Biology subjects

Silva, R. R.

Publications and source records attributed to Silva, R. R..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Citizen Science Data on Urban Forageable Plants: A Case Study in Brazil

This paper presents two key data sets derived from the Pomar Urbano project. The first data set is a comprehensive catalog of edible fruit-bearing plant species, native or introduced in Brazil. The second data set, sourced from the iNaturalist platform, tracks the distribution and monitoring of these plants within urban landscapes across Brazil. The study encompasses data from all 27 Brazilian state capitals, focusing on the ten cities that contributed the most observations as of August 2023. The research emphasizes the significance of citizen science in urban biodiversity monitoring and its potential to contribute to various fields, including food and nutrition, creative industry, study of plant phenology, and machine learning applications. We expect the data sets to serve as a resource for further studies in urban foraging, food security, cultural ecosystem services, and environmental sustainability.

plant biology↗

bioRxiv2020

Induced drought strongly affects richness and composition of ground-dwelling ants in the eastern Amazon

Environmental change scenarios caused by low precipitation forecast species loss in tropical regions. We use one year of data from a long-term rainwater exclusion experiment in primary Amazonian rainforest to test whether induced water stress and covarying changes in soil moisture, soil respiration, tree species richness, diversity, size, and total biomass affected species richness and composition (relative abundance) of ground-dwelling ants. Induced drought reduced ant richness, whereas increased soil moisture and variability in tree biomass increased it. Species composition differed between control and rainfall-excluded plots. Occurrence of many ant species was strongly reduced by induced drought, but some generalist groups of ants were favored by it. The expected loss of ant species and changes in ant species composition in tropical forests likely will lead to cascading effects on ecosystem processes and the services they mediate.

ecology↗

bioRxiv2018

Did a plant-herbivore arms race drive chemical diversity in Euphorbia?

The genus Euphorbia is among the most diverse and species-rich plant genera on Earth, exhibiting a near-cosmopolitan distribution and extraordinary chemical diversity, especially across highly toxic macro-and polycyclic diterpenoids. However, very little is known about drivers and evolutionary origins of chemical diversity within Euphorbia. Here, we investigate 43 Euphorbia species to understand how geographic separation over evolutionary time has impacted chemical differentiation. We show that the structurally highly diverse Euphorbia diterpenoids are significantly reduced in species native to the Americas, compared to the Eurasian and African continents, where the genus originated. The localization of these compounds to young stems and roots suggest ecological relevance in herbivory defense and immunomodulatory defense mechanisms match diterpenoid levels, indicating chemoevolutionary adaptation to reduced herbivory pressure.\n\nOne Sentence SummaryGlobal chemo-evolutionary adaptation of Euphorbia affected immunomodulatory defense mechanisms.

evolutionary biology↗