A influência da disponibilidade de recursos e da distância de uma área-fonte para a colonização de ambientes aquáticos em uma paisagem urbana.

Abstract

The colonization of an environment is affected by several factors, such as the distance to a source area, the quantity and quality of available resources, the species' ability to disperse and the presence of predators. In this study, we sought to evaluate the importance of distance to a source area (stream) and type of resource for the colonization of experimental arenas by aquatic insects. The most abundant families were Chironomidae and Culicidae. Family wealth varied between arenas, from 1 to 6 families. While abundance was not affected by any of the factors nor by the interaction between them, family richness was affected by both distance (being greater at 90 m) and the type of resource (being greater in the leaf litter resource), but not by the interaction of the two factors. Our study helps to understand how some factors, such as type of resource and distance to a source area, can influence the colonization of new environments in an urban area.