Regulation of community and ecosystem dynamics by large tropical forest herbivores
Advanced search
Defaunation affects the populations and diets of rodents in Neotropical rainforests
Full text
| |
| Author(s): |
Galetti, Mauro
[1]
;
Guevara, Roger
[2]
;
Neves, Carolina L.
[1]
;
Rodarte, Raisa R.
[1]
;
Bovendorp, Ricardo S.
[1]
;
Moreira, Marcelo
[3]
;
Hopkins, III, John B.
[4]
;
Yeakel, Justin D.
[5]
Total Authors: 8
|
| Affiliation: | [1] Univ Estadual Paulista UNESP, Dept Ecol, BR-13506900 Sao Paulo - Brazil
[2] AC Red Biol Evolut, Inst Ecol, Xalapa 91070, Veracruz - Mexico
[3] Univ Sao Paulo, CENA, BR-13400970 Piracicaba, SP - Brazil
[4] Hopkins, John B., III, Peking Univ, Sch Life Sci, Beijing 100871 - Peoples R China
[5] Santa Fe Inst, Santa Fe, NM 87501 - USA
Total Affiliations: 5
|
| Document type: | Journal article |
| Source: | Biological Conservation; v. 190, p. 2-7, OCT 2015. |
| Web of Science Citations: | 17 |
| Abstract | |
Most tropical rainforests have been defaunated of large-bodied mammals and the cascading effects of such extirpations have been poorly studied, particularly on other animals. We used a natural experiment in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest to investigate the ecological responses of rodents to the functional extinction of a dominant terrestrial mammal, the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecan). We detected a 45% increase in the abundance and a decrease in diversity of rodents in defaunated forests. Two of these species (Akodon montensis and Oligoryzomys nigripes) are important hosts of Hantavirus, a lethal virus for humans. Stable isotope ratios (delta C-13 and delta N-15) derived from the hair of rodents and peccaries and their food resources indicate that at least two rodent species shifted to a diet more similar to peccaries in the defaunated forest. Because most tropical rainforests are facing dramatic extirpation of large mammals, we can expect changes in the composition and structure of small mammal communities with potential consequences for human health even in non-fragmented landscapes. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 07/03392-6 - Effects of the defaunation gradient on plant herbivory, seed predation and dispersal: the Atlantic Rainforest perspective |
| Grantee: | Mauro Galetti Rodrigues |
| Support type: | Research Projects - Thematic Grants |
| FAPESP's process: | 14/01986-0 - Ecological consequences of defaunation in the Atlantic Rainforest |
| Grantee: | Mauro Galetti Rodrigues |
| Support type: | Research Projects - Thematic Grants |