Trees of Pouteria bullata, endemic to Brazil and collectively known as guapeva-vermelha, are found exclusively in the Atlantic rainforest biome and produce sweet, juicy fruits.
Where these animals disappeared, so did P. