services, including ecosystem services mediated by biodiversity in general.

This thesis had the objectives of determining the structuring variables of the benthic diatoms community of Camamu Bay, modeling their relationship with these variables, determining the dynamics of transformations that the diatoms assemblages underwent in time through the observation of sediment-preserved diatoms (semi-fossils), evaluating in this way if the estuarine region, previously considered pristine, has already suffered damage due to anthropic activities in the area, modeling the dynamics of environmental variables over time using transfer functions and propose the adaptation of a measurement technique of the relative environmental vulnerability, also using diatoms. For that, samples of superficial sediment were collected at 30 points along the bay and its tributaries (rivers Serinhaém, Orojó and Marau), six cores were collected and the concentrations of nutrients (nitrogen and phosphate series and silicate) and other physical-chemical variables (temperature, salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen, redox potential, particulate matter in suspension and particle size). Evidence was observed that the bay is undergoing a process of eutrophication and that it has undergone a process of progradation of the coastal zone. Models for the spatial distribution of the variables salinity, pH and conductivity, which were considered correlated, and of the taxa Seminavis sp1, Fallacia nummularia (related to the lower TDI stations), Paralia sulcata var. coronata and Thalassiosira sp1 (related to higher nutrient concentration, higher hydrodynamic energy and higher TDI stations) were considered significant. The Models of the relationship between the distribution of some taxa and the variables were also significant: Planothidium septentrionalis, dissolved oxygen and suspended particulate matter (related to the beach environment), Delphineis sp1, salinity and fine sand, Fallacia forcipata, coarse sand and suspended particulate matter (related to low TDI values) and between Opephora olsenii and salinity. The results of the transfer function revealed a tendency to reduce salinity, reinforcing the hypothesis of coastal zone progradation. The relative vulnerability assessment technique could be successfully adapted, indicating that its points further downstream on the serinhaém river and further upstream on the river Marau are the most vulnerable due to the shallow depth.

During the Holocene, which corresponds to after the glacial geological epoch dated back to 10 to 12
thousand years, the human activities became, gradually, changing forces of the natural processes of our
planet. The variations resulted from these human activities confer alterations in the functioning of the
ecological systems primarily causing global climate change and irreversible loss of biological diversity.
The natural or anthropogenic climate changes are the main threat to the acceleration of the loss of global
marine biodiversity, as it affects population and community dynamics and, in the long term, the structure
and functioning of the community. Due to the difficulty of obtaining continuous ecological records in the
long term, temporal analyzes of the history of marine ecological changes are still scarce. However,
through assembly structure and composition records of planktonic foraminifera fossils, it is possible to
access climate change and ecological responses beyond the last decades. There is a lack of knowledge in
publications involving these organisms in Brazil, however, previous studies suggest a shortage of data for
the Tropical East Atlantic, if compared to the southeast coast of the country. In that sense, the Tropical
Atlantic is responsible for important climatic phenomena of northeastern Brazil and it has great scientific
potential still unexplored. Hence, this thesis has as main objectives i. To perform a scientometric survey of
papers involving foraminifera in Brazil. ii. To analyze and describe the planktonic foraminifera fossil
fauna in the oceanic region adjacent to the northeast coast of the country. iii. To infer the occurrence of
paleoclimatic and paleoceanographic events from the paleoecology of foraminifera in the region. For the
scientometrics, it was filed and retrieved papers published in the scientific platform Scopus. For the
analyses and descriptions of the paleoassemblies it was extracted a core in the study area, that, when dated
comprehended approximately 8 thousand years. The sediment collected was sliced, and in each fraction it
was identified 300 to 500 individuals. These organisms were identified to species level according to
literature and recent papers. For the paleoenvironmental reconstruction, it was used the Generalized
Additive Models (GAMs) which provided inferences about climatic variations in the geological past and
the main ecological responses. Our main results registered an increasing tendency of studies involving
these organisms in Brazil, even though it is below average when compared to other countries. Besides, it
was registered that the southwest region is more productive in studies with this group, and also
contemplates the most studied areas. We described to species level, for the first time, the fossil fauna of
planktonic foraminifera in the slope at 1900 meters’ depth from the study area, in which 15 species were
new registers for the area. We inferred, from the species ecology, an increase of the sea surface
temperature of 8 thousand years to the present, as well as an accretion of the oligotrophy conditions. Lastly, the current study contributed with the identification of the need for more effort on research that contemplates these organisms, exceptionally in the north/northwest regions of the country, along with the importance of greater attention to large-scale temporal monitoring that would elucidate the marine biodiversity crisis in view of climate change.

