Padrões e processos que regem as dimensões da diversidade de peixes estuarino-costeiros do Atlântico Ocidental

Abstract

During the last decades, ecologists have focused their efforts on the development of studies aimed at the conservation of species and ecosystems. Even so, we are experiencing one of the greatest biodiversity crises, with high extinction rates and increasingly rapid habitat degradation processes. This problem results, in part, from the constant neglection of the multidimensional concept of biodiversity, which encompasses not only which and how many species reside in a given area, but also their phenotypic characteristics, evolutionary histories and gene variability. The integrated understanding of these different dimensions, in addition to their patterns and which processes drive them, is a determining factor for the development of effective management and conservation strategies, especially for environments of high productivity and great ecological importance, such as estuarine-coastal environments. Therefore, the present work aims to develop na integrated analysis of the distinct components of estuarine-coastal fish diversity at different spatial scales. In the first chapter we discussed how the diversity of habitats and the seasonality of tropical areas act synergistically to maintain the functional redundancy of coastal areas. The second chapter, in turn, assesses the relative importance of coastal mosaics for different parts of communities, identifying the relationships between abiotic variables and ecological guilds. Finally, the third chapter makes a regional analysis of the dimensions of estuarine fish biodiversity along the Western Atlantic, aiming at understanding the processes and patterns that govern ichthyic communities and their participation in the natural dynamics of estuarine-coastal environments.