Interações envolvendo cupins: fatores ambientais altitudinais e revisão meta-analítica

Abstract

Biological interactions involving social insects, both intra-and inter-specific, are widely interesting to the scientific community. These interactions help us to understand aspects of the evolutionary history and ecological processes involving the origin and development of social insects. Furthermore, it generates basic knowledge to be applied in the conservation and management of species. In this doctoral thesis, which is divided into three chapters, we try to answer: i) how environmental factors (altitudinal gradient) influence the cuticular chemical profile composition and the ability of intra-specific recognition of Nasutitermes cf. coxipoensis; ii) how the environmental stress generated by elevation defines the inter-specific interactions between termites and their cohabitants in nests of N. cf. coxipoensis; and iii) what are the effects of the wood-inhabiting fungi presence on the termite feeding behaviors and on termite survival? We verified that the environmental effect generated by the altitudinal gradient in a mountain located in the southeastern Brazil does not clearly explain the chemical profile composition to N. cf. coxipoensis. However, we verified that the chemical dissimilarity of N. cf. coxipoensis is affected by spatial distance and not by altitudinal variation. We also observed that the environmental stress generated by the elevation gradient was a factor that promoted the cohabitation in nests of N. cf. coxipoensis. Finally, we showed that the wood-inhabiting fungi presence has positive or neutral effects on termite feeding behaviors and on termite survival. To conclude, the results of this doctoral thesis highlight how environmental factors can act on the interactions involving termites, besides to demonstrate how the interactions between fungi and termites are closer to mutualism than to antagonism.