scholarly journals Brazilian sandy beach macrofauna production: a review

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Petracco ◽  
Ricardo Silva Cardoso ◽  
Thais Navajas Corbisier ◽  
Alexander Turra
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Turnover Rate ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Sandy Beach ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Sandy Beaches ◽  
Brazilian Coast ◽  
High Turnover ◽  
Production Studies ◽  
Taxonomic Groups

The state of the art of the studies on the production of Brazilian sandy beach macrofauna was analyzed on the basis of the data available in the literature. For this purpose, the representativeness of the production dataset was examined by latitudinal distribution, degree of exposure and morphodynamic state of beaches, taxonomic groups, and methods employed. A descriptive analysis was, further, made to investigate the trends in production of the more representative taxonomic groups and species of sandy beach macrofauna. A total of 69 macrofauna annual production estimates were obtained for 38 populations from 25 studies carried out between 22º56'S and 32º20'S. Production estimates were restricted to populations on beaches located on the southern and southeastern Brazilian coast. Most of the populations in the dataset inhabit exposed dissipative sandy beaches and are mainly represented by mollusks and crustaceans, with a smaller number of polychaetes. The trends in production among taxonomic groups follow a similar pattern to that observed on beaches throughout the world, with high values for bivalves and decapods. The high turnover rate (P/B ratio) of the latter was due to the presence of several populations of the mole crab Emerita brasiliensis, which can attain high values of productivity, in the dataset. Most of the studies focus on the comparison of production and, especially, of P/B ratio according to life history traits in populations of the same species/taxonomic group. Despite the importance of life history-production studies, other approaches, such as the effect of man-induce disturbances on the macrofauna, should be undertaken in these threatened environments.

The habitat harshness hypothesis revisited: life history of the isopod Excirolana braziliensis in sandy beaches with contrasting morphodynamics

2003 ◽  
Vol 83 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-340 ◽  
Author(s):  
Omar Defeo ◽  
Gastón Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Sandy Beaches ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
Large Populations ◽  
History Of ◽  
Pan American

Demographic and life history characteristics of the intertidal isopod Excirolana braziliensis (Isopoda: Cirolanidae) were compared between populations of two exposed sandy beaches with contrasting morphodynamics (reflective vs dissipative) during 22 consecutive months. Most population processes and life history traits did not give support for the ‘habitat harshness hypothesis’ (HHH): abundance of males, females, ovigerous females and juveniles was significantly higher at the reflective beach population, which also presented higher growth rates in size and weight with respect to the dissipative beach population. No significant differences in weight-at-length were found between beaches. Among the compared parameters, only the lower natural mortality rates at the dissipative beach gave support for the HHH. The results were not consistent with a previous analysis of Excirolana braziliensis along Pan-American beaches, which showed that this isopod occurs almost invariably in fine sands of tropical and temperate beaches. The results give strong support to recent findings that show that in macrofauna species capable of sustaining large populations across a wide spectrum of physical conditions, such as Excirolana braziliensis, beach morphodynamics should not be considered the primary factor affecting abundance and life history traits. Instead, our results reinforce the view that sandy beach populations are controlled by the intertwined forces of biotic and abiotic factors operating together.

Life-history traits of the red brocade hermit crabDardanus insignison the subtropical Brazilian coast

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 283-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
Israel Fernandes Frameschi ◽  
Luciana Segura de Andrade ◽  
Carlos Eduardo Rocha Duarte Alencar ◽  
Gustavo Monteiro Teixeira ◽  
Vivian Fransozo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Brazilian Coast

scholarly journals Adaptive Phenotypic Plasticity for Life History and Less Fitness-Related Traits

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Acasuso-Rivero ◽  
Courtney J. Murren ◽  
Carl D. Schlichting ◽  
Ulrich K. Steiner
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Coefficient Of Variation ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Adaptive Plasticity ◽  
Variable Environments ◽  
Adaptive Phenotypic Plasticity ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
Adaptive Nature

ABSTRACTOrganisms are faced with variable environments and one of the most common solutions to cope with such variability is phenotypic plasticity, a modification of the phenotype to the environment. These modifications influence ecological and evolutionary processes and are assumed to be adaptive. The assumption of adaptive plasticity allows to derive the prediction that the closer to fitness a trait is, the less plastic it would be. To test this hypothesis, we conducted a meta-analysis of 213 studies and measured the plasticity of each reported trait as coefficient of variation (CV). Traits were categorised according to their relationship to fitness into life-history traits (LHt) including reproduction and survival related-traits, and non-life-history traits (N-LHt) including traits related to development, metabolism and physiology, morphology and behaviour. Our results showed, unexpectedly, that although traits differed in their amounts of plasticity, trait plasticity did not correlate with its proximity to fitness. These findings were independent of taxonomic groups or environmental types assessed and raise questions about the ubiquity of adaptive plasticity. We caution about generalising the assumption that all plasticity is adaptive with respect to evolutionary and ecological population processes. More studies are needed that test the adaptive nature of plasticity, and additional theoretical explorations on adaptive and non-adaptive plasticity are encouraged.

Biodiversity assessment: selecting sampling techniques to access anuran diversity in grassland ecosystems

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 78 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Madalozzo ◽  
T. G. Santos ◽  
M. B. Santos ◽  
C. Both ◽  
S. Cechin
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Life History Traits ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Population Monitoring ◽  
Sampling Techniques ◽  
Calling Behaviour ◽  
Grassland Ecosystems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Taxonomic Groups

Context Species richness is a relevant diversity component of community ecology and many standardised techniques are available for data estimations. However, each technique is appropriate to a few environment types and has its own sampling biases. Thus, it is necessary to test the effectiveness of traditional and heterodox sampling techniques in different habitat types, especially for highly diverse taxonomic groups, such as anurans. Aims We present a comparison based on species richness and detection between the following techniques: acoustic survey with visual encounter of adults (ASVE), automated digital recorders (ADR) and dip net survey of larvae (DSL). We sought to determine: (1) the most efficient sampling technique to survey species richness in ponds of grasslands habitats; and (2) whether efficiency is related to the particular life history traits of species. Methods During 2014 and 2015, we sampled 47 ponds distributed in vulnerable Brazilian grassland areas using ASVE, ADR and DSL. Anuran species were surveyed across two seasons that coincide with the peak of anuran breeding activity in the region. Key results Species richness recorded by ADR and ASVE was higher when compared with DSL. In terms of combined utilisation, ADR with DSL was as efficient as using all techniques together. However, species detection differed among sampling techniques. ADR had the higher percentage of species that were sampled exclusively in at least one breeding pond and DSL detected two species that were not detected by the other techniques. Conclusions Our findings suggest that ADR includes most species whose males call for only a few hours during the night or day, and DSL exclusively detects ‘explosive breeders’, incorporating a wide range of life history traits. ASVE becomes unnecessary since it does not include specific variations of species’ calling behaviour. It is susceptible to a discrepancy of survey data among observers and potentially causes a human disturbance effect in the estimated data. Implications We strongly recommended the use of ADR rather than ASVE, and we recommended DSL as a supplementary technique for population monitoring and surveys in grassland areas. We encourage researchers to include ADR and DSL in future works to survey biologic data outside of the short sampling event for which ASVE is commonly utilised, thereby improving the interpretation of biological patterns.

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