Among the main consequences of the current geological period, the Anthropocene, is the biodiversity crisis, evidenced by high rates of extinction of species and that has been the focus of Conservation Science. Today, in addition to biodiversity, goods and services from nature have also become the subject of conservation research. Facing the current pressures of conversion and fragmentation of natural areas, it is essential to understand how spatial distribution of biodiversity priorities and services in order to enable the maintenance of both through explicitness and conflicts and synergies. Using as a case study the state of Bahia, we verified as priority areas for conservation of terrestrial vertebrates biodiversity, from global databases, in the state are related the conservation priorities of natural vegetation remnants, used as proxies for services ecosystems. In addition, we compared our prioritization with the official proposal of priority areas of the Environment Secretariat of the State of Bahia. It was verified that the spatial prioritization scenarios achieved with biodiversity targets had superior performance in the protection of the species used in the work when compared to the scenarios of prioritization of natural vegetation remnants and the official proposal. The best areas for an expansion of the current reserve network obtained from the largest percentages of remnants in the landscape did not perform well in relation to biodiversity protection, which implies the possibility of establishing interchangeable priorities between these two attributes in the context of this study. In addition to the results regarding the definition of conservation priorities in Bahia, we emphasize how results obtained the relevance and possibilities of using global data to guide local conservation approaches

Artisanal fishing can often result in ghost fishing and threaten reef environments since fishing lines can entangle, damage or kill several organisms. Complex reef structures, such as branching corals are among the most afflicted by ghost fishing due to its form and Millepora is the only genus of branching hydrocoral in South Atlantic reefs, offering several resources for reef fish species. Although ghost fishing impacts are well known for the fishery industry and megafauna, their impacts on key reef organisms such as branching corals and associated fish assemblages remain virtually unknown. We hypothesized that lost fishing lines entangled on the branching hydrocoral M. alcicornis would result in increased mortality while reducing the abundance and richness of the associated reef fish assemblages. Moreover, we investigated whether entangled fishing lines resulting in structural simplification would alter the frequency of refuge, agonistic and foraging behaviors among associated fish species. We surveyed 30 M. alcicornis colonies by estimating their volume, percentages of fishing lines occupancies and mortality. Colonies were video-recorded to estimate the total fish abundance, species richness and to quantify fish behavior. Our results demonstrate high mortality percentages in hydrocorals with large amounts of entangled fishing lines. Also, we found a significant decrease in the frequency of feeding attempts for two associated herbivore fish species (Acanthurus bahianus and Ophioblennius trinitatis) that play a fundamental role in coral-reef dynamics. Ghost fishing resulting from small-scale may thus have negative impacts in shallow reef ecosystems, particularly in branching corals. In turn, these structural effects may be detrimental to coral-fish interactions. Testing the ecological and functional ramifications of these impacts may have on shallow reef ecosystems will be an important next step.

Coral cover in coastal reefs has been in severe decline in recent decades by the interaction of multiple global and anthropogenic stressors with the change of benthic cover dominance to non - constructing organisms in the reef matrix. The effect of human population density on the degradation of water quality was investigated, acting as a determinant of the coverage of non-constructing organisms. The composition of the community was analyzed by visual photoquadrats, calculating the percent cover of the benthic groups. The environmental variables related to water quality were recorded in situ (temperature, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, pH and total dissolved solids) and determined in the laboratory (phosphate and nitrate concentrations). The structure of the benthic community differed significantly among the classes of human population density (uninhabited, inhabited and populated). The highest average coverage of the reefs analyzed was scleractinian corals (28.01% ± 14.69), followed by macroalgae (18.25% ± 5.41) and boring sponges (16.83% ± 10.62). The cover of building organisms (corals and calcareous algae) declined progressively, according to the human population density, while the group of non-constructors increased. We recorded dominance by macroalgae in the Pituba reef, zoanthids in the Praia do Forte reef and boring sponges in the reefs of Guarajuba and Itacimirim. Regarding the abiotic variables, there was a significant differentiation between the environmental conditions of the studied regions. It was identified that the population density has an effect on the degradation process of the wáter quality, influencing indirectly the composition of the benthic community. Reefs dominated by algae and zoanthids were associated with increased nutrient availability and dissolved oxygen content in the water column. The dominance of the boring sponges was associated with the concentration of total solids dissolved in Guarajuba and Itacimirim. A bleaching of the sponges was recorded which was associated with high temperaturas and high nitrate concentrations. These results support the interference of the human population density on the water quality and the structure of the benthic communities of the coastal reefs. It emphasizes the role of the reef top in maintaining the resilience of the coastal reefs in front of the local and global threats, based in the coverage of constructing organisms. We reinforce that coastal management reef management initiatives should be based on integrated local-scale monitoring programs of benthic community variability and coastal reef environmental conditions.

Predation is one of the main factors that influence in the abundance and distribution of the species. Organisms with the greatest chances of survival are those able to escape the predators. Camouflage is a primary anti-predatory mechanism common in marine gastropods. Neritina virginea is marine gastropod abundant in the Brazilian coast, characterized by the presence of varied shell color patterns. This study aims to verify if the different coloration patterns in the shell of this species acts as a mechanism of defense against predation. The sampling occured in the Mangue Seco, BA (Brazil), the data were collected in four different periods, between the years of 2013 and 2015, in the dry and rainy periods. A total of 2.530 individuals of Neritina virginea were collected, and the majority of them had been predated (with a mean of 75.68% of predation in the sampling periods). Predation by fish and birds had a higher percentage, with a mean of 58.69% of predation. The contingency table indicated that there is no relationship between the suitability of the shell color of the individuals and the color of the substrate with the reduction of the chances of predation. Over the years, therefore, the more the prey specializes in hiding from predators, the more specialized predator are in finding them. The population of N. virginea in the three sampling periods is mostly composed of juveniles, and in the fourth sample period by adult individuals. The Cochran Mantel-Haenszel test indicated that predators do not exhibit preference of their prey based on the age group. Thus, the various coloring patterns of the N. virginea shell in the studied area cannot be considered as an efficient defense mechanism against predation.

