Presentation
The Laboratory of Structural and Functional Ecology of Ecosystems (LEEF) was created in 2018 with the aim of supporting the development of scientific research within the Stricto Sensu Postgraduate Program in Environmental and Experimental Pathology and the Biological Sciences course at Universidade Paulista - UNIP. This laboratory is structured to study the ecology of aquatic ecosystems and aquatic organisms, and has an infrastructure that includes equipment for sampling biological communities in situ, multiparameter equipment for water analysis, an oven for processing environmental samples, magnifying glasses and microscopes for biological analysis, as well as equipment for carrying out ex situ and in situ tests.
Its work focuses on studying the ecology of fish in Neotropical rivers and streams, environmental monitoring, assessing impacts on aquatic communities and using fish as indicators of ecological integrity. Since its creation, LEEF has expanded its methodological approaches, incorporating experimental research with biomarkers, studies on emerging pollutants such as microplastics and isotopic ecology analyses to infer trophic and ecological aspects of fish species. It also develops projects for the renaturalization of water bodies, with a focus on the recolonization of aquatic biota.
Inserted in the area of Health Sciences, with a strong interface with Biological Sciences, Zoology, Ecology and Applied Zoology, the LEEF integrates the research and training activities of the Graduate Program, contributing to the advancement of knowledge and to the proposal of strategies for the conservation of aquatic biodiversity. Among the projects highlighted are: “Unraveling fish biodiversity in the last dam-free stretches of the upper Paraná in the face of changes in land use and the new disturbances of the Anthropocene”; “Threatened fish species of the upper Paraná: restricted distribution species threatened with extinction in the upper Tietê River”; "Biotope Project: from choosing a key species to outlining species conservation strategies“; ”Long-term changes in the abundance and distribution of fish fauna in a tropical stream: responses to changes following restorative activities and comparison with a reference stream“; ”Integrative pathology with a focus on single health“; and ”Assessing the impacts of exposure to microplastics: the use of ecological and experimental methods in research".
LEEF's scientific fish collection, established in 2023, is an important tool for supporting research and conservation. With approximately 1,000 lots preserved in ethyl alcohol, the collection brings together fish specimens collected mainly in the basins of the Tietê, Sorocaba, Ribeira de Iguape and Paranapanema rivers and in coastal regions, including material from the Ipanema National Forest and from other states such as Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul and Tocantins.
The laboratory maintains strategic partnerships with several national institutions, such as the Fisheries Institute (Postgraduate Program in Aquaculture and Fisheries), the National Center for Research and Conservation of Continental Fish - CEPTA and the Ipanema National Forest (ICMBio), UNESP - São José do Rio Preto, the federal universities of Mato Grosso do Sul, ABC, Pará, São Carlos (Sorocaba campus), São João del-Rei, the State University of Campinas (ZUEC), the State University of Minas Gerais, Santa Cecília University, the University of São Paulo and the National Synchrotron Light Laboratory (CNPEM). Internationally, it collaborates with the Ecology Laboratory at the University of Regina, in Canada, and with the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Coimbra, in Portugal. LEEF also establishes partnerships with the private sector, including Toyota do Brasil, INSITU Serviços Ambientais and Ocyan - Coral Farm.
Services:
- Study of fish assemblages in the Upper Paraná basin, especially in the Tietê river basin and the Sorocaba river basin;
- Monitoring ichthyofauna in Conservation Units (Ipanema National Forest);
- Environmental monitoring studies of aquatic organisms for environmental licensing purposes;
- Assessment of environmental impacts on aquatic communities such as dams, water pollution, siltation, among others;
- Use of fish as environmental indicators, by proposing indices of biotic integrity and assessing the physical environment of rivers and streams;
- Studies using biomarkers to assess the health of freshwater fish;
- Experimental research using fish to evaluate emerging pollutants;
- Study of emerging pollutants, such as microplastics, in different compartments of freshwater ecosystems;
- Study of the isotopic ecology of fish, with application to ecological and trophic analysis;
- Projects to renaturalize streams and creeks, focusing on the recolonization of aquatic biota, including fish and invertebrates.
Contact
UNIP Sorocaba - Eden Campus
Avenida Independência, 210, Éden, Sorocaba/SP - CEP:18087-101
Telephone: (15) 3412-1000 (PABX)
E-mail: welber.smith@unip.br / lab.ecoestruturalefuncional@gmail.com