Carnivores have long been used as model organisms to examine mechanisms that allow coexistence among ecologically similar species. Interactions between carnivores, including competition and ...predation, comprise important processes regulating local community structure and diversity. We use data from an intensive camera-trapping monitoring program across eight Neotropical forest sites to describe the patterns of spatiotemporal organization of a guild of five sympatric cat species: jaguar (Panthera onca), puma (Puma concolor), ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) and margay (Leopardus wiedii). For the three largest cat species, we developed multi-stage occupancy models accounting for habitat characteristics (landscape complexity and prey availability) and models accounting for species interactions (occupancy estimates of potential competitor cat species). Patterns of habitat-use were best explained by prey availability, rather than habitat structure or species interactions, with no evidence of negative associations of jaguar on puma and ocelot occupancy or puma on ocelot occupancy. We further explore temporal activity patterns and overlap of all five felid species. We observed a moderate temporal overlap between jaguar, puma and ocelot, with differences in their activity peaks, whereas higher temporal partitioning was observed between jaguarundi and both ocelot and margay. Lastly, we conducted temporal overlap analysis and calculated species activity levels across study sites to explore if shifts in daily activity within species can be explained by varying levels of local competition pressure. Activity patterns of ocelots, jaguarundis and margays were similarly bimodal across sites, but pumas exhibited irregular activity patterns, most likely as a response to jaguar activity. Activity levels were similar among sites and observed differences were unrelated to competition or intraguild killing risk. Our study reveals apparent spatial and temporal partitioning for most of the species pairs analyzed, with prey abundance being more important than species interactions in governing the local occurrence and spatial distribution of Neotropical forest felids.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Cross-habitat spillover may be the outcome of a process of habitat loss or degradation where the receiving habitat serves as a refuge for organisms. Once surface habitats are lost or degraded, ...animals can find underground refuge in caves. This paper is focused on testing whether taxonomic order richness inside caves is positively affected by the loss of the native vegetation cover surrounding caves; whether degradation of native vegetation cover predicts cave community composition; and whether there is a pattern of cave community clusters delimited by similarity in the effects of habitat degradation on animal communities. We gathered a comprehensive speleological dataset consisting of occurrence data of thousands of invertebrates and vertebrates sampled in 864 iron caves in the Amazon, to test the effects of both variables measured inside caves and surrounding landscapes on spatial variation in richness and composition of animal communities. We show that caves can work as refuges for the fauna in landscapes where the native vegetation cover surrounding them was degraded, which was evidenced by landcover change increasing the richness of cave communities and clustering caves by similarity in community composition. Therefore, habitat degradation on the surface should be a key variable when characterizing cave ecosystems for conservation prioritization and offset planning. Habitat degradation causing a cross-habitat spillover effect highlights the importance of maintaining the connection between caves by the surface, especially large caves. Our study can help guide industry and stakeholders working on the complex conciliation between land use and biodiversity conservation.
Despite the importance of climate‐adjusted provenancing to mitigate the effects of environmental change, climatic considerations alone are insufficient when restoring highly degraded sites. Here we ...propose a comprehensive landscape genomic approach to assist the restoration of moderately disturbed and highly degraded sites. To illustrate it we employ genomic data sets comprising thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms from two plant species suitable for the restoration of iron‐rich Amazonian Savannas. We first use a subset of neutral loci to assess genetic structure and determine the genetic neighbourhood size. We then identify genotype‐phenotype‐environment associations, map adaptive genetic variation, and predict adaptive genotypes for restoration sites. Whereas local provenances were found optimal to restore a moderately disturbed site, a mixture of genotypes seemed the most promising strategy to recover a highly degraded mining site. We discuss how our results can help define site‐adjusted provenancing strategies, and argue that our methods can be more broadly applied to assist other restoration initiatives.
see also the Perspective by Yessica Rico
► We studied use of space by two frugivorous bats in a restored Atlantic forest. ► Use of restored areas for foraging was more frequent than predicted by availability. ► Day roosting was restricted ...to foliage in remnant and restored forest habitats. ► One species roosted closer to restored areas responding to Piper fruit availability. ► Recently restored areas were important habitat for these bats in the landscape.
We studied patterns in the use of space for foraging and roosting by two frugivorous bat species in a five-year-old restored Atlantic forest located in a fragmented landscape in southeastern Brazil. Ten individuals of Carollia perspicillata and eleven individuals of Artibeus lituratus were monitored through radio-telemetry in five sampling sessions. Each session lasted 3–8days for each individual, with an average of 25.4±10 locations for each C. perspicillata individual and 19±4.4 for each A. lituratus individual. We described an average range of 124.4ha and an average commuting distance of 1158.8m for A. lituratus and an average range and commuting distance of 32ha and 489m, respectively, for C. perspicillata. We demonstrated a consistent pattern in habitat use and movements for both studied species, where they strictly used forests (restored or not) for day roosting, roosting in the foliage of trees located only in secondary forest remnants and restored areas, while restored areas were their main feeding habitat. We demonstrate that newly restored forests can be readily incorporated as foraging and roosting habitats by these species, and that C. perspicillata alters its roosting behavior in relation to preferred food availability. These results, when combined with data on the diet of the studied species, show consistent evidence of the potential that bats have to improve species diversity of anthropogenic plantings with their own natural seed dispersal.
