Reversing defaunation or increasing ecological degradation? Invasion ecology of feral pigs Sus scrofa in a defaunated landscape

• Grant number: 15/18381-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Effective date (Start): October 01, 2015
• Effective date (End): January 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Mauro Galetti Rodrigues
• Grantee: Felipe Pedrosa Chagas
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 14/01986-0 - Ecological consequences of defaunation in the Atlantic Rainforest, AP.TEM
• Associated scholarship(s): 16/15436-7 - Isotope ecology of neotropical ungulates in face of feral pig invasion, BE.EP.DD

Abstract

Invasion of alien species is a concern to human well-being and a threat to biodiversity. Many thriving biological invasions causes economic damages and drives disruptions of ecosystem functioning. Along with that, defaunation process also endanger entire communities, disrupting species interactions, particularly on plant-animal interactions. In neotropical forests, tapir and peccaries play important role, regulating ecosystem functions such as herbivory, trampling of seedlings and saplings, predation and dispersal of seeds. However, they are threatened or locally extinct, jeopardizing the structure and the regeneration of plant communities. On the other hand, an alien species, the feral pig Sus scrofa is quickly occupying these defaunated landscapes. Nevertheless, the consequences of feral pigs to seed dispersal, seed predation, herbivory and trampling in the Atlantic Forest ecosystems are unknown. The aim of this Ph.D. proposal is to examine how feral pigs affect such ecological functions and process, as well estimate the differences between foraging ecology of tapir (Tapirus terrestris), peccaries (Tayassu pecari and Pecari tajacu) and the invasive, to provide tangible estimation of its impacts and of its role on ecosystems. (AU)

Scientific publications

(8)

(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)

MENDES, CALEBE P.; CARREIRA, DAIANE; PEDROSA, FELIPE; BECA, GABRIELLE; LAUTENSCHLAGER, LAIS; AKKAWI, PAULA; BERCE, WILLIAM; FERRAZ, KATIA M. P. M. B.; GALETTI, MAURO. Landscape of human fear in Neotropical rainforest mammals. Biological Conservation, v. 241, JAN 2020. (15/18381-6, 15/22844-1, 14/01986-0, 14/09300-0, 14/23095-0)

NAGY-REIS, MARIANA; OSHIMA, JULIA EMI DE FARIA; KANDA, CLAUDIA ZUKERAN; PALMEIRA, FRANCESCA BELEM LOPES; DE MELO, FABIANO RODRIGUES; MORATO, RONALDO GONCALVES; BONJORNE, LILIAN; MAGIOLI, MARCELO; LEUCHTENBERGER, CAROLINE; ROHE, FABIO; et al. NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics. ECOLOGY, v. 101, n. 11, NOV 2020. (14/01986-0, 12/14245-2, 10/05343-5, 13/50421-2, 06/04878-7, 17/21816-0, 05/00405-4, 13/24453-4, 15/22844-1, 13/07162-6, 15/19439-8, 16/11595-3, 19/04851-1, 15/18381-6, 13/04957-8, 14/23095-0, 14/09300-0, 11/06782-5, 15/17739-4, 11/22449-4, 14/23132-2, 14/10192-7, 12/00534-2, 14/14925-9)

BRADHAM, JENNIFER; JORGE, MARIA LUISA S. P.; PEDROSA, FELIPE; KEUROGHLIAN, ALEXINE; COSTA, VLADIMIR ELIODORO; BERCE, WILLIAM; GALETTI, MAURO. Spatial isotopic dietary plasticity of a Neotropical forest ungulate: the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari). JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY, v. 100, n. 2, p. 464-474, APR 24 2019. (15/22844-1, 14/50434-0, 16/15436-7, 15/18381-6, 14/01986-0)

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. (15/18381-6, 14/01986-0, 14/23095-0, 13/50421-2, 14/01029-5)

DA ROSA, CLARISSA ALVES; WALLAU, MARCELO OSORIO; PEDROSA, FELIPE. Hunting as the Main Technique Used to Control Wild Pigs in Brazil. WILDLIFE SOCIETY BULLETIN, v. 42, n. 1, p. 111-118, MAR 2018. (15/18381-6, 14/50434-0)

PEDROSA, FELIPE; BERCE, WILLIAM; LEVI, TAAL; PIRES, MATHIAS; GALETTI, MAURO. Seed dispersal effectiveness by a large-bodied invasive species in defaunated landscapes. Biotropica, v. 51, n. 6, OCT 2019. (14/50434-0, 16/15436-7, 15/22844-1, 15/18381-6)

MAGIOLI, MARCELO; VILLAR, NACHO; JORGE, MARIA LUISA; BIONDO, CIBELE; KEUROGHLIAN, ALEXINE; BRADHAM, JENNIFER; PEDROSA, FELIPE; COSTA, VLADIMIR; MOREIRA, MARCELO ZACHARIAS; PASCHOALETTO MICCHI DE BARROS FERRAZ, KATIA MARIA; et al. Dietary expansion facilitates the persistence of a large frugivore in fragmented tropical forests. ANIMAL CONSERVATION, DEC 2021. (14/01986-0, 14/10192-7, 14/50434-0, 16/15436-7, 15/18381-6, 15/11521-7, 14/09300-0)

PEDROSA, FELIPE; BERCE, WILLIAM; COSTA, VLADIMIR ELIODORO; LEVI, TAAL; GALETTI, MAURO. Diet of invasive wild pigs in a landscape dominated by sugar cane plantations. JOURNAL OF MAMMALOGY, v. 102, n. 5, p. 1309-1317, OCT 2021. (16/15436-7, 15/18381-6, 15/22844-1, 17/12925-0, 14/50434-0)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

CHAGAS, Felipe Pedrosa. Invasion ecology of wild pigs Sus scrofa in Brazil. 2019. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp). Instituto de Biociências. Rio Claro Rio Claro.