Navegando por Autor "Assis Júnior, José Fernando de"

Agora exibindo 1 - 1 de 1

Diversidade de besouros escarabeíneos (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) da Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco UFRPE/Sede
(2024-10-04) Assis Júnior, José Fernando de; Liberal, Carolina Nunes; http://lattes.cnpq.br/7390869942259612; http://lattes.cnpq.br/8327288458916924
Scarab beetles are called "dung beetles", this name was given due to the peculiar behavior of some individuals, these beetles modulate and roll some balls made with the feces of other animals. In Brazil, 786 species included in 69 genera are recorded, and in the state of Pernambuco, 16 species distributed in 8 genera are found. The consequences of the behavior and life cycle of these individuals include several environmental services, such as increased nutrient cycling rate in the environment, soil fertilization and aeration, reduced transmission of some vertebrate parasites by killing larvae and eggs, secondary seed dispersal and contribution of biomass to higher trophic levels. However, environmental disturbances can drastically alter the structure of the community, decrease diversity and lead to the loss of ecosystem functions of scarab beetles. The present study aimed to understand the diversity of scarab beetles at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco. With approximately 147 hectares of extension, the UFRPE Main Campus has areas composed of vegetation from the Atlantic Forest biome. Three collections were carried out in each season, two collections in August and October 2023, in addition to four collections in the months of January, March, April and May 2024, totaling six collections. To capture scarab beetles, 10 points were delimited at the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco, with a minimum distance between points of 100 m. The area was mapped using the AlpineQuest program and at each of the points a set of two pitfall traps was installed, 3 m apart from each other, totaling 20 traps in the study area. Due to the fall of trees and opening of the canopy, the vegetation structure was modified, making it necessary to change some points for collection during the rainy months. For the ecological analysis, we used the Rényi Diversity Profile, the Shapiro-Wilk test, the Levene test and the Tukey test to complement the results of the Analysis of Variance. Analyzing the baits and seasons, we observed that species diversity was higher in the feces pitfalls and in the rainy season. The analysis of variance for species abundance showed that there was an interaction between the bait and season factors, in other words, the impact of one factor depends on the level of another factor, which was not observed in the analysis of variance for species richness.