Influência da complexidade estrutural, tamanho de área e isolamento geográfico sobre os atributos da comunidade zooplanctônica em mesocosmos artificiais : uma abordagem experimental.

Abstract

Considering the importance of dispersal processes for community structuring, factors altering dispersal rates of organisms among habitats may also influence community organization. Therefore, studies aiming to elucidate the role of dispersal in the structuring of biological communities are fundamental. In this context, the experimental approach is relevant, since it allows the isolation of the effects of dispersal from the effects of environmental factors, which are usually entangled to spatial gradients in studies using field data. Thus, this thesis was organized in two chapters, in which we used artificial phytotelmata models to comprehend the patterns observed for the Theory of Island Biogeography (TIB) considering the Functional Diversity (FD), and the influence of the body size in the structure of the zooplankton community (testate amoebae, rotifers, cladocerans and copepods). Geographic isolation was the main factor intervening in the organization of the zooplankton community, since the closer to the dispersal source, the higher the immigration rates to the habitat, decreasing species extinction rates. Moreover, we observed that body size is an important trait, since it influences the dispersal capacity of the organisms, allowing the small-bodied organisms to reach longer distances.