Re-Wilding the Neotropics: Prioritization approaches to reverse defaunation in megadiverse ecosystems

• Grant number: 24/15742-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2024
• End date: December 31, 2027
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Mauro Galetti Rodrigues
• Grantee: Mateus de Melo Dias
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 21/10639-5 - Center for Research on Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change, AP.CEPID
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/12162-2 - Setting priorities for trophic rewilding in the Neotropics: a large-scale framework for species and area selection, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

In the quest for a wilder Anthropocene, rewilding is gaining traction as a restoration approach to promote self-regulating ecosystems by restoring ecological processes. One of the main types of this emerging ecological restoration is trophic rewilding, which focuses on restoring the role of trophic interactions and ecosystem functions through the introduction of species. Although South America has experienced large-scale defaunation, rewilding is not yet considered a systematic tool for biodiversity restoration and is therefore not a priority or feasible approach for Neotropical ecosystems. Thus, our project aims to develop a framework for prioritizing areas, species, and strands of thinking to reverse defaunation through trophic rewilding in the Neotropics. In the first chapter, we will analyze whether animal reintroductions result in a significant change in the trophic cascade by comparing top-down and bottom-up reintroduction approaches through a global meta-analysis review. In the second chapter, we will build a framework to predict and select the vertebrate species best suited to restructure the trophic cascade over time through trophic rewilding in the Neotropics. To test the applicability of the framework for selecting potential species for trophic rewilding, we will select three defaunated Protected Areas in Brazil, characterized by distinct defaunation syndromes. And through ensemble ecosystem modeling we will predict trophic responses to the species introduction simulation. Finally, in the third chapter, we will map and define hotspots for trophic rewilding in the Neotropics, based on biodiversity, landscape, geodiversity, and disturbance attributes. We will use the Brazilian Protected Areas system of tropical rainforests, savannas, and dry forests as a model, and use the Area Rewilding Potential Score as a measurable indicator for each area. With these frameworks, we expect that trophic rewilding to be scaled up and integrated into conservation and global change mitigation strategies by South American governments, NGOs, and private institutions.