The polychaete assemblages of the coral reefs from the north coast of the state of Bahia (Brazil) were studied during four periods to analyze the spatial and temporal variability in the community structure, as well as the influence of the taxonomic resolution on the interpretation of the results. Ten kilos of reef substrate were sampled from each coral reef during the years 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2016. During this period, 120 species recorded. In the first two sampling periods, the most abundant families were Eunicidae (55.8% and 60.14%, respectively), Nereididae (13.5% and 14.3%) and Syllidae (8.7% and 6%). In the third period, Eunicidae (61.1%) and Nereididae (19.3%) were the most abundant and in 2016 the family Eunicidae (92.5%) became dominant. The cluster analysis identified three distinct clusters, aggregating the coral reefs of the years 2000 and 2005, being this cluster distinct from the other two, in which the reefs were segregated according to the last two sampling periods. The dominance of boring species belonging to Eunicidae and the reduction in the abundance of Syllidae species, as well as the decrease in diversity, characterize the last period analized. The use of Taxonomic Sufficiency was tested on the results, performing analyzes on species, genus and family levels. The results indicated that regardless of the taxonomic level considered, the structure of the assemblies differed significantly over the periods studied. It was demonstrated the suitability of the use of taxonomic resolution at the genus level, when identification at the species level is not achieved. This study reinforces the hypothesis that the reefs of the northern coast of the state of Bahia have been experiencing a chronic anthropic stress, leading the reefs to unfavorable conditions favoring the activity of bioeroders.

The increase in the conversion rate of natural areas in agricultural areas in recent decades has had a negative impact on biodiversity and ecosystem services. On the other hand, there are practices that minimize the effects of intensive agriculture on biodiversity, such as forest restoration in the areas neighboring the plantations. In this way, we seek in this work to evaluate the effect of forest restoration in the provision of the pollination service throughout the time of implantation and in crops located near and far from the restored areas. We test the hypothesis that in restored areas close to the crops there is a greater stability of the pollination service over time, as measured by the number of pollen tubes formed in the coffee flower styles and by the formation and quality of the fruits. The study was carried out in coffee farms located in an agricultural center located between the municipalities of Mucugê and Ibicoara, in the region of Chapada Diamantina, between the years of 2015 and 2018. The sample units were selected, among several criteria, by proximity to the areas restored. Our results show that restored areas near coffee plantations contribute to increased pollen deposition on plant stigmas, highlighting the importance not only of restoring restored areas close to crops, but also of the long-term monitoring of the effect of these areas on the crop pollination service. The analysis of the data presented here show no statistically significant difference in the proportion of fruits formed or for weight and amount of these fruits seeds, indicating that the predictor variables used may be suffering the influence of other factors. Therefore, we suggest complementary studies that evaluate other factors related to the establishment of the restoration, such as the minimum time for restored areas to provide resources to the pollinators and actually contribute to these animals remaining in the agricultural landscape, as well as studies that evaluate synergies and trade-offs between the implementation of forest restoration and the maintenance of pollinators in different landscape contexts.

The coffee berry borer (Coleoptera: Scolytidae: Hypothenemus hampei) is a pest that causes damage to coffee production in the world. For a long time the insecticide Endosulfan has been used to combat this pest, but due to the deleterious effects on human health, the environment and biodiversity, many countries have decided to ban the use of this substance. Thus, the biological insecticide based on the spores of the entomopathogenic Beauveria bassiana (Balsam) is one of the main tools of integrated management of coffee pests. However, a microorganism of microorganism by application is required at high concentrations of spores, thus increasing the cost of its use. An effective alternative for an application/dispersion of these microorganisms against agricultural pests is the use of pollinators as vectors. Honeybees are considered as an important pollinator of the species C. arabica and the fungus B. bassiana is one of the main organisms used for the control of the coffee borer. The scarcity of studies evaluating the effect of the interactions between A. mellifera and the B. bassiana fungus hinders the use of the entomovetor in the biological control of pests. This paper aims to: 1) Discuss the theoretical and non-systematic point of view, how to make biological control as pollination can be used as part of the management of the coffee berry borer , and 2) the side-effects of the fungal B. bassiana on health of A. mellifera colonies under field conditions. The inoculum was prepared by mixing the fungus with the vector at a concentration of 1 x 10⁸ conidia/g. The control group was treated only with the Vectorite. Two trials were performed: 1) mortality of hives and 2) evaluation of the size of capped brood area. No differences were found in the number of dead bees collected between the treatment and the control. The variation of the capped brood area was not statistically significant between treatment and control. The size of the capped brood area of the control and treatment colonies decreased dramatically over the five evaluations, from 0 to 19 days, preventing decision making on the effects of the phenomenon. However, mortality data from adult bees of the present study demonstrate the microbial control agent are not responsible for the mortality of A. mellifera under field conditions.

