2019-08-202014-04-24STAGGEMEIER, Vanessa Graziele. Estudos ecológicos e evolutivos em Myrtaceae com ênfase nos padrões fenológicos, de distribuição e diversidade. 2014. 239 f. Tese (Doutorado em Ecologia e Evolução) - Universidade Federal de Goiás, Goiânia, 2014.http://repositorio.bc.ufg.br/tede/handle/tede/9943The Neotropical region harbors 30% of all the plant species diversity over the Earth. However, populations and species are being increasingly lost or suffering high extinction risk due to anthropic effects (urban expansion and landscape use), that in turn, lead to global warming. To establish more efficient conservation programs for biological diversity it is crucial that we increase our knowledge on spatial distribution patterns and reproductive ecology of species on macroecological scales as well as about the processes involved in the origin and maintenance of taxa. Thus, speciose Neotropical taxa as Myrtaceae (eighth largest plant family on the planet) that are well known taxonomically and and phylogenetically and represent excellent models for biodiversity studies. This thesis combined recent advances in the taxonomy and phylogeny of Myrtaceae with an extensive analysis of the distributional patterns of species and reproductive phenology. We aim to describe and test hypotheses about the triggers of plant reproduction and mechanisms that promote and maintain species diversity. Firstly, we demonstrated the importance of Myrtaceae in sustaining frugivores in the Atlantic Forest via the production of fleshy fruits (Chapter 1). Myrtaceae was shown to represent an important component to the local fauna because it supplied frugivores with fruits during lean times. Secondly, analyzing three disjoint communities of Atlantic forest and with different species composition we found an overall rule for Myrtaceae flowering during the summer and being triggered by changes in day length (Chapter 2). Irregular fruiting patterns are probably related to different physiological requirements of seed germination and seedling establishment. We demonstrated that phenological data needs to be interpreted in an evolutionary context because phylogenetic signal in the phenology is clade-specific. Additionally, we proposed a phylogenetic hypothesis for Myrcia sect. Aulomyrcia stressing the union of two traditional genera, Myrcia and Marlierea (Chapter 3). Moreover, we found lower extinction rates in localities that are historically more stable climatically, with the dispersal of species from less stable localities to areas of refugia occurring very commonly thus contributing for the high diversity of Myrcia species in the central corridor of this hotspot: coast of Bahia and northern Espírito Santo. We also studied the diversity of Psidium in the cerrado and found that an association between physiology, elevation and climatic stability explain the species richness of the group in this biome (Chapter 4). Although the importance of Myrtaceae as a structural and ecological component of Neotropical forests is clear, there is still much to be discovered and understood because new species to science are still appearing even in extensively studied localities (Chapter 5).application/pdfAcesso AbertoContingência históricaDiversificaçãoDisponibilidade de recursoEstabilidade climáticaFenologiaMyrciaPsidiumReprodução das plantasRiquezaSazonalidadeSinal filogenéticoClimatic stabilityDiversificationHistorical contingencyPhenologyPhyloge-netic signalPlant reproductionSeasonalityResource availabilityRichnessCIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS::ECOLOGIATese