Impact of extinctions on the functionality and evolutionary history in interaction networks between anurans and their prey and their contribution to pest and vector control

• Grant number: 20/12558-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: September 01, 2021
• End date: April 11, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Mathias Mistretta Pires
• Grantee: Karoline Ceron
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 23/11918-0 - The overlooked importance of amphibians in food webs: from energy fluxes to ecosystem coupling, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Predation plays a crucial role in the ecosystem functioning and in the communities' composition. The density regulation functions performed by predators have consequences on lower trophic levels, generating trophic cascades that are disrupted when predators become functionally extinct. Anuran amphibians show an important role in food webs, because they represent a link between terrestrial and aquatic environments and can act both as predators and prey. Due to the generality of their diet, combined with their biphasic life cycle, several studies have shown the efficiency of amphibians in controlling mosquitoes populations as well as in the control of agricultural pests. Once amphibians are currently undergoing a global decline, and this decline is intensified by climate change, these functions may be lost in many natural systems. However, despite the discussion on the direct effects of climate change on species distribution, little is known about the effects of climate change on biotic interactions. Because many aspects of ecosystem functioning depend on the diversity of biotic interactions, understanding the effects of extinctions on interaction networks can reveal how diversity loss deteriorates ecosystem functions, such as natural pest control. Thus, in this project I intend to test the impact of extinctions on the functionality and evolutionary diversity within interaction networks between anurans and their prey and their influence on pest and vector disease control. For this purpose, I will use data on diet and prey availability already collected from 19 anuran communities in Brazil. I will simulate anuran extinction in the networks based on predefined criteria and also assess the changes in species distribution using species distribution models under a climate change scenario. In addition, I will analyze how the effects of these extinctions spread across networks and how it will affect the functionality and evolutionary history of networks. Finally, I will investigate how extinctions may impact the prey regulation performed by anurans, estimating the total biomass per capita that will no longer be consumed in the different simulated extinction scenarios. (AU)

Scientific publications

(7)

(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)

ASSIS DE MATOS, LUCICLEIA RAILENE; RAMALHO, WERTHER PEREIRA; DE ARRUDA, FILIPE VIEGAS; CERON, KAROLINE; LUNA, PEDRO; VIRGILIO, LUCENA ROCHA; SOARES VIEIRA, LISANDRO JUNO. Environmental Drivers and Network Structure of Hylid Anurans (Amphibia: Hylidae) in Floating Meadows from Amazonian Oxbow Lakes. WETLANDS, v. 42, n. 3, p. 13-pg., 2022-03-01. (20/12558-0)

NUNES, ANDRE VALLE; CHIARAVALLOTI, RAFAEL MORAIS; ROQUE, FABIO DE OLIVEIRA; FISCHER, ERICH; ANGELINI, RONALDO; CERON, KAROLINE; MATEUS, LUCIA; PENHA, JERRY. Increasing social risk and markets demand lead to a more selective fishing across the Pantanal wetland. ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS, v. 208, p. 7-pg., 2023-03-11. (20/12558-0)

CERON, KAROLINE; SALES, LILIAN P. P.; SANTANA, DIEGO J. J.; PIRES, MATHIAS M. M.. Decoupled responses of biodiversity facets driven from anuran vulnerability to climate and land-use changes. ECOLOGY LETTERS, v. 26, n. 6, p. 14-pg., 2023-03-26. (20/12558-0)

MELO ARAUJO, SAMIA CAROLINE; CERON, KAROLINE; GUEDES, THAIS B.. Use of geospatial analyses to address snakebite hotspots in mid-northern Brazil - A direction to health planning in shortfall biodiversity knowledge areas. Toxicon, v. 213, p. 9-pg., 2022-07-15. (20/12558-0)

CERON, KAROLINE; PAULA, TAYS; SCHEIBLER, PAOLA; FADEL, RENATA; GUIMARA, CARLA DA SILVA; SILVA, LEANDRO ALVES; SANTANA, DIEGO JOSE. Trophic ecology of small to large hylids from an Amazonia-Cerrado transitional zone in Brazil. FOOD WEBS, v. 36, p. 7-pg., 2023-06-08. (20/12558-0)

CERON, KAROLINE; PROVETE, DIOGO B.; PIRES, MATHIAS M.; ARAUJO, ANDREA C.; BLUTHGEN, NICO; SANTANA, DIEGO J.. Differences in prey availability across space and time lead to interaction rewiring and reshape a predator-prey metaweb. ECOLOGY, v. N/A, p. 10-pg., 2022-05-19. (20/12558-0)

PEREIRA, ELVIS ALMEIDA; CERON, KAROLINE; SILVA, HELIO RICARDO; SANTANA, DIEGO JOSE. The dispersal between Amazonia and Atlantic Forest during the Early Neogene revealed by the biogeography of the treefrog tribe Sphaenorhynchini (Anura, Hylidae). ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION, v. 12, n. 4, p. 15-pg., 2022-04-01. (20/12558-0)