Relating the ecological traits of neotropical mammals to defaunation

• Grant number: 17/03093-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2017
• End date: March 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Mauro Galetti Rodrigues
• Grantee: Francielly Cristina Aparecida Cardoso
• 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

Abstract

The factors that affect the density of a species in nature is one of the most explored subjects in ecology. Many studies have pointed out a strong negative relation between the density of a species and its body size, that is, the larger is the animal, the smaller it's your density. This allometric relationship may vary between regions, but the role of humans in shaping this relationship has been little explored. Most densities of large mammals are now determined by anthropic factors, such as hunting, fragmentation and other disturbances. This project will analyze a database of densities of terrestrial mammals with their biological and ecological characteristics in different locations in the Neotropics. We will test how the effects anthropic disturbances such as defaunation and fragmentation alter in the relation between the body size and the animal density. (AU)