I would like to also acknowledge all the support I have gotten from my fellow LEEEIS partners, especially Hilário, Raquel and Duda, who help me in every academic and personal crisis, your encouragement and support is the reason this thesis is now completed, your example of character and strength will forever be something I admire. Also, for my students, Elias, Tati, Victor, and Dani, who were truly the best students I could have asked for, thank you for allowing me to learn so much from you all. My especial thanks for Mila, as well, who spend so much of her free time cracking up her head with me. For my fellow USP friends, who showed me the meaning of sisterhood, thank you for making every gloomy grey Sao Paulo day so bright it will forever be a bright warm memory, especially for my dear friends Luiza, Catatau, Naila, Chris, Flávio, Carol and Paula.To all the friends and colleagues that helped me on the other side of the ocean, Franco, Kenzy, Aurelie, Ludvine, Daphne, Christophe, Raquel and all my fellow LEEC partners, thank you for welcoming me and for all the support in and outside de lab. Special thanks to my advisor, Heiko, who was truly a professional and personal admiration, who taught me so much and made me feel like home, it was a pleasure working with you, forever in debt with all your support and kindness.To my advisors, Ronara and Nico, I thank you for allowing me to speak my mind, for introducing me to the big world of the ants, for supporting me throughout the changes, the ups and downs of this thesis.For all the support that I have received outside the academia as well, for doctorate is but a part of my life, I am truly blessed for having family and friends that support, love and encourages me to grow. For my dad and mom, who kept supporting and giving me life lessons to this day. To my brother Matheus and sister Luiza, who were truly my companions and best friends throughout it all. For John, my dear friend in Parisian and Campinas eras. To my friends, Jota, Hugo, Henrique, Amanda, Ju, QQers, Lb, Vania, my eternal love for keeping all this weight as light as our endless conversation nights. Also, for so many lives from my dear mice and ants that were given in purpose of this research, I am eternally grateful. I am forever in debt with your sacrifice and hope to make the ends meet throughout the story of my profession as a biologist.Through the best and worst parts, love was what held me together. The love for my job, for science, love for the truth of it all. The love I have received and felt from so many of you, and the love you all allowed me to give back and retribute. The love for myself that I have learned to grow. More than a title, this was truly a search of self-discovery, and I am so pleased with everything that I uncovered, professionally and personally.

Os membros da Comissão Examinadora acima assinaram a Ata de Defesa, que se encontra no processo de vida acadêmica do aluno.

By consuming fruits, frugivorous animals perform an important interaction: seed dispersal. As the seeds pass through their digestive system, there are chemical and physical changes that may interfere in the germination process, eighter by reducing or increasing it. Many studies use laboratory techniques to understand the effect of vertebrate's digestive system on seeds by comparing germination of dispersed with no dispersed ones. However, such studies often lack on real field conditions evaluation. In this study, the germination of endozoochory dispersed seeds by frugivorous birds was investigated both in field and laboratory conditions. Dispersed seeds were collected and germinated in three diferent conditions: field, germination chamber and greenhouse. The environment conditions affected the number of germinated species, total number of seed germination, duration and speed of germination. This data shows the importance of considering envirolmental conditions while interpretating seed germination by seed dispersal processes.