Banca de DEFESA: DÉBORA DOS SANTOS PEREIRA

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : DÉBORA DOS SANTOS PEREIRA
DATE: 11/05/2023
TIME: 15:00
LOCAL: Google Meet
TITLE:

Investigating how climate change may impact chelonians

KEY WORDS:

Climate, Scientometrics, Turtle, Global warming, Brain.

PAGES: 101
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Ecologia
SUMMARY:

Studies on climate change have had a considerable increase over the last few decades. However, the consequences of these changes on the biology of reptiles are still scarce and require in-depth and long-term studies. Our work adds to the understanding of the effects of climate change on chelonians and was divided into two chapters: the first is a scientometric review of articles that address climate change and its effects on turtles; and the second is an experimental trial demonstrating how the brain development of Podocnemis expansa occurs in different environmental settings. For the scientometric analysis, articles published between 1971 and 2021 were accessed on the Web of Science and Scopus databases, then evaluated. From the 520 articles sampled, we evaluated methods used in the studies, locations and the time period in which the data collection took place; the species studied, and their threat categories according to the IUCN; their way of life, and the environmental variables measures. The results showed that the number of publications increased over the years, with ecology (56.3%) being the most researched area of knowledge. Sea turtles were studied in approximately 50% of the studies, and temperature was the most evaluated environmental variable (85% of the evaluated articles). The main gaps in the research area are the climate effects on organisms’ anatomy, physiology and genetics. In the second chapter, we verified whether the degree of solar incidence interferes with the nests’ temperatures and brain development of P. expansa. We collected eggs from Javaés River beaches, located in the state of Tocantins, Brazil. After that, we set up experimental stations containing three nests with natural sunlight exposure, three nests with thatched roofs (partially shaded), and three nests with canvas roofs (blocked sunlight). The embryos collected in each treatment were dissected at 5, 25 and 45 days of incubation. Nests with natural sun exposure had higher temperatures compared to covered nests. Embryos from nests with higher temperatures had larger encephalic volumes. The 25-day-old embryos incubated at lower temperatures showed a larger hypothalamus. The collected data indicate that climate changes can affect the development of brain morphology in P. expansa. In the future, further research should investigate how these changes can affect the physiology and behavior of this species, as well as other chelonians responses to these environmental changes.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externo à Instituição - THIAGO COSTA GONÇALVES PORTELINHA
Externa à Instituição - MARCELA DOS SANTOS MAGALHÃES - INPA
Externa à Instituição - ANGELE DOS REIS MARTINS - UnB