Team: Edith Clemente Arenas - UNIFAP; Lucio Royer Trujillo - UNIFAP - Advisor: Ph.D José Julio de Toledo - UNIFAP;

The objective of the research is to determine the variables that affect the specificity of vascular epiphytes in the forophyte trees of the Amapá National Forest, which is an Amazon rainforest, using environmental variables of soil and forophyte characteristics such as bark type, crown size, height and diameter, It is also necessary to determine if there is a difference in the abundance, composition and richness of epiphyte species in types of forophytes that are with and without wood interest to be able to evaluate the loss of the diversity that exists in the extraction of these forophytes inside the forests.

Team: Felipe Todeschini – UNIFAP Advisors: Ph.D Renato Richard Hilário - UNIFAP; Ph.D. José Julio de Toledo - UNIFAP

A large number of tropical tree species rely on animals to disperse their seeds as well as many species of birds and mammals depend on tree fruits to survive. The high biodiversity found in tropical forests is related to niche separation between species that share similar food resources. Although it is well known that fruit characteristics restrict which species are able to consume them, the temporal niche segregation between frugivores remains to be investigated. Temporal niche segregation can occur when some species are able to consume unripe fruits while others are not. Also, some species can explore fruits earlier in the day, before other species do. This project aims to quantify species diversity and temporal niche segregation within canopy frugivores’ guild at Amapá National Forest.

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Financial support: Brazilian Council for Scientific and Technological Development – CNPq (Universal 447432/2014-1)

Team: MSc. Bayron R Calle Rendón - UNIFAP; MSc. Saulo Meneses Silvestre de Souza - UNIFAP - Advisors: Ph.D Renato Richard Hilário - UNIFAP; Ph.D. José Julio de Toledo - UNIFAP; Ph.D Karen Mustin - University of Aberdeen, UK

The red-handed howler monkey (Alouatta belzebul) is a vulnerable primate, endemic to Brazil, occurring within three regions: the Atlantic Forest and both banks of the Amazon River. At the Atlantic forest, the species is restricted to few small forest fragments, at the Southern bank of the Amazon River, the species is in the “Brazilian Arc of Deforestation” and at the Northern bank (Amapá state), populations are found in the flooded forests along the Amazon River and some forest patches in the Cerrado of Amapá, where agricultural frontier is expanding rapidly. We will assess information on the conservation status of A. belzebul in Amapá, investigating its biogeographical limits and evaluating ecological and social characteristics of the landscape and forests that influence its occurrence.

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Financial Support: Conservation Leadership Programme (02327917); Primate Conservation Inc. (1357); Idea Wild.

Team: Ph.D William Douglas de Carvalho – PPGBIO/UNIFAP; Ph.D. José Julio de Toledo – UNIFAP; Ph.D Renato Richard Hilário – UNIFAP; Ph.D Isaí Jorge de Castro – IEPA; Ph.D Karen Mustin – University of Aberdeen; MSc. Saulo Meneses Silvestre de Sousa – UNIFAP.

Naturally fragmented landscapes are excellent natural laboratories for ecological studies, as they present gradients in habitat conditions. In these habitats it is, for example, possible to study ecological responses to changes in ecosystem function, and/or species responses to landscape characteristics. Bats (Chiroptera) are one of the groups most used for these types of studies as they are: easy to capture, can be sampled with cheap and simple methodologies, and because some species are highly sensitive to anthropogenic influences. The Cerrado of Amapá, an Amazonian savannah located in the state of Amapá, is an ideal environment to conduct such studies, given that this ecosystem presents naturally diverse forest patches in a savannah matrix. Using the Cerrado of Amapá as a natural laboratory, the objectives of the present project are: (i) evaluate how the landscape affects occurrence and abundance of bats in forest patches, and (ii) verify the effect of the substitution of the savannah matrix with plantations of soybeans and eucalyptus. The results obtained will help to improve understanding of the the effects of fragmentation on species distributions, and the effect of substitution of the natural savannah matrix on the bat community. Beyond this, we expect to be able to indicate which bat species are more sensitive to modification of Amazonian savannahs.

Financial support: Programa Nacional de Pós Doutorado (PNPD) da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES).