Distribuição geográfica potencial de Neoseiulus californicus McGregor e Neoseiulus idaeus Denmark & Muma com base em modelagem de nicho ecológico no Brasil

Abstract

One of the most important aspects to be observed in a biological control program is the favorable environmental conditions related to the species to be introduced. The absence of this information can both compromise the management program adopted and cause considerable economic losses, as well as causing discredit to the producer. The objective of this study was to predict the areas in which Neoseiulus californicus McGregor and Neoseiulus idaeus Denmark and Muma can be established and used in biological control programs in Brazil. Geographic coordinates referring to species reports were obtained from the literature in databases (especially Phytoseiidae data Base). Nineteen environmental variables were used as predictors of the potential distribution of predators. The bioclimatic variables used were obtained from WorldClim - Global Climate Data (http://www.Worldclim.org/) version 1.4 (1960 - 1990) release 3, resolution 2.5 arc-min (approximately 5 km2 ). The modeling of species distribution from occurrence records and environmental data were obtained by means of genetic algorithms to create models of ecological niches for species Maximum Entropy (Maxent 3.3.3k). The present study shows that N. californicus and N. idaeus have different ecological niches. Neoseiulus californicus presents a predominance of optimal niches for its establishment in the southern region of Brazil, whereas N. idaeus presents optimal niches of establishment in all regions of Brazil, especially in the northeast coast. Thus, for some regions where the establishment of N. californicus is unlikely, such as the Northeastern coastal region, N. idaeus appears as an alternative.