Context
Island Biogeography Theory and Habitat Amount Hypothesis postulate species richness and densities to increase with connectivity and habitat amount, while niche theory highlights the ...importance of environmental heterogeneity for species coexistence. Additional ecological niches in heterogeneous landscapes increase species richness and functional and phylogenetic diversity, but larger, less isolated habitats are expected to enlarge species densities by mass effects without effects on functional or phylogenetic diversity.
Objectives
We assessed the relative contribution of habitat amount, isolation and environmental heterogeneity on taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic diversity of the particular
canga
vegetation, i.e., rupestrian savannas associated to banded ironstone outcrops from the Carajás Massif, Eastern Amazon.
Methods
We sampled vegetation at 48 sampling points comprising different physiognomies from 5
canga
patches. Diversity measures were modelled as response variables in linear mixed models, using non-collinear predictors of habitat amount, isolation and environmental heterogeneity.
Results
Diversity and species composition differed among
canga
physiognomies, indicating that environmental filters segregate
canga
plant metacommunity in physiognomy-specific species pools. Landscape roughness, a proxy for heterogeneity on the landscape level, increases species densities and functional richness. Additionally, habitat amount was positively associated with the degree of phylogenetic relatedness and functional diversity in communities.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that configurational landscape heterogeneity increases the number of available ecological niches, while larger habitat amounts select for functionally and phylogenetically convergent species. These different underlying mechanisms need to be considered for management plans and reserve design for
canga
ecosystems, so that functional
canga
portions can be protected.
The Neotropical realm is vastly known for its richness, being the Amazon one of the main cradles of taxonomic diversity in the region. In the last decades, molecular analyses have been further ...increasing the number of Amazonian vertebrate species, hidden under traditional taxonomy due to morphological convergence. Bats represent an interesting example, as the number of recognized bat species is continuously expanding with the identification of numerous cryptic taxa. Studies combining different lines of evidence, such as morphometric and molecular approaches, have been playing an important role in addressing knowledge gaps on Neotropical bat diversity. Within the Phyllostomidae family, the dwarf little fruit bat Rhinophylla pumilio is a forest‐dependent species, with a disjunct distribution in the Amazonian and Atlantic forests. Moreover, different karyotypes have been recovered across the species distribution, suggesting this might be one more example of cryptic diversity. Here, we test this assumption by identifying geographic patterns of morphological and molecular variation within the species' entire range of distribution. Our results point to an overall morphological and morphometric homogeneity, except between Atlantic Forest and Amazonian specimens, with significant dissimilarity among some cranial characters. Furthermore, genetic data suggest a rapid and recent diversification, with these two lineages most likely corresponding to speciating taxa. Within the Amazonian forest, our molecular analyses also recovered four additional lineages, likely encompassing intraspecific diversity. Furthermore, studies are required to confirm the need for a taxonomic rearrangement.
Ensuring the preservation of biodiversity is essential for humankind, as the ecosystem services it provides are directly linked to human well-being and health. The private sector has increasingly ...recognized the need to achieve Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) through measurable indicators and effective data collection (Rashed 2021).
Extensive field research is often needed for private sector initiatives to generate socio-economic and environmental assessments, which usually requires hiring service providers. Regarding environmental and biodiversity information collections, the wide variety of data requires service providers to be specialized in many types of information, and therefore able to collect data on fauna and flora, soil and its microorganisms, genetic and evolutionary data, monitoring of the climate, conservation, and restoration areas, among many others.
Long-term monitoring, a generally common demand for the private sector (e.g., Shackelford (2018)), also relies on collecting various types of data often surveyed, gathered, and stored in a non-standardized fashion.
The lack of data standardization makes it difficult to integrate information into central databases (Henle 2013), creating a new demand to extract and convert data from different reports, which is often time and energy-consuming, and cost-ineffective. This task is generally conducted by non-specialists and may result in misinterpretation and digitization failures, compromising information quality.
The digital standardization of data is a key solution for solving these problems (Kuhl 2020), increasing efficiency in the collection, curation, and sharing of data, improving the quality and accuracy of the information, and reducing the risk of misinterpretation. The primary advantage is that the same professional who collects the data will digitize it into a common database. The direct population of raw information into the database eliminates intermediate data conversion steps optimizing quality.
Here, we propose to generate a protocol for data collection in our institution (from the field, labs, museums, herbaria). This protocol is based on consolidated data standards, namely the Darwin Core (DwC). DwC is a glossary of terms that aims to standardize biodiversity information, which enables sharing data publicly. However, we are also creating new customized terms, classes, and respective metadata, such as species interaction, primarily to meet our need for long-term monitoring and assessments that are not covered by standard repositories.
