https://repositorio.uema.br/jspui/handle/123456789/4607 2026-06-26T03:59:54Z https://repositorio.uema.br/jspui/handle/123456789/6223 Título: Aspectos biogeográficos e ecológicos de palmeiras de babaçu Abstact: The Cocais Forest, an emblematic vegetation formation in the Brazilian Mid-North, constitutes a unique ecological mosaic in which palm trees represent structural elements of the landscape, extending across several states and harbouring remarkable sociobiological diversity. Despite its ecological and cultural relevance, its spatial delimitation remains marked by conceptual and cartographic uncertainties, a biogeographical challenge, as it directly affects how the landscape is understood, planned and conserved. Among its most representative species are the palms of the Babassu Complex (Attalea spp.), recognised for their wide distribution and ecological dominance, as well as their social, economic and symbolic importance to the traditional communities that depend on them. However, both the babassu palm forests and the Cocais Forest itself are under increasing anthropogenic pressure due to land use conversion, habitat fragmentation and the effects of climate change. Thus, understanding these systems requires integrating spatial, ecological and social approaches capable of translating uncertainties into instruments applicable to conservation. In this context, this study sought to fill gaps in knowledge about the biogeographical uncertainties that permeate Cocais Forest and the Babassu Complex. Initially, a systematic review of existing spatial delimitations attributed to the Cocais Forest was carried out. Among the main results, seven sources were discovered that presented significant divergences in terms of their territorial extension and definition criteria. The delineation by Nascimento and Lima (2016) covered the largest area, and the overlap of the different maps allowed us to identify a zone of consensus, which was named the ‘core region,’ comprising 14 municipalities in the State of Maranhão. This cartographic synthesis resulted in a potential area of occurrence covering 392 municipalities distributed across five Brazilian states. Next, we employed Species Distribution Modelling (SDMs) for seven species of the Babassu Complex and for the group overall, using the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt), Random Forest (RF), Boosted Regression Trees (BRT) and Generalised Linear Models (GLM) algorithms. Occurrence data from GBIF were combined with bioclimatic variables from CHELSA 2.1 under the current scenario (2011-2040) and future high emission scenarios (SSP3-7.0 and SSP5-8.5) for 2041–2070 and 2071–2100. The results indicated that RF and BRT generated more conservative projections, while MaxEnt and GLM presented broader distributions. Temperature seasonality was the main bioclimatic predictor. Attalea maripa, A. phalerata, and A. speciosa exhibited broader ranges of suitability, while A. funifera and A. vitrivir presented more restricted distributions. Future scenarios projected an increase in high suitability, particularly in the Amazon and Cerrado regions. Only A. funifera and A. vitrivir showed declines. By revealing how cartographic and predictive uncertainties limit territorial planning and ecosystem conservation, this study reinforces the importance of conservation biogeography as a strategic field for understanding and intervening in complex socio-ecological landscapes, especially in tropical regions subject to multiple environmental pressures. 2025-09-12T00:00:00Z https://repositorio.uema.br/jspui/handle/123456789/6175 Título: Relações entre a filogenética via DNA Barcode e traços funcionais de minhocas na Amazonia Oriental Abstact: Understanding the causes of variability in functional traits is an important question in earthworm ecology. While interspecific variation in anatomical dimensions for the same trait is well accepted, the role of environmental filters, soil degradation, and environmental stress in affecting the variability of functional traits is not well understood. In this study, we sought to determine the relative importance of environmental factors and earthworm species taxonomy on the variability in functional traits within species (intraspecific variability). We focused on eight functional traits including body mass, body length, body diameter, gizzard, gizzard thickness, septum thickness, typhlosole, and gut organic matter. We sampled earthworms of 11 different species in various regions of the eastern Amazon to determine the general responses of different species' characteristics when exposed to various ecosystem and soil conditions. Our results suggest that the functional traits of earthworms are influenced in different ways by environmental conditions. One set of traits, including body mass, body length, and body diameter, was more constant and independent of environmental variability, while another set, including gizzard diameter and length, gizzard muscle thickness, septum thickness, typhlosole, and intestinal organic matter, was more sensitive. The most affected by different environmental variables was septum thickness. We also examined which environmental factors are most important for trait variability. Our study highlights the importance of considering both environmental factors and taxonomic classification when studying the variability of functional traits within earthworm species. Overall, our results suggest that taxonomic classification alone is a good guide for estimating the major functional traits of earthworms in the Brazilian Amazon, but local conditions can their variability is which is essential for informing conservation efforts and maintaining ecosystem function. In the second chapter of this thesis, we focused on the utilization