Ecological consequences of defaunation in the Atlantic Rainforest

• Grant number: 14/01986-0
• Support type: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• Duration: February 01, 2015 - January 31, 2020
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Mauro Galetti Rodrigues
• Grantee: Mauro Galetti Rodrigues
• Home Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Co-Principal Investigators: Milton Cezar Ribeiro
• Assoc. researchers: Katia Maria Paschoaletto Micchi de Barros Ferraz ; Laurence Marianne Vincianne Culot ; Maria Luisa da Silva Pinto Jorge ; Pedro Henrique Santin Brancalion ; Pedro Jordano ; Ricardo Siqueira Bovendorp ; Ronaldo Gonçalves Morato ; Tadeu de Siqueira Barros
• Associated grant(s): 17/50386-3 - Assessing threats to phylogenetic and functional diversity and the consequences on the provisioning of ecosystems services, AP.R; 17/25605-3 - Participation on the XV Frugivory Course and Workshop on the Atlantic Database, AV.EXT
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/00212-1 - Soil fertilization and dispersion of mycorrhizal fungi by mammals in the Atlantic Forest, BP.IC; 17/24252-0 - Anthropogenic predictors of biodiversity response to forest fragmentation in the Atlantic Forest, BP.PD; 16/25197-0 - Effects of defaunation on soil-plant interactions in tropical forest, BP.PD; + associated scholarships 17/03093-0 - Relating the ecological traits of neotropical mammals to defaunation, BP.IC; 15/22844-1 - Diet of feral pig Sus scrofa in the region of Rio Claro, São Paulo, BP.IC; 15/19092-8 - Bats and their role with the carbon stock in the Atlantic Forest, BP.IC; 15/15172-7 - Effects of defaunation and introduction of exotic species on plant-seed dispersal interaction networks, BP.PD; 15/18381-6 - Reversing defaunation or increasing ecological degradation? Invasion ecology of feral pigs Sus scrofa in a defaunated landscape, BP.DD; 15/11521-7 - Defaunated movement: the role of animal behaviour and spatial interactions in mediating trophic cascades, niche partitioning and community dynamics in the Atlantic Forest, BP.PD - associated scholarships

Abstract

Humans are one of the major drivers in structuring vertebrate communities, altering food webs, with unprecedented consequences for ecosystem function. For instance, in tropical terrestrial ecosystems, hunters remove a large proportion of the standing mammalian biomass reducing population densities by 60-100%. Most of these vertebrates are large-bodied species in distinct trophic levels. Theoretical and empirical studies have found that apex consumers play a fundamental role in food web structure and stability in temperate biomes. Large-bodied forest dwelling vertebrates comprise important top predators, seed dispersers and herbivores, and their loss may lead to trophic cacades. Therefore, defaunation is likely to erode key ecosystem processes with far-reaching consequences. Current ecological knowledge indicates that apex consumers are fundamental in the maintenance of biodiversity and ecosystem functions. Human hunting in key elements of the food web may lead to trophic cascades, yet we lack information from non-fragmented tropical ecosystems. The Atlantic rainforest have more than 80% of the woody plant species dispersed by vertebrates and it is estimated that 88% of its area is under trophic cascade due to the extinction of apex consumers. Most of our understanding of trophic cascades is based on temperate biomes or fragmented landscapes, which cannot be easily extrapolated to larger scales. In this proposal, we seek to understand long-term effects of defaunation on trophic cascades, particularly in plant composition, and examine functional changes in forest dynamics and composition (diversity, functional organization and carbon stock) in continuous Atlantic Forest remnants. This proposal is part of a working group on "Pantropical Mammalian Effects on Plant Communities" organized by OTS (Organization of Tropical Studies) where several protocols will follow the ones used in Meso-america (México, BCI and La Selva), Africa and Asia. (AU)

Scientific publications

(18)

(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)

BOVENDORP, RICARDO S.; BRUM, FERNANDA T.; MCCLEERY, ROBERT A.; BAISER, BENJAMIN; LOYOLA, RAFAEL; CIANCIARUSO, MARCUS V.; GALETTI, MAURO. Defaunation and fragmentation erode small mammal diversity dimensions in tropical forests. ECOGRAPHY, v. 42, n. 1, SI, p. 23-35, JAN 2019. Web of Science Citations: 1.