To assess the types of surveyed and stored data required, we are interviewing biodiversity researchers from diverse scientific backgrounds about their specific data needs and the definitions of their recommended terms (metadata). Using this method, we aim to involve people in the development process, creating a more inclusive data protocol, ensuring that all possible data demands are covered, making the protocol more likely to be generally accepted.
Based on our interviews, one of the main difficulties in using a standardized glossary of terms is many unnecessary or unfillable data. This results from the search for comprehensiveness that also generates excessiveness. Taking this into account, we created a modular logic, selecting the best set of data (from a complete standardized database) for the specific demand or use.
For example, if this standard database is used to guide a floral survey, it will most likely not require variables on fauna, caves, hydrology, etc. In this way, the system exports a perfectly customized digital spreadsheet containing the variables that the research team wants to collect, but also recommending other variables of interest that can be obtained during fieldwork, increasing the efficiency and scope of the activity (which may be financially onerous).
We intend to make the system compatible with mobile technologies to be used indoors and outdoors, transferring the information directly to a virtual and integrative database. These open data collection protocols could be freely applied in other communities e.g., public research institutions, researchers' fieldwork, and citizen science projects.
We want our framework to be FAIR, making our data more Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Re-usable, and will integrate the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Location Intelligence, concepts in our projects of long-term biodiversity and environmental field monitoring (Fig. 1).
•Tropical caves harbor many endemic and often threatened species.•Here we identify biodiversity surrogates for obligate subterranean dwellers.•Patterns of community concordance with phylogenetic ...distinctiveness were assessed.•Surrogates were robust to sampling biases, spatial scale and ecological gradients.•Surrogates could assist monitoring programs and iron cave conservation efforts.
An approach to deal with biodiversity knowledge shortfalls in conservation is to base systematic planning and monitoring on surrogate taxa that represent diversity patterns of the whole studied system. By adopting evolutionary history to guide the search for these suitable surrogates, it is possible to use lineage differences as predictors of biological processes promoting overall diversity. Tropical cave ecosystems are among the least known terrestrial ecosystems, and yet harbour a diverse array of organisms, among which obligate subterranean dwellers (troglobites) stand out as primary targets for conservation. In the present study, we take advantage of a bio-speleological database of iron caves located in south-eastern Amazonia to examine regional patterns of community concordance among the taxonomic and ecological grouping of troglobitic species. Relying on species incidence data and a phylogenetic classification of these species, we estimate the evolutionary distinctiveness weighted by the extinction risk for each of them and relate this measure to community composition, identifying the best taxonomic surrogates of troglobite diversity. We evaluated similarity patterns of community composition based on a Procruste’s methodological approach, and then tested the resulting concordance patterns for scale and sampling biases. We also evaluated selected concordance results across spatial and environmental gradients, using a distance-based redundancy analysis. Our results reveal that the ordination of rare species was poorly correlated to the ordination of the evolutionary classification of species, whereas Entognatha and Arachnida together presented high values of concordance. Furthermore, the concordance patterns we depict scale up to the geomorphological features that characterize the region, suggesting their importance in shaping biodiversity patterns in this system. Our findings have important conservation implications, as they show that the current focus on rare species does not guarantee the conservation of evolutionary uniqueness in iron cave ecosystems.
Between april 2005 and May 2006, according to the pressuposts of line transect methodology, census were carried to estimate abundance and population density of Callicebus nigrifrons Spix, 1823 ...(Pitheciidae) in Cantareira State Park, State of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil (23°23'42"S, 46°35'27"W). After 275.80 Km of census sampling effort, the titis were the second most abundant primate species, presenting an abundance index of 1.4 groups for each 10 km walked and a density estimate of 12.21 ind./km² (ranging between 8.45 a 17.63 ind./km²). The collection of ancillary data during the census allowed the determination of diet and habitat use by the titis groups, and results show a relative adaptability to disturbed habitats.
Entre abril de 2005 e maio de 2006, através de censos seguindo os pressupostos da metodologia de transecção linear, foram estimadas a densidade populacional e abundância de Callicebus nigrifrons Spix, 1823 (Pitheciidae) no Parque Estadual da Cantareira, Estado de São Paulo, Sudeste do Brasil (23°23'42"S, 46°35'27"W). Com um esforço amostral de 275,8 km de censos, os sauás foram a segunda espécie de primata mais abundante, apresentando um índice de abundância de 1,4 grupos para cada 10 km percorridos e uma estimativa de densidade de 12,21 ind./km² (variando de 8,45 a 17,63 ind./km²). A coleta de dados auxiliares durante os censos possibilitou a verificação da dieta e uso do hábitat pelos grupos de Callicebus, e os resultados evidenciaram uma relativa adaptabilidade à ambientes perturbados.
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