Biological invasions occur when species are introduced to an area where they do not occured naturally, in general as consequence of human activities. A species can be termed “invasive” when it cause ecological, economic and/or social impacts. Ecological impacts can occur when invasive species alter biological processes related to ecosystem functions. The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the effects of invasive species on the ecological processes of reef ecosystems. Two cases of invasions were studied, the sun coral Tubastraea tagusensis and T. coccinea in coral reefs of Brazil and green algae Caulerpa filiformis in the rocky reefs of Australia. In the case of sun coral, field experiments were carried out to evaluate the sun coral abundance effect on the coral recruitment and on fish-benthos interactions. In the case of green algae experiments were carried out in the laboratory system (mesocosm) to evaluate the interactive effects of the presence of green algae and warmer temperature on the herbivory process by snail gastropod Turbo militaris on the brown algae Ecklonia radiata and Sargassum vestitum. The results showed that in both cases, the presence of invasive species influenced the biological processes studied. The experiments using sun corals, showed that their high abundance was negatively related to number of native recruits and adults, suggesting that the invasion may alter the native coral populations dynamics. In addition, experiments also showed that sun coral abundance was negatively related to number of native fish bites on benthic species as algae, corals and sponges. Thus, sun coral influenced the fish pressure on the substrate which can potentially alters key ecosystem functions as bioerosion, algae control and sediment transport. In the case of green algae, laboratory experiments showed that their presence under warmer sea water conditions (26°C) reduced the intensity and feeding preference of the snail on the native brown alga Ecklonia radiata. The water warming likely intensified the consumption of the native algae by the snails that has its metabolism accelerated under these conditions. However when invasive green algae are present even under warmer temperature conditions, feeding activity on E. radiata was reduced which could increase the survival of this native species in scenarios of climate change. Thus, this study showed that invasive species can alter ecological processes in marine ecosystems as recruitment and herbivory, but in climate change scenarios these effects can be different. Finally, understanding how the relationships between species occur are essential to evaluate the functioning of the processes, and to predict and manage invaded ecosystems in future scenarios.

The comprehension of the phenomena responsible for the formation and maintenance of biodiversity has been the purpose of numerous studies in ecology and biogeography. Recognition of diversity patterns, as well as understanding the processes and factors that produce them and affect biodiversity, are fundamental to establish the principles of management, recovery and sustainable use of natural areas. The search for understanding the implications of changes in biodiversity on ecosystems has shown that variations both in species and functional diversity can lead to changes in environmental mechanisms since several ecological processes are influenced by the number and nature of species of a given location. The rainforests comprise some of the most biodiverse terrestrial
environments on the planet. The Brazilian Atlantic Forest is one of the 35 biodiversity hotspots on the earth, which correspond to regions with high rates of biodiversity and endemism highly threatened by human activities. Invertebrates are of great importance in the ecological processes that occur in terrestrial ecosystems. Among these, ants comprise one of the most abundant and diverse groups of organisms. These play an important role in environmental dynamics, offer a variety of ecosystem services and are considered reliable bioindicators. Such characteristics make ants a useful tool for monitoring ecosystems. The main objective of this thesis was to study different patterns and processes responsible for the taxonomic and functional diversities, as well as variations of these, in leaf-litter ant assemblages in the Atlantic Forest. The ant fauna of the forest litter was intensively sampled in 65 sites of the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest, spread over an area of approximately 130 x 50 km and covering 26 municipalities in the southern region of the state of Bahia, Brazil. In total, 50 leaf litter samples of 1m² were collected at each site, and mini-Winkler apparatuses were used to extract the ant fauna. In the first chapter, the diversity of ants of this region was studied and it was evaluated if the taxonomic diversity shows a correspondence with the functional diversity of leaf-litter ants. We record 364 ant species in all 65 localities. These ants belong to 68 genera in 10 subfamilies. These
were attributed to 13 functional groups when considering a classification based on the available knowledge about ant genera, and 26 considering a classification based on available information on the species. It was observed that the taxonomic diversity does not present a clear correspondence with the functional diversity of litter ants, although such relation suffers an influence of the information level of the functional classification used. The second chapter evaluated whether litter ant communities present a saturated or unsaturated pattern and whether the response differs according to the different metrics and approaches used. It was verified that the ant communities presented an unsaturated pattern independent of the method and metrics used. In the third chapter, evaluations and comparisons of the use of categories of different levels of taxonomic resolution were made as possible substitutes for describing patterns of taxonomic and functional diversity of litter ant assemblages. It has been shown that a mixed resolution, involving the identification of a limited number of species while most of the biological material remains identified only at the genus level, is the best substitute when considering both taxonomic and functional diversities. These results can be very useful for studies of bioindication and environmental monitoring. In the fourth chapter, we review the importance of the term guild for ecology, evaluate the misuse of the term, and discuss the importance of homogenizing the different connotative terms and clearly defining the different classifications used in order to obtain a language that allows us to understand the scope of the term without ambiguity. Finally, the results achieved in this thesis indicate that different ecological and biogeographic patterns and processes contribute to the taxonomic and functional diversity and the variations observed in these leaf-litter ant communities in the Atlantic Forest domain in southern Bahia, Brazil. However, future studies will be necessary considering some variables not evaluated here, aiming to elucidate their real effect, and to understand how they can influence the number of species and ecological processes in litter ant assemblages in the Atlantic Forest.