MARJAKANGAS, EMMA-LIINA; GENES, LUISA; PIRES, MATHIAS M.; FERNANDEZ, FERNANDO A. S.; DE LIMA, RENATO A. F.; DE OLIVEIRA, ALEXANDRE A.; OVASKAINEN, OTSO; PIRES, ALEXANDRA S.; PRADO, I, PAULO; GALETTI, MAURO. Estimating interaction credit for trophic rewilding in tropical forests. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES, v. 373, n. 1761, SI DEC 5 2018. Web of Science Citations: 1.

BRANCALION, PEDRO H. S.; BELLO, CAROLINA; CHAZDON, ROBIN L.; GALETTI, MAURO; JORDANO, PEDRO; LIMA, RENATO A. F.; MEDINA, ARETHA; PIZO, MARCO AURELIO; LEIGHTON REID, J. Maximizing biodiversity conservation and carbon stocking in restored tropical forests. CONSERVATION LETTERS, v. 11, n. 4 JUL-AUG 2018. Web of Science Citations: 3.

GALETTI, MAURO; MOLEON, MARCOS; JORDANO, PEDRO; PIRES, MATHIAS M.; GUIMARAES, JR., PAULO R.; PAPE, THOMAS; NICHOLS, ELIZABETH; HANSEN, DENNIS; OLESEN, JENS M.; MUNK, MICHAEL; DE MATTOS, JACQUELINE S.; SCHWEIGER, ANDREAS H.; OWEN-SMITH, NORMAN; JOHNSON, CHRISTOPHER N.; MARQUIS, ROBERT J.; SVENNING, JENS-CHRISTIAN. Ecological and evolutionary legacy of megafauna extinctions. BIOLOGICAL REVIEWS, v. 93, n. 2, p. 845-862, MAY 2018. Web of Science Citations: 15.

EMER, CARINE; GALETTI, MAURO; PIZO, MARCO A.; GUIMARAES, JR., PAULO R.; MORAES, SUELEN; PIRATELLI, AUGUSTO; JORDANO, PEDRO. Seed-dispersal interactions in fragmented landscapes - a metanetwork approach. ECOLOGY LETTERS, v. 21, n. 4, p. 484-493, APR 2018. Web of Science Citations: 7.

PIRES, MATHIAS M.; GUIMARAES, JR., PAULO R.; GALETTI, MAURO; JORDANO, PEDRO. Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions and the functional loss of long-distance seed-dispersal services. ECOGRAPHY, v. 41, n. 1, p. 153-163, JAN 2018. Web of Science Citations: 8.

SOBRAL-SOUZA, THADEU; LAUTENSCHLAGER, LAIS; MORCATTY, THAIS QUEIROZ; BELLO, CAROLINA; HANSEN, DENNIS; GALETTI, MAURO. Rewilding defaunated Atlantic Forests with tortoises to restore lost seed dispersal functions. PERSPECTIVES IN ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION, v. 15, n. 4, p. 300-307, OCT-DEC 2017. Web of Science Citations: 5.

CULOT, LAURENCE; BELLO, CAROLINA; FERREIRA BATISTA, JOAO LUIS; ZARATE DO COUTO, HILTON THADEU; GALETTI, MAURO. Synergistic effects of seed disperser and predator loss on recruitment success and long-term consequences for carbon stocks in tropical rainforests. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 7, AUG 9 2017. Web of Science Citations: 12.

