Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation最新文献

For the 701 mammals that occur in Brazil (ca. 13% of extant mammals worldwide), we attributed ES to each deliverer one based on their functional traits, known trophic interactions, expert knowledge, and by overlaying IUCN's distribution maps of the species. The ES term encompasses both ecosystem processes and services, offering a broader perspective that enables us to investigate the potential benefits of mammals to people. We assumed that species that are currently listed as threatened in the IUCN most likely lost their ES role. We found that 82% of Brazilian mammals (575 spp.) deliver at least one of the 11 ES identified. Cultural services were associated with the greatest number of deliverer species, while carrion control, ecosystem engineering, and rodent control were delivered by fewer species. Although only 24% of the species analyzed here are endemic to Brazil, 75% of them deliver at least one ES. The ES they delivered are also disproportionately at risk, as 57% of the species considered to have lost their ES role are endemic. Ecosystem service provision does not merely mirror the spatial patterns of mammal richness in general, as we identified hotspots for each service across Brazil, including its seascapes. Our comprehensive assessment provides a clear overview of the myriad of services delivered by Brazilian mammals, including taxonomic and spatial explicit information for each service. Identifying and mapping species and their services can contribute to more effective management and conservation programs focused on optimizing the supply of ES and conserving biodiversity.

To restore 12 million hectares of native vegetation in Brazil by 2030, aligning environmental policies with incentive measures is crucial. The Ecological Fiscal Transfer (known as Ecological ICMS in Brazil) allows states to redistribute the ICMS tax (similar to the Value Added Tax) revenue based on environmental criteria, likely motivating municipalities to take environmental action. São Paulo recently modified its ecological ICMS legislation, increasing the ICMS revenue distributed according to environmental criteria and introducing a new criterion for native vegetation cover. We assessed the impact of these changes on tax redistribution, considering three scenarios: the former rules (2021), the new rules (2025), and the new rules with 1.5 million hectares of vegetation restored (2042). While the pattern of ICMS distribution remained mostly unchanged, there were distributional effects. Some municipalities lost up to 5% of their initial revenue, while others with high socio-environmental importance doubled their revenues. Existing environmental criteria still lack incentives for local environmental policies. However, the new criterion for native vegetation cover could, with practical limitations, boost municipal revenue after restoring 1.5 million hectares. São Paulo's initiative to incorporate native vegetation cover into an Ecological Fiscal Transfer policy holds the potential to inspire similar tax-based environmental incentives worldwide. However, it must be adapted to motivate local governments to embrace restoration actions rather than serving primarily as a compensatory measure.

Restoring tropical forests still relies on expensive tree planting. Timber production from native trees offers a promising opportunity to make restoration financially viable, but species growth data are lacking. We assessed the potential of tropical forest restoration plantations for producing native timber in the Atlantic Forest. For that we inventoried a chronosequence of unmanaged restoration plantation sites with ten commercial native tree species. Then we developed growth models and used the Growth-Oriented Logging (GOL) method to inform targeted management decisions, including an optimized timber-focused scenario, based on growth and bole quality assessment. Usually, growth-rate classes for saw wood production would be defined according to the time necessary for achieving 35 cm in DBH. Harvesting age was markedly reduced using GOL for species of fast-growth (from <50 to <25 years), intermediate-growth (from 50 to 70 to 25–50 years), slow-growth (from >70 to 50–75 years). Following GOL, basal area was 42 ± 30% larger at harvest (taking 35 ± 23% more time) or 60 ± 16.5% smaller (taking 66 ± 16% less time). The optimized scenario speeded tree-size achievement and anticipated harvesting in an average of 58 years. Species selection, individualization, and silvicultural management are critical for producing timber in forest restoration programs.

Synthesis science is an emergent research field for harmonizing different data, concepts, and theories to create new insights and endorse novel approaches. Here we provide a brief general overview of synthesis science, emphasize the geographically biased location of synthesis centers一particularly their paucity in the Global South一and highlight the pioneering role of the Synthesis Center on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (SinBiose, CNPq) concerning transdisciplinary aspirations in the Global South. Working with the ecosystem service dimension requires breaking discipline boundaries to approach society, stakeholders, and decision-makers, which SinBiose fosters and is rarely found elsewhere. This article features a “Brazilian experience” of synthesis science through the perception of SinBiose’s postdoctoral researchers, which have a central role in the workflow as the only professionals dedicated exclusively to the projects. As a conclusion, we present recommendations for improving the support for postdoctoral researchers and arguments for a continued funding of synthesis science in Brazil.