This doctoral thesis aimed to build a narrative in the history of the ecological sciences, focusing on the intellectual trajectory of the American ecologist Robert Treat Paine (1933-2016) and the development of a tradition of experimental research on marine rocky shores, that was led by he between the 1960s and 1980s. Paine excelled in ecology as an experimental scientist and creator of the concept of keystone species. He further developed the concept of trophic cascade and the hypothesis that predation has a major positive effect on species diversity. These and other conceptual, theoretical, and methodological advances promoted by Paine have come about through the performance of their classical experiments of species manipulation. The historiographic studies of books, articles, letters and interviews, among other materials, evidenced the lines of research generated by the field experiments and their influence on the ecology of communities and food webs. This work consists of two chapters in the form of articles. The first addresses the birth of the experimental research tradition on rocky seashores, examining how Paine and other researchers dealt with the variability of field environmental conditions and attempted to stabilize their results. The second chapter examines Paine's main contributions to food web ecology, one of the scientific fields in which he has most contributed.

Studies on species distribution patterns and the mechanisms responsible for such patterns in the Atlantic Forest are important to know the biome biogeographic history and to determine areas conservation. Harvestmen are good models for biogeographic and ecological studies, because they have low dispersion capacity and are sensitive to environmental changes. However, few studies assess the distribution of these organisms in environmental gradients. We investigated the spatial distribution of the harvestmen in a latitudinal gradient of Atlantic Forest and the historical and ecological factors that can explain such patterns. For the purposes of inclusion of harvestmen in monitoring programs, we analyzed the use of five taxonomic resolutions (genus, family, subfamily, indicators taxa and intermediate resolution) as substitutes for the richness and composition harvestmen in the studied gradient. The study was conducted in 19 Atlantic Forest locations in the states of Paraíba, Pernambuco, Alagoas, Sergipe and Bahia. Harvestmen were collected through two sampling techniques: nocturnal manual collection and leaf-litter sample. A total of 3.566 individuals were collected from 7 families, 26 genera and 88 species. The cluster analysis separated the assemblage into two main groups: "Pernambuco" and "Bahia". The species composition were spatial structure partially correlated with geographic distance (R² = 67.7, p <0.001) and cand compositional differences were found between the congruence core and the maximum region of endemism of the "AE" Bahia (F= 3. 2; p < 0,001) .The environmental variables most correlated with the gradient were: latitude, altitude, vegetation cover in the landscape and average temperature of the hottest quarter, however, the two axes of the CCA explained little of the variation found (27.6%). The proportion of turnover component (βsim = 0.88) across all beta- diversity (βsor = 0.93) was higher than the nesting component (βsne = 0.05). Genus (R² = 0.93, p <0.001) and intermediate resolution (R² = 0.93; p <0.001) were classified as excellent surrogates for the harvestmen species richness. In relation to species composition, intermediate resolution (mean = 0.99, standard deviation = 0.10), genus (0.93 ± 0.122), indicators taxa (0.90 ± 0.141) and subfamily (0.80 ± 0.162) were considered excellent surrogates. The low explanation of the environmental variables on the distribution of the harvestmen species, together with the north-south separation of the assemblage in the studied gradient and the elevated turnover observed, suggest that historical factors (geographic barriers and Pleistocene refuges), as well as changes in the phytophysiognomy of the biome along the gradient, influenced the distribution of the opilions.. The compositional changes observed along the gradient, with several localities presenting a characteristic fauna, indicate the requirement for conservation plans that involve the largest possible number of reserves, ensuring the greater conservation of richness harvestmen. We indicate, for fast inventory and biodiversity monitoring, the use of genus and intermediate resolution as adequate surrogates to harvestmen richness and composition in Atlantic Forest.

The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is the most widely disseminated environmental public policy instrument. It is expected that the EIA will promote an integrated assessment of the impacts on the physical, biological and social environments, demanding the integration of knowledge from different academic disciplines and social sectors. We believe that the criticism that this instrument has not been able to foster this integration can derive from the lack of integration in the academic production on EIA and, considering its range and relevance, we consider that it can provide important clues about the production of knowledge applied to and useful for public environmental management. In the first part of the thesis we evaluate this hypothesis, characterizing the recent scientific literature on AIA, considering the authorship pattern and the quotation pattern of the selected articles. The results revealed: (a) great disparity between the knowledge areas in the applied scientific production to the EIA in Brazil and in the world, with a predominance of engineering researchers (Brazil: 92.5%, World: 65%), and reduced participation of ecology (Brazil: 27.5%, World: 15%) and of social and human sciences (Brazil: 27.5%, World: 10%); (b) the articles of journals of engineering are the most cited (Brazil: 42%; World: 37%), and those of ecology (Brazil: 9,7%; World: 8,9%) and social and human sciences (Brazil: 9,4%; World: 12%) are the least cited in all patterns of knowledge production. The results suggest that the field of research of EIA in Brazil is being established with little participation of the ecology and the social and human sciences. We believe that if these sciences wish to increase its relevance in the current environmental crisis its must include in its agendas the interaction with other disciplines and the non-academic sector in order to produce useful knowledge for public environmental management. In the second part of the thesis, we propose a hierarchical model developed by of the literature review and systematization of several research fields and interviews with scientists, doctoral students and professionals of governmental environmental organizations in the areas of engineering, ecology and social sciences, to explain the factors which stimulate the production of applied and useful scientific knowledge for public environmental management. The analysis of literature and interviews provided a diversity of perspectives and a broader understanding of the factors that influence the science-practice gap in public environmental management, as well as the identification of shared and particular conceptions in the areas of knowledge. We hope that our model will encourage other researchers to improve it conceptually.

