Longo, Guilherme OrtigaraPaiva, Esther Silva Queiroz2023-12-212023-12-212023-12-15PAIVA, Esther Silva Queiroz. Identificando espécies de corais adequadas para a restauração da Área de Proteção Ambiental Recifes de Corais - RN. Orientador: Guilherme Ortigara Longo. 2023. 59 f. Monografia (Graduação em Ciências Biológicas) – Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, 2023.https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/56659Historical approaches are fundamental in understanding changes in ecosystems, providing a reference for future comparisons and assessments. This historical perspective becomes an essential tool in conservation and restoration strategies, where approaches that include multiple species are more likely to preserve ecosystem functions. The objective of the study was to investigate possible declines in the abundance and richness of coral species in the Coral Reef Environmental Protection Area (APARC) over 6 decades in order to target ecology-based multi-species coral restoration efforts. Through a systematic review, we recorded 13 species of corals and hydrocorals in the region, whose current abundances were compared to the oldest record in the study area, made by Laborel in 1970. A functional distance matrix was constructed based on mixed attribute variables to choose minimum sets of species that maximally support ecosystem functions considering “ecological persistence”, “ecological persistence and attributes'' and “ecological persistence, attributes and restoration”. We identified reductions in the abundance of Millepora alcicornis and Mussismilia harttii since the 1970s, but there was no change in the dominance of Siderastrea stellata. In the three sets proposed for restoration, with four, five and six species, S. stellata, Mi. alcicornis, Favia gravida and Porites astreoides were selected using all criteria. In addition to these four species, the set of five species varied between the addition of Agaricia humilis (ecological persistence), or Mussismilia hispida (ecological persistence, attributes and restoration). With six species it varied between the addition of A. humilis and Agaricia fragilis (ecological persistence) or Mu. hispida and Montastraea cavernosa (ecological persistence, attributes and restoration). The ecological persistence sets with five and six species were the best options, as they house three types of construction corals (builder, cementer and filler), even with a smaller functional volume, as they maintain the historical pattern of the reefs and recover lost abundance by some species and preserves a large part of the ecosystem functions.Attribution 3.0 Brazilhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/br/Abordagem históricaRestauração ecológicaAbundânciaRecifes de coraisMaracajaúRio do FogoHistorical approachEcological restorationAbundanceCoral reefsMaracajaúRio do FogobachelorThesisCNPQ::CIENCIAS BIOLOGICAS