The intensification of extreme climate events is already a reality throughout the world. In the Brazilian Amazon, the most frequent extreme events are linked to droughts and floods. This study expanded the documentation on extreme events of floods, water crisis, fires and forest fires in the state of Acre, in the southwestern Brazilian Amazon. We analyzed extreme weather events in state and municipal state-of-emergency and public-calamity decrees, reports of people who faced the impacts of these events, scientific articles, and press reports. The results show that the state of Acre recorded 202 extreme events between 1987 and 2023, with an increasing trend in the number and occurrence of various types of extreme events in the same year since 2010. Twenty-one state-of-emergency and public-calamity decrees were issued, with flood events being the most frequent. The cities of Rio Branco and Cruzeiro do Sul recorded 14 and 21 extreme events, respectively, or approximately one event every two years. These data show the urgency of implementing actions to adapt to climate extremes. Starting in 2005, the annual results indicate an increase in municipalities (counties) experiencing more than one type of extreme event, pointing to the need for effective public policies for adaptation and mitigation in the state of Acre.

Climate change is one of the key drivers of the dramatic erosion of global biodiversity. Poikilothermic organisms, such as amphibians, are particularly prone to alterations in temperature and precipitation and are therefore expected to be severely impacted by global climate change. We evaluated: i) the potential effects of climate change on taxonomic and functional richness of amphibians in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil, and ii) tested whether forest-dependent and open area species responded differently to climatic stressors. We applied an ensemble forecasting approach using point locality data to establish predictive maps of taxonomic and functional richness for different IPCC AR5 scenarios with two Representative Concentration Pathway trajectories (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) at two temporal projections (2050 and 2070). A significant decline in both taxonomic and functional richness of Atlantic Forest amphibians is expected over the coming decades under the evaluated climate scenarios. The core areas projected to maintain significantly high anuran richness in both components were in coastal high-altitude localities. We found negative effects (losses) to be more pronounced for taxonomic richness. Model outcomes indicate significant losses in both forest and open area species. A few remaining high-altitude sites will then play an important role as potential climatic refuges to safeguard anuran diversity, requiring a dynamic landscape approach as conservation strategy.

Fires cause wild vertebrates to try to escape, thereby leading to an increase in attempts to cross roads and consequently an increase in the number of roadkills. However, the study of the impact of fires on roadkilling of wild vertebrates is practically nonexistent. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between fires near a 180 km highway stretch in Southeast Brazil and wild vertebrate roadkills using a 7-year dataset on roadkills and satellite data on fires, hypothesizing that roadkills would increase after fires. We found that the number of roadkilled wild vertebrates increased by about 144% (P = 0.020) in highway sections up to 1 km from fires, within 7–8 days after the fires. The number of roadkills in highway sections affected by fires was also higher than that of neighboring (control) section (P = 0.028). Taken together, these results show there was a significant increase in the number of roadkills on road sections close to or within burned areas. This work emphasizes the importance of analyzing the synergistic effects of fires and roadkill of wild vertebrates and guides research on adopting an experimental design which allows for temporal and spatial controls using retrospective data on fires and roadkilling. We recommend decreasing traffic flow and/or vehicle speed near areas recently affected by fires, as a preventive management strategy.

Sustainable agendas are often threatened by divergent political viewpoints. This was evidenced by the January 2023 coup attempt in Brazil. The 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda faces various challenges and relies on safeguarding institutions and democracy itself. For megadiverse countries such as Brazil, strengthening the nexus between democracy and governance is fundamental.

Agricultural intensification is a major driver of biodiversity loss. However, the exact impacts of such loss of key ecosystem service (ES) provisions in agriculture require more scrutiny. We assessed the population loss impacts of a key ES-providing species in an agricultural landscape. We tested the hypothesis that intensive agriculture causes density reduction of frogs known as pest regulators and that negatively affects pest regulation. Different frog densities (high and low) observed in a previous study in low and high agricultural intensification areas were used as treatments in a semi-controlled field experiment. Functional response of the frog species was also studied. Neither high nor low frog density had any significant effect on respective pest populations. Limited feeding rate of the frog species might have contributed to reduced predation pressure on pests. Surprisingly, at low density, frogs significantly reduced the arthropod natural enemies, probably their preferred prey due to the latter’s agility. Unlike in low frog density treatment, increased intraspecific competition at high frog density made them seek out pests as alternative prey to the preferred arthropod pest enemies, whose populations were not affected by frog density. This study for the first time links the population loss of frogs, a potential bio-control agent to ES provision in a multi-trophic system.

Optimizing research efforts for biodiversity monitoring is crucial to conservation projects and actions to increase our ability to inform conservation priorities. However, it requires the financial and human capacity. Euglossini bees have been used in monitoring actions as successful bioindicators. Yet, relationships among variables and stressors are complex and can change over time, environment, and local conditions. Here we investigated the influence of sample area on sampling to maximize the cost-benefit ratio of collection effort and the relationship from Euglossini bees with environmental predictors at a mesoscale (25 km2) in central Amazonia considering PPBio plots structure. We found differences considering the sampling unit scale, including capturing different assemblage species compositions. Most bee species were sampled along the phosphorus gradient. Due to the growth of deforestation in the Amazon Forest, especially in the so-called “Arc of Deforestation”, these bees could provide quick and valuable information about landscape quality. Here we present part of the pieces from a giant puzzle that we still need to complete to provide conservation efforts for this group. Our work highlighted the need to consider soil and nutrient variables other than vegetation and distribute scents traps in larger areas instead of in small plots.