Latest Articles from Neotropical Biology and Conservation Latest 2 Articles from Neotropical Biology and Conservation https://neotropical.pensoft.net/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 23:42:22 +0200 Pensoft FeedCreator https://neotropical.pensoft.net/i/logo.jpg Latest Articles from Neotropical Biology and Conservation https://neotropical.pensoft.net/ Movement distances for four small mammals in two Atlantic forests fragments, Southern Brazil https://neotropical.pensoft.net/article/59669/ Neotropical Biology and Conservation 16(1): 11-18

DOI: 10.3897/neotropical.16.e59669

Authors: Daniela Oliveira de Lima, Luana Gabriele Arenhart Braun, Fabrício Luiz Skupien, Daniele Pereira Rodrigues, Jady de Oliveira Sausen

Abstract: Animal movement has an important role in individual performance, species reproduction, population demography, and conservation, especially in fragmented landscapes. The distance moved by an individual may vary depending on individual needs, such as the search for food resources and sexual partners. Here we investigated which factors affect the distances between successive captures (hereafter DSC) for Akodon montensis, Oligoryzomys nigripes, Sooretamys angouya, and Didelphis albiventris. This study was conducted from April 2015 to October 2016 in two fragments in the south of Atlantic Forest biome through capture, mark and recapture technique. DSC was analyzed using Generalized Linear Models with Poisson distribution where the independent variables were sex, whether the animal was active or not in terms of reproduction, body weight, and climatic season. The mean DSC was greater for D. albiventris (44.6 ± 28.8 m), followed by S. angouya (31.9 ± 25.7 m), O. nigripes (25.8 ± 22.5 m) and A. montensis (18.9 ± 22.0 m). Males of all species moved larger DSC than females. Considering the rodents, reproductive animals also moved larger DSC than non-reproductive animals. Sex may have masked the effect of body weight, as males tend to be larger than females. Climatic effects were tested for A. montensis and O. nigripes, however, with diverse effects.

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Research Article Thu, 14 Jan 2021 12:42:14 +0200
Potential impact of mammal defaunation on the early regeneration of a large-seeded palm in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest https://neotropical.pensoft.net/article/54017/ Neotropical Biology and Conservation 15(2): 177-193

DOI: 10.3897/neotropical.15.e54017

Authors: Ana Y. Y. Meiga, Alexander V. Christianini

Abstract: Defaunation, the decline in animal species and populations, is biased towards large-bodied animals that have unique roles as dispersers of large seeds. However, it is speculated that these roles may still be performed by smaller animals, such as small mammals like rodents and marsupials, that thrive in defaunated sites. We investigated if small mammals can disperse the large-seeded palm Attalea dubia. We performed the study in a well-conserved Atlantic Forest remnant in southeast Brazil that still harbours large mammals, such as tapirs. Focal observations showed that capuchin-monkeys consumed the mesocarp of the fruits and dropped the seeds beneath the plant crown thereafter. Mammals preyed on ca. 1% and removed ca. 15% of the fallen fruit/seed and deposited them up to 15 m away. Amongst them, small mammals (< 1 kg), such as the squirrel Guerlinguetus brasiliensis and non-identified nocturnal Sigmodontinae, as well as the marsupial Philander frenatus performed the bulk of interactions. Dispersal enhances recruitment, but the short distances of seed removal did not match the current spatial distribution of palm seedlings and juveniles. Recaching rates of hoarded seeds were small (2%) and unlikely to increase distances of seed dispersal achieved. Short distances of dispersal would increase plant clumpiness and negative density-dependent effects with time. Although small mammals can provide legitimate dispersal, they cannot fully replace larger frugivorous mammals and maintain long-distance seed dispersal that feeds plant metapopulation dynamics and seed gene flow.

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Research Article Fri, 12 Jun 2020 08:33:22 +0300