Riqueza e composição de mariposas Arctiinae (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae) em diferentes formações vegetais em uma área de cerrado

• Autor(a) principal: Santos, Carolina Moreno dos
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UFG
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.bc.ufg.br/tede/handle/tede/12094
• topic: Lepidoptera (mariposa); Complexidade ambiental; Bioma Cerrado; CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::ECOLOGIA

The Cerrado Biome presents a mosaic of vegetation ranging from open areas with no shrub component (grassland) to areas with a high density of tall trees (forests formations). This mosaic of vegetation that occurs in the Cerrado harbors a high biodiversity of different groups of animals and enables to this biome presents high beta diversity in the region. However, data of species occurrence are lacking for most groups of animals, especially for the invertebrates. In this work, Arctiinae moths were sampled in different vegetation formations of the Cerrado. Arctiinae are one of the richest subfamilies of Lepidoptera. About 11.000 species were described in worldwide, 6.000 in the Neotropics, 1.400 in Brazil and 720 in the Cerrado. Most larvae of Arctiinae are polyphagous. In addition to eating the green angiosperm and gymnosperm tissues, their ranks include species that consume algae, lichens, liverworts and mosses. Despite being polyphagous, the most species of Arctiinae feed mainly on the plant species that provide secondary metabolities (mainly pyrrolizidine alkaloids) that offer to them chemical protection against natural enemies. Thus, variations in the host plant species composition reflect at least partially in the variations in the moths species composition. In the first chapter of this dissertation, the Arctiinae moth fauna was characterized in four vegetation formations (dirty grassland, closed grassland, cerrado sensu stricto and semideciduous forest). Moths species richness was significantly higher in vegetation formations more structurally complex. The moth species composition in semideciduous forest was significantly dissimilar from the others vegetation formations. There was a positive correlation between the moths similarity patterns and the plants similarity patterns. In the first chapter was also tested the premise that structurally simple habitats presents a higher intensity of predation because they available less quantity of refuges for prey. This premise was corroborated because the predation intensity on artificial caterpillars was twice higher in the dirty grassland than in the structurally complex vegetation. In the second chapter of this dissertation was tested which environmental variable best determines the variation in Arctiinae species richness and composition between the vegetation formations of the cerrado sensu lato (dirty grassland, closed grassland and cerrado sensu stricto). The trees richness was the most determinant of moths species richness. The moth species composition was influenced by the trees richness, followed by herbs density, predation intensity and by the variation coefficient 3 of tree height. The results that the vegetation characteristics are the best predictors of the variations in the moths species richness and composition indicate that it is necessary to invest in conservation measures of all vegetation formations that occurs in the Cerrado.