Msc student from Rio de Janeiro State University, João Souza,  is developing his fieldwork at REGUA for his research project aiming to establish how fragmented areas in the Atlantic Forest could affect secondary production of tadpoles.

João also    wishes to    demonstrate    through his    research the    important  role of isolated    mother        trees in helping to maintain natural    ecosystem      processes. As  part of these    ecosystem    processes    he is    specifically    looking at net secondary yeld, however it is important to remember the previous step – raw primary yeld. Terrestrial ecosystems rely on the sun’s energy to support the growth and metabolism of their resident organisms. Plants are known for being biomass factories powered by    sunlight, supplying organisms higher up the food chain with energy and the structural      “building blocks of life”. Autotrophs are terrestrial prime yeld producers: organisms that      manufacture, through photosynthesis, new organic molecules (carbohydrates and lipids) from raw inorganic materials (CO2, water,    mineral nutrients).

The energy from the sun is stored on the newly created chemical bonds, being then source of energy to heterotroph organisms. Heterotrophs are secondary yeld producers, rather    consuming than producing organic molecules.   

Net secondary yeld (NSY)    historically represents the    formation of living biomass of a heterotrophic population or group of populations  over some period of time. It’s known    that not all food eaten by an individual is      converted into new animal  biomass (NSY),  only a  fraction of the material ingested is assimilated from the      digestive tract; the remainder passes out as feces. Of the material assimilated, only a fraction contributes to growth of an individual’s    mass or to reproduction — both of which ultimately represent net yeld. Most    of the rest is consumed by normal methabolims (like respiration). 

João’s research may supply    important data highlighting the      importance of conserving      vegetation fragments – even      standing trees – to help maintain      essential natural ecosystem    processes like NSY. He    also wishes to understand how the group of anurans, one of the      largest vertebrate taxa with many    threatened species, is affected by    the loss of vegetation. 

One of the researchers who is carrying on his fieldwork at REGUA, Rodrigo Fonseca, has been studying the perception and colonization of reproductive habitats (puddles, flooded fields, streams, etc.) by anuran amphibians and the elements of the landscape (trees and shrubs) favouring this dynamic.

His study includes night field work, where he samples temporary and stablished puddles also capturing and identifying amphibian individuals. He is a Master’s student from the Post Graduate Programme in Ecology at the Federal University in Rio (UFRJ).

During his activities, he quite often comes across with the Blacksmith Tree Frog Boana faber, a species known to form small nests called “pans” where males vocalize to attract females, which in return will evaluate the nest condition and decide whether to use it or not. If the female chooses it, the male performs the bridal hug, also called amplexus, where together they release gametes into the water forming around 3,000 eggs inside the nest.