The present research will involve studies of patterns of organization of forest communities associated with the fields as well as of ecological processes in these ecotones. The ecotone is the area of contact between vegetation types with distinct physiognomic structures and its delimitation tends to be easily noticeable.
The loss of habitat associated with the fragmentation of these ecosystems has consequences on the patterns of distribution of biodiversity and increase in the risks of extinctions of species of flora and fauna. In the last three decades, the conversion of the fields to agriculture and forestry has meant that remnants with natural vegetation cover only about 50% of the original area (Cordeiro & Hasenack 2009). This ecosystem has high biodiversity, about 2,200 plant species, whose knowledge about potential uses is still incipient (Boldrini 2009), and with high fauna diversity including endangered species (Bencke 2009). The fields are responsible for important environmental services and have been the main fodder source for pastoral activity, which in RS is one of the main sectors of the economy (Pillar et al., 2006, Pillar et al., 2009a). In the highest parts of the highlands of the states of RS, SC and PR, they are included in the Atlantic Forest biome associated to Araucaria forests. By the IBGE classification, the fields are included in the Pampa biome in the southern and western portion of RS. The results of this project are expected to provide robust tools for recognizing the patterns of spatial and temporal distribution of taxonomic and functional diversity of arthropods (more specifically spiders and beetles) and what factors related to land use and management could influence these patterns, which will provide important subsidies for the management and conservation of arthropod diversity in the southern fields of Rio Grande do Sul.The fields of southern Brazil already characterized the landscape before the expansion of forest formations occurred after the Holocene half (Behling & Pillar 2007). Moreover, it is intended to take advantage of the opportunity of temporal collections to carry out field experiments and to evaluate the influence of grazing on the diversity of arthropods. In this sense, it will be possible to temporarily repeat the sample design of that project, since it will finish in the middle of the year 2014. Valério De Patta Pillar, coordinator of the postdoctoral project of the present proponent. The general methods of this project will follow those established in the Institutional Project SISBIOTA Research Network (MCT / CNPq / MEC / CAPES / FNDCT) "Biodiversity of field and forest ecotone in southern Brazil: ecological bases for its conservation and sustainable use "of the PPG-Ecology of UFRGS, under the coordination of Prof.
Specifically, we will try to answer: (1) how are the taxonomical and functional local diversities of soil arthropods distributed in field-forest ecotones in the southern fields? (2) What is the influence of local and landscape environmental variables on the diversity of soil arthropods? (3) Is there temporal variation in the diversity of soil arthropods? (4) What is the influence of grazing on the diversity of soil arthropods? In addition, the alpha and beta diversity patterns of Araneae (spiders), Coleoptera (beetles) and Scarabaeidae (beetles) will be investigated more closely, as well as the functional organization patterns of these communities in relation to local and landscape descriptors. The present project aims, in general terms, to analyze the patterns of arthropod diversity in field-forest ecotones in the southern fields of Rio Grande do Sul, RS.
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