BECA, GABRIELLE; VANCINE, MAURICIO H.; CARVALHO, CAROLINA S.; PEDROSA, FELIPE; ALVES, RAFAEL SOUZA C.; BUSCARIOL, DAIANE; PERES, CARLOS A.; RIBEIRO, MILTON CEZAR; GALETTI, MAURO. High mammal species turnover in forest patches immersed in biofuel plantations. Biological Conservation, v. 210, n. A, p. 352-359, JUN 2017. Web of Science Citations: 14.

GALETTI, M.; BROCARDO, C. R.; BEGOTTI, R. A.; HORTENCI, L.; ROCHA-MENDES, F.; BERNARDO, C. S. S.; BUENO, R. S.; NOBRE, R.; BOVENDORP, R. S.; MARQUES, R. M.; MEIRELLES, F.; GOBBO, S. K.; BECA, G.; SCHMAEDECKE, G.; SIQUEIRA, T. Defaunation and biomass collapse of mammals in the largest Atlantic forest remnant. ANIMAL CONSERVATION, v. 20, n. 3, p. 270-281, JUN 2017. Web of Science Citations: 10.

BOVENDORP, RICARDO S.; MCCLEERY, ROBERT A.; GALETTI, MAURO. Optimising sampling methods for small mammal communities in Neotropical rainforests. MAMMAL REVIEW, v. 47, n. 2, p. 148-158, APR 2017. Web of Science Citations: 5.

CARVALHO, CAROLINA S.; GALETTI, MAURO; COLEVATTI, ROSANE G.; JORDANO, PEDRO. Defaunation leads to microevolutionary changes in a tropical palm. SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, v. 6, AUG 18 2016. Web of Science Citations: 17.

BUFALO, FELIPE SOARES; GALETTI, MAURO; CULOT, LAURENCE. Seed Dispersal by Primates and Implications for the Conservation of a Biodiversity Hotspot, the Atlantic Forest of South America. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRIMATOLOGY, v. 37, n. 3, p. 333-349, JUN 2016. Web of Science Citations: 10.

GALETTI, MAURO; RODARTE, RAISA REIS; NEVES, CAROLINA LIMA; MOREIRA, MARCELO; COSTA-PEREIRA, RAUL. Trophic Niche Differentiation in Rodents and Marsupials Revealed by Stable Isotopes. PLoS One, v. 11, n. 4 APR 6 2016. Web of Science Citations: 14.

BELLO, CAROLINA; GALETTI, MAURO; PIZO, MARCO A.; MAGNAGO, LUIZ FERNANDO S.; ROCHA, MARIANA F.; LIMA, RENATO A. F.; PERES, CARLOS A.; OVASKAINEN, OTSO; JORDANO, PEDRO. Defaunation affects carbon storage in tropical forests. SCIENCE ADVANCES, v. 1, n. 11 DEC 2015. Web of Science Citations: 84.

GALETTI, MAURO; GUEVARA, ROGER; NEVES, CAROLINA L.; RODARTE, RAISA R.; BOVENDORP, RICARDO S.; MOREIRA, MARCELO; HOPKINS, III, JOHN B.; YEAKEL, JUSTIN D. Defaunation affects the populations and diets of rodents in Neotropical rainforests. Biological Conservation, v. 190, p. 2-7, OCT 2015. Web of Science Citations: 17.

GALETTI, MAURO; GUEVARA, ROGER; GALBIATI, LIGIA A.; NEVES, CAROLINA L.; RODARTE, RAISA R.; MENDES, CALEBE P. Seed Predation by Rodents and Implications for Plant Recruitment in Defaunated Atlantic Forests. Biotropica, v. 47, n. 5, p. 521-525, SEP 2015. Web of Science Citations: 10.

GALETTI, MAURO; BOVENDORP, RICARDO S.; GUEVARA, ROGER. Defaunation of large mammals leads to an increase in seed predation in the Atlantic forests. GLOBAL ECOLOGY AND CONSERVATION, v. 3, p. 824-830, JAN 2015. Web of Science Citations: 33.