Mutualistic interactions: Analysis of a hyper-diverse seed dispersal network in a biodiversity hotspot

• Grant number: 18/06634-5
• Support type: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Post-doctor
• Effective date (Start): January 21, 2019
• Effective date (End): December 20, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal researcher: Laurence Marianne Vincianne Culot
• Grantee: Lisieux Franco Fuzessy
• Supervisor abroad: Pedro Jordano
• Home Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Research place: Estación Biológica de Doñana, Spain
• Associated to the scholarship: 17/07954-0 - The influence of primate functional groups on post-dispersal seed fate and conservation outcomes, BP.PD

Abstract

Ecological interactions fuel the coevolution of flowering plants and animals. An assembly of frugivorous species act as mutualists and antagonists for several plant species, and simultaneously with abiotic factors, phylogenetic and developmental constraints, form a web-like system, which is usually described by a network approach. The role of large vertebrates, such as primates, has not been taken into account in most of the seed-dispersal networks in the available literature, although real-world frugivore assemblages include distinct types of vertebrate higher taxa. Here we aim to assess the role of individual species within a mega-diversified network structure of the last Atlantic Forest continuum of more than 120,000 ha in south-eastern Brazil. We will analyze the degree of complementarity and functional redundancy between primate frugivores and other animal mutualists in their seed dispersal functions. We will firstly use an integrative approach that considers primates as an important part of a complex system of ecological interactions rather than as sole actors, and thus identify the network structure, describe animal and fruit traits, phylogeny effects, and finally uncover individual and complementary roles among the major frugivore groups in Neotropics.

Scientific publications

(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)

KAISIN, OLIVIER; FUZESSY, LISIEUX; PONCIN, PASCAL; BROTCORNE, FANY; CULOT, LAURENCE. A meta-analysis of anthropogenic impacts on physiological stress in wild primates. Conservation Biology, JAN 2021. Web of Science Citations: 0.

ZANETTE, E. M.; FUZESSY, L. F.; HACK, R. O. E.; MONTEIRO-FILHO, E. L. A. Potential role in seed dispersal revealed by experimental trials with captive southern muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides). PRIMATES, v. 61, n. 3 FEB 2020. Web of Science Citations: 0.