Humankind has been facing several problems arising from environmental degradation and as part of an attempt to combat this degradation and its consequences, environmental scientists and economists have embarked on an anthropocentric approach to environmental conservation. One of the exponents of this approach is ecosystem services (ES) that has gained a lot of relevance and become a centerpiece in international treaties and programs for the conservation of the environment and biodiversity (CBD, IPBES). The ES approach has its merits but also has its problems and one of the difficulties encountered in using ES is to understand the relationship between ecosystem functions and services. This relationship has been studied in several ways, but such studies, influenced by the anthropocentrism that characterizes SE, have been biased possibly leaving important ecological aspects aside. The objective of this dissertation was to evaluate, through a literature review, how the relationships between ecosystem services, functions and biodiversity can happen, from an ecocentric perspective. From the evaluation of the relations between ecosystem services and functions it was found that: the concept of ES based on the search for benefits causes a possible neglect of important functions that occur in an ecosystem but are not of human interest and also ignores the fact that ecosystem functions can negative relationships with ES, leading to a possible deterioration of the interactions that take place between the various species, affecting the functioning of ecosystems and the provision of services. In both cases, biodiversity can be of great value, acting as a sort of insurance against the unpredictable consequences of the SE approach.

To choose the best available model to explain the species richness patterns of terrestrial vertebrates on continental islands. Also, we evaluated the difference in species-area relationship among taxonomic groups with different dispersal abilities for Brazilian continental-shelf islands. We obtained data on species richness of amphibians, reptiles, and birds, island size and distance from the mainland for 67 islands > 0.1 km2. We built geographic model combining altimetric data with the variation in sea level to estimate the time since isolation of the islands in the last 21,000 BP. We used a model selection approach based on Akaike Information Criterion and included the spatial structure into the models. We investigated difference in intercept and slope of the linearized version of species-area relationship for taxonomic groups with differen dispersal ability. The spatial autocorrelation influenced the selection of the parsimonious models, but not omitted the relative importance of the predictor variables. The Brazilian continental-shelf islands were isolated between 13,700-7,400 BP. The area was the most important influencing positively the terrestrial vertebrates richness. Each taxonomic group responded differently to area effect, but did not show slope values in accordance with their dispersal abilities. The geographic isolation and time showed a secondary role in decreasing the number of non-flying species on the islands. We found a weak effect of isolation on species richness when we used the model selection approach, probably because of low aplitude of this variable. The immigration difference among groups was not able to counteract the effect of area, as can be seen by the similar values of the the slope of species-area relationship among the taxonomic groups. Thus, the effect of area by means of extinction rates was the main driver of species richness pattern of continental islands.

The risks that hydroelectric dams represent are underestimated for the rainforests around the
world. It is believed that hydroelectric dams deforest beyond the limits of their installation, but the
extent of these impacts is uncertain and therefore neglected in environmental licensing. In 2024 it is
estimated that Brazil will consume 790.4 TWh in the year, 66% more than consumption in 2015,
whose consumption was 524.6TWh. To meet this demand, the preferred option has been to expand
the main form of energy production in the country: hydroelectric dams. The Legal Amazon is the
new frontier of expansion of the exploitation of this source. Here we quantify the deforestation
induced by hydroelectric plants and investigate the long-term aspects that can contribute to this
impact.

Coral reefs are nowadays threatened by local and global stressors being sediment load increase and ocean warming two of the main threats. Even coastal coral reefs of Southwest Atlantic, naturally exposed to high sediment load, are today threatened by increased sedimentation and turbidity caused by human destructive actions such as unplanned land clearing and dredging projects. Frequently high sediment load implies in reduced diversity, low recruitment, high mortality and low coral cover, resulting in communities dominated by tolerant corals or by non-builder competitors. Simultaneously, global ocean warming promote widespread coral reef bleaching, defined as the lost of zooxanthellae (or of its pigments) that cause reduction of coral holobiont photosynthetic production. There is growing concern about effects of multiple stressors on the coral reef ecosystems vitality. The most accepted idea is that often local stressors reduce coral reef resistance/resilience in front of global stressors. However these studies are still rare, specially those that use marginal turbid coral reef ecosystem as a model. In this context we highlighted the role of sediment load as a control on the structure of marginal coral reef assemblages. Furthermore, through ex situ experiments, it has been proved that the increased sediment load and ocean warming interact synergistically amplifying damages on the metabolism of a hydrocoral (Millepora alcicornis). More specifically we observed that in the largest coral reef complex of South Atlantic (Abrolhos), the coastal reefs exposed to higher turbidity harbor robust coral assemblages characterized by higher cover, abundance and size of coral colonies in comparison with offshore reefs. This unexpected pattern reflect the best performance of five out of seven most important coral reef builders of Abrolhos in more turbid reefs. This set of species are apparently sediment tolerant species. Differently, in the offshore reefs the dominance of assemblages by Mussismilia braziliensis was observed. It is an endemic species seemingly not so tolerant to sediment stress, but it behaves as a strong competitor under milder environmental conditions. On the other hand the experiment highlighted also that the increase of sediment load and water temperature are important local and global stressors, respectively. It is shown that both damaged synergistically photosynthetic and respiratory pathways of Millepora alcicornis metabolism. M. alcicornis is a key builder and the most abundant hydrocoral of South Atlantic coral reefs. Results found here are offer valuable insights to the conservation effort of coral reef ecosystems, biodiversity hotspots, considering the current scenario of warmer and polluted seas.

