Ecological roles of the black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysopygus) in a submontane dense forest

• Grant number: 24/00855-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Effective date (Start): July 01, 2024
• Effective date (End): June 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Laurence Marianne Vincianne Culot
• Grantee: Guilherme Henrique Mugnaini
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/06668-0 - Primate resilience in an anthropogenic landscape, AP.BTA.JP2

Abstract

The zoochoric dispersal of seeds is an essential ecological process for the maintenance of tropical forests in which primates play a fundamental role. Additionally, there are other potential ecological roles of primates that have not yet been investigated, such as the dispersal of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) spores, a function already evidenced in other mammals. When dealing with a biome threatened by human actions, such as the Atlantic Forest, understanding these processes and their nuances becomes indispensable for the conservation and recovery of the environment. The Atlantic Forest is home to various primate species, many of which are endangered. The black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysopygus) is endemic to this biome and is classified as "endangered" by the IUCN. Due to the limited studies on this species and the recent discovery of a population in the Carlos Botelho State Park, it is necessary to conduct studies on the role that this species plays in its habitat. Considering this, the objectives of this work are: 1. Determine the characteristics of seeds dispersed by the tamarins; 2. Measure the dispersal distance of the seeds; 3. Test the effect of seed passage through the digestive tract; 4. Investigate whether they disperse arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) propagules and whether there is co-dispersion of these fungi with seeds. I will follow a group of tamarins for five days per month over 12 months, collecting all their feces and noting the behavior of group individuals using scan sampling every five minutes. Subsequently, I will conduct a germination experiment with the seeds found in the feces and also analyze the feces under a microscope for AMF propagules. In this way, I aim to define the ecological role of the tamarin as a seed disperser in a submontane forest and determine whether the species also acts as a disperser of AMF, which would be the first report for a primate species.