of the molecular tool known as DNA Barcodes, which enables the identification of species groups with unknown taxonomy. The utilization of DNA Barcodes produces UOTMs (Molecular Taxonomic Operational Units), which can serve as morphospecies to characterize the diversity and structure of communities, as well as to investigate the relationships between soil attributes and ecological processes. Thus, the objective of this study was to explore the potential of DNA Barcodes in assessing phylogenetic diversity. Specifically, we utilized the COI gene region to analyze new species of annelids and compare their identification with classical taxonomy. We extracted DNA from a total of 1,014 earthworm samples; however, only 56 samples were successfully sequenced. Despite encountering technical challenges during the sample amplification and sequencing process, our results revealed the formation of clusters among earthworm species and certain genus-level groups, which had already been identified through classical taxonomy and were further supported by phylogenetic analysis (e.g., Pontoscolex and Andiorhinus) due to their significant similarity to existing databases. In conclusion, the data presented in this chapter necessitate revisiting and repeating the amplification and sequencing procedures to ensure accuracy and reliability 2023-10-30T00:00:00Z https://repositorio.uema.br/jspui/handle/123456789/4669 Título: Centropomus undecimalis oriundos da Costa Norte do Brasil: bioecologia alimentar, reprodução, elementos-traço na musculatura e bioinformática para análise integrada Abstact: The North Coast of Brazil harbors a valuable ichthyofaunistic biodiversity with approximately 274 species distributed along the coast of Maranhão. However, there are species that still lack data on their biology, ecology and quality for consumption. This research aimed to know the bioecology, reproductive biology, the quality of the muscle of the bass Centropomus undecimalis for human consumption after the oil spill that occurred in 2019 and to create an integrative tool for organizing reproductive data of fish using bioinformatics. For the knowledge of bioecology, past data were collected in articles with similar themes and we compiled the results to support strategies for the cultivation of the species in captivity in Maranhão. In reproductive biology studies, specimens were obtained from commercial fishing and laboratory analysis of the entire reproductive process was carried out.. Subsequently, biometric data, weight-lengthratio, sex ratio, length at first maturation (L50), biological indices and reproductive peak of basswere evaluated. For the knowledge of the quality of the fish for consumption, the presence of trace elements in the bass muscle was evaluated. The samples were analyzed and the data obtained were compared to international legislations. With the use of bioinformatics, the prototype of the software “ictiodados” was created, which uses information on biometrics and reproduction of bass (but which can be applied to any fish later). The bioecological results showthat it is still necessary to further evaluate the cost-benefit for the cultivation of bassin captivity.Reproductive biology indicates that the reproductive peak of sea bass in Maranhão occurs in the months of February, May and November. The analysis of trace elements indicated a contamination of the sea bass muscle by Al, Sn, Pb and Ba and altered levels of B, Cu, Cr, Fe,Mo, Ni, V and Zn. Regarding the use of bioinformatics, the prototype of the 'ictiodados' software was developed in order to organize and provide access to data by environmental managers and researchers and may be promising to speed up access to fish reproductive information. 2022-12-20T00:00:00Z https://repositorio.uema.br/jspui/handle/123456789/4625 Título: Corredores ecológicos, paisagens e variabilidades ecológicas regionais: a fragmentação de hábitats na Amazônia Oriental Abstact: The changes imposed by human pressures on the Brazilian Amazon territory in recent decades have culminated in several impacts on the environmental systems associated with this Holocene biome, which quickly became a set of anthromes, or anthropocene biomatic landscapes. Despite being the largest forested area on Earth, the Amazon lost 59.53% of all its original biomass in the last century. In addition to the fires and deforestation, the opening of new frontiers for the implementation of agribusiness and the implementation of large transport integration and electricity generation projects set the tone for such disturbances, which were more expressive in its eastern portion. This, in turn, represents one of its eight biogeographic regions, called Centro de Endemismo Belém (CEB). Through the compilation and updating of databases, with the systematization of these with the aid of geoprocessing techniques, it was possible to develop a database capable of aggregating data on Geodiversity, plant formations and patterns of use and land cover, these The last between the years 1985 and 2020. As a result, it was observed that Geology and Geomorphology should be partially considered to define the limits of the CEB and the seven original plant formations gave rise to a mosaic of 51 different categories today. The effects of this process of changes in the native land cover came from human pressures for use, responsible for the loss of 82.58% of the total forests in CEB in just 35 years. The continuous vegetation mosaics do not exceed 20,885.80 km2 out of a total of 247,635.44 km2. The use of landscape metrics for the implementation of ecological corridors is presented as a possibility depending on geopolitical and economic issues for the configuration of scenes of an Eastern Amazon that is no longer natural 2023-11-24T00:00:00Z