Man-mediated activities in marine environments are the major sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This class of organic compounds is part of the chemical composition of petroleum and has special attention due its toxic and mutagenic effects on the marine fauna. Different types of events with PAHs have resulted in punctual (e.g., shipboard incidents) or prolonged exposure (e.g., petrochemical industry wastes) on the estuarine environments, resulting in scenarios of contamination of great persistence on the benthic assemblages. Assessments on the effects of PAHs have been exceptionally based on the taxonomic approach. However, this approach is inadequate to investigate the ecological consequences on the functional structure of the fauna. The approach indicated is the Biological Traits Analysis, which associates information on the morphological and ecological characteristics of the species present in the assemblages, indicating aspects of its functional ecology. In this context, from a mensurative study, the influence of a large petrochemical industry located around the Todos os Santos Bay (Salvador city, Bahia) on the taxonomic and functional structure of nematodes and macrobenthic was investigated. Based onBased on variance partitioning was tested that the concentrations of PAHs and/or the spatial proximity to the oil refinery would explain part of the variability found. From an experimental in situ approach, were evaluated the short-term effects of a diesel oil spill between assemblages near and far to the oil refinery. The hypothesis tested was that assemblages exposed to oil perturbations by decades would show high resistance than assemblages no exposed. In this experiment, the MBACI (multiple before and after/control and impact) design was conducted where treatments exposed to oil were compared to the control treatments, two times before and two times after the oil spill. Mensurative approach showed that a large fraction of the functional and taxonomic variation of the assemblages was explained by the interaction between location (i.e., proximity to the oil refinery) and sediment characteristics. The same was observed for the relatively low but significant interaction observed for PAHs concentration and sediment characteristics. Nematode assemblages showed to be more sensitive to PAHs concentration, proximity to the oil refinery and sediment characteristics. In addition, nematodes species allowed more mechanistic inferences regarding functional analysis, i.e., whether a particular pattern is a response driven by environmental variables and/or an effect of perturbations generated by refinery activities. Regarding the experimental approach, the macrobenthic assemblages were resistant to oil spill, expressed by the absence of significant variations in the taxonomic and functional structure, regardless of the historic of disturbance. Significant differences were observed on nematode assemblages, specifically in one of the areas no historic of exposure by PAHs. In this area, the fauna presented a drop in general density after the oil spill and did not recover until the end of the experiment (about five days later). Considering the temporal and spatial scales used, the effect of the oil did not cause significant variations in the composition of the functional traits. Other experiments should be developed to investigate which scales are appropriate and which traits combinations may be affected by oil spill events.

Predator-prey dynamics can affect assemblage structure and ecosystem process representing a central theory in ecology. In coral reef ecosystems, recent evidences have suggested that sponge assemblages in high diversity sites in Caribe are controlled by reef fishes (i.e. top-down control). However, this was not evaluated on South Atlantic reefs, an important region with high endemism and relatively low diversity of hermatypic coral. This study investigated the influence of fish predators on sponge assemblage structure in coral reefs in Todos os Santos Bay, Bahia, Brazil. We investigated whether sponge cover negatively respond to spongivorous fish density, spongivorous fishes foraging preferences and potential spongivory effects on competitive interactions between sponges and hermatypic corals. The results showed that fish predation do not control sponge assemblages. However, there was a significant negative relationship between Scopalina ruetzleri cover and Pomacanthus arcuatus density, indicating specific top-down control. The selected sponges by spongivorous were Desmapsamma anchorata, Scopalina ruetzleri, Aplysina cauliformis and Niphates erecta, knowed as palatable to chemically not tolerated species. The increase of spongivorous density did not reflect in significant decrease of coral-sponges encounters. Thus, we suggest that effects of spongivorous fishes on sponges cover and competitive interactions with hermatypic corals might be weak in South Atlantic coral reefs. We discuss how local human impacts (e.g. fishing and nutrients input) can influence the observed patterns and that management plans must urgently be implemented in marine protected areas in the region, suggesting a reassessment of pre-established quotas of fishery for ornamental proposes. 

Coral reefs are the paragon of marine ecosystems, regarded as the most biologically and economically important ecosystems on the planet. They provide key ecosystem goods and services such as coastal protection, genetic biodiversity, building materials, biochemical compounds, tourism and fishing. All these ecological goods and services have been maintained in a dynamic 3D-framework structure–the coral reef–built by bioconstructers. Growth form and habit of bioconstructers define the volume and rigidity of coral reefs. Well-skeletonized mound or branched bioconstructers will alter the structural complexity of the reefs. Dinoflagellate algae of the genus Symbiodinium (commonly referred to as zooxanthellae), have a symbiotic relationship with corals; such relationship is the key to well-developed coral reefs on tropics as photosynthetic products are passed from the zooxanthellae to the coral host The Abrolhos region in Southern Bahia contains the most developed and diverse coral reefs in the West Atlantic province. The Abrolhos reefs are distinguished from other reef in Brazil and around the world by its unique mushroom-like growth form (Chapeirão), the high endemism rate, low diversity of the coral fauna and depositional settings that varies from coastal to offshore reefs. These characteristics enabled the development of a unique coral community driven by the relatively high turbidity and, consequently, light availability. Since corals depend on the availability of light to perform photosynthesis and species respond differently to it, differences in light availability are expected to substantially affect coral growth. During a seven-year period (2010-2016) multiples sites on the coastal (inner arc) and offshore reefs (outer arc) in Abrolhos bank were surveyed using the Atlantic and Fulf Rapid Reef Assessment (AGRRA) protocol. Data from the surveys were used to calculate the bioconstruction rates of the following five main coral species: Mussismilia braziliensis, M. hispida, M. harttii, Montastraea cavernosa and Siderastrea stellata. And a field experiment was set up to assess the metabolic function of Mussismilia braziliensis, M. hispida, Montastraea cavernosa and Siderastrea stellata. Substantial variability in bioconstruction rates, daily gross productivity and photosynthetic signature was observed across reefs and between species. Our results show that M. braziliensis has better exploited the light available in contrast to the other species analyzed. However, an underneath outcome is the secondary role of M. cavernosa and Siderastrea stellata in building some reefs. Due to their resistance to sedimentation, they are also adapted to low light penetration. As a result, M. cavernosa contributes substantially to the development of coastal reefs. In addition, displaying more tolerance to light stress S. stellata along with M. braziliensis strongly contribute to Parcel dos Abrolhos (PAB) reefs development. The underlying cause of the dominance of M. braziliensis is due to its morphological traits, such as large polps, as well as, due to its effectiveness in removing sediments from coral surface. The fact that this specie to keep symbiosis with the Symbiodinium clade A4 and C3, enable M. braziliensis to resists well either environment with high turbidity and under conditions of high irradiance.

Chapter 1: Traits-based approaches are a promising line of research to understand the effects of environmental change on ecosystem functioning through changes in community dynamics. Even when this framework represents a fundamental advance in understanding natural systems, many difficulties arouse to its implementation. In this work we detailed three steps that hope will clarify the application of a response-and – effect framework. The procedure was applied to understand the response of small mammals to forest loss and the impacts that the changed community have on forest regeneration and disease spreading. Firstly, the relevant response and effect traits were identified; secondly, the degree of overlap between traits was analyzed through statistical procedures. Finally, a conceptual model linking environmental change and ecosystem processes via overlap of response and effect trait was built. Main advances and difficulties were discussed.

Chapter 2: The current biodiversity crisis, which is mainly driven by habitat loss, raises concern about the future of ecosystems functioning and the services they provide. In this work, a response-and-effect trait framework was applied to predict the effects of forest loss on ecosystem services mediated by small mammals of the Atlantic forest. To this end, statistical procedures were used to group species with similar traits to respond to forest loss, and to impact ecosystem functioning. Responses were translated into effects following the trajectory of functional group abundances along a gradient of habitat loss at the landscape scale. Empirical findings point to the negative effects of forest loss on response groups with certain combination of traits, with the potential of disrupting ecosystem services delivery in more degraded landscapes. The regulating role of diversity in disease transmission can be jeopardized by forest loss, as well as the contribution of the community to forest regeneration.

Biological invasion is a serious threat to global biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. The ahermatypic coral Tubastraea spp. is one of the most harmful alien species to invade the Atlantic Ocean. However, the potential effect of Tubastraea spp. competition on coral reef assemblages has not been evaluated. Here we tested the hypothesis that (i) Tubastraea tagusensis can affect vitality and or abundances of native corals and that (ii) the structure of the native benthic assemblages at natural (i.e. non invaded) and invaded reefs (by T. tagusensis) would be different. We developed a manipulative experiment designed in order to evaluate the effects of the contact between invader and two of the most abundant native corals (i.e. Siderastrea stellata and Montastrea cavernosa) and a mensurative experiment designed to estimate the effects of naturally occurring interactions among invader and native corals. Additionally, we compared cover of several benthic groups and coral species in zones with and without T. tagusensis. Overall, the results of the manipulative and the mensurative experiments indicated negative effects of the invader on natural benthic assemblages. The native species S. stellata showed a significant increase in mortality over-time while in contact with T. tagusensis and also mortality on natural encounters. The native coral M. cavernosa, when in contact with the invader, in the first few days showed mortality, but later recovered indicating that it may offer resistance to the invader. Furthermore, M. cavernosa did not show clear signs of mortality in natural encounters. At invaded zones, we observed higher covers of T. tagusensis on reef walls than reef tops and the native species Madracis decatis and Mussismilia hispida were significantly less abundant than at non-invaded zones. Multivariate analyses detected significant differences between benthic cover organisms on invaded and non-invaded zones. We reinforce the need of a long-term monitoring and urgent actions (e.g. carefully oriented removal of invader colonies) to avoid regional expansion of this invader in Brazilian coral reefs.