Consequences of defaunation for plant diversity and ecosystem services in the Amazon Forest

• Grant number: 19/25478-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: November 01, 2020
• End date: October 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Agreement: CONFAP - National Council of State Research Support Foundations
• Principal Investigator: Mathias Mistretta Pires
• Grantee: Mathias Mistretta Pires
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• City of the host institution: Campinas
• Associated researchers: Carlos Rodrigo Brocardo ; Clarissa Alves da Rosa ; José Luís Campana Camargo ; Mauro Galetti Rodrigues

Abstract

Anthropogenic pressures, such as habitat conversion and hunting, have led to extinctions of animal species or reductions in their populations, a phenomenon known as defaunation, which is expected to cause cascading effects through the loss or relaxation of ecological interactions. Large-bodied mammals are among the main species affected by defaunation processes, and in the Neotropics, these animals play a key role in seed dispersal, seed predation and herbivory, contributing to the maintenance of plant diversity. Large mammals are also important for providing ecosystem services and goods, respectively, contributing to carbon sequestration by dispersing seeds that promote forest regeneration and seed dispersal of species of timber interest. In this project we seek to better understand the role of medium (over 1 kg) and large-sized (over 20 kg) mammals in maintaining plant diversity in the Amazon. The research also seeks to understand the consequences of the loss of these species on the provision of ecosystem services provided by forests. To meet these objectives, we will use mammalian exclusion experiments, a method that has been used by the São Paulo team to monitor the ecological consequences of defaunation in the Atlantic Forest. With the expansion to the Amazon Rainforest, the research will contribute to a broader knowledge of how defaunation influence tropical forests, as well as enable greater knowledge exchange through interstate partnership. (AU)

Scientific publications

(11)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

GONCALVES, FERNANDO; SALES, LILIAN P.; GALETTI, MAURO; PIRES, MATHIAS M.. Combined impacts of climate and land use change and the future restructuring of Neotropical bat biodiversity. PERSPECTIVES IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION, v. 19, n. 4, p. 454-463, OCT-DEC 2021. (17/24252-0, 19/25478-7, 19/00648-7)

FENG, XIAO; MEROW, CORY; LIU, ZHIHUA; PARK, DANIEL S.; ROEHRDANZ, PATRICK R.; MAITNER, BRIAN; NEWMAN, ERICA A.; BOYLE, BRAD L.; LIEN, AARON; BURGER, JOSEPH R.; et al. How deregulation, drought and increasing fire impact Amazonian biodiversity. Nature, v. 597, n. 7877, SEP 2021. (19/25478-7)

SALES, LILIAN P. P.; PIRES, MATHIAS M. M.. Identifying climate change refugia for South American biodiversity. Conservation Biology, v. 37, n. 4, p. 12-pg., 2023-06-06. (19/25478-7)

BATISTA, GABRIELA DA SILVA; BROCARDO, CARLOS R.; CASTRO, ARLISON B.; FOGLIATTI, EMILIANO F.; GALETTI, MAURO; PIRES, MATHIAS M.; FADINI, RODRIGO F.. Defaunation disrupts the behavior of large terrestrial vertebrates, impacting ecological functions in the Amazon. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION, v. 59, p. 13-pg., 2025-06-01. (19/25478-7, 24/05591-1)

MARTINEZ, ANDRE NUNES; PIRES, MATHIAS MISTRETTA. Estimated missing interactions change the structure and alter species roles in one of the world's largest seed-dispersal networks. OIKOS, v. 2024, n. 12, p. 13-pg., 2024-08-16. (19/25478-7)

SALES, LILIAN P.; GALETTI, MAURO; CARNAVAL, ANA; MONSARRAT, SOPHIE; SVENNING, JENS-CHRISTIAN; PIRES, MATHIAS M.. The effect of past defaunation on ranges, niches, and future biodiversity forecasts. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, v. 28, n. 11, p. 11-pg., 2022-03-24. (19/25478-7)

COSMO, LEANDRO G.; ASSIS, ANA PAULA A.; DE AGUIAR, MARCUS A. M.; PIRES, MATHIAS M.; VALIDO, ALFREDO; JORDANO, PEDRO; THOMPSON, JOHN N.; BASCOMPTE, JORDI; GUIMARAES JR, PAULO R.. Indirect effects shape species fitness in coevolved mutualistic networks. Nature, v. N/A, p. 21-pg., 2023-07-19. (21/14335-0, 16/14277-2, 19/22146-3, 18/14809-0, 19/25478-7, 22/07939-0)

PIRES, MATHIAS M.; BENCHIMOL, MAIRA; CRUZ, LIVIA R.; PERES, CARLOS A.. Terrestrial food web complexity in Amazonian forests decays with habitat loss. Current Biology, v. 33, n. 2, p. 12-pg., 2023-01-23. (19/25478-7, 19/16025-9)

PIRES, MATHIAS M.; GALETTI, MAURO. Beyond the ?empty forest?: The defaunation syndromes of Neotropical forests in the Anthropocene. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION, v. 41, p. 9-pg., 2023-01-01. (19/25478-7, 22/09561-4)

CARVALHO, RAQUEL L.; RESENDE, ANGELICA F.; BARLOW, JOS; FRANCA, FILIPE M.; MOURA, MARIO R.; MACIEL, RAFAELLA; ALVES-MARTINS, FERNANDA; SHUTT, JACK; NUNES, CASSIO A.; ELIAS, FERNANDO; et al. Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research. Current Biology, v. 33, n. 16, p. 15-pg., 2023-08-21. (19/24049-5, 22/12231-6, 21/11840-6, 22/07381-9, 12/51872-5, 19/25478-7)

PIRES, MATHIAS MISTRETTA. The Restructuring of Ecological Networks by the Pleistocene Extinction. ANNUAL REVIEW OF EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCES, v. 52, p. 26-pg., 2024-01-01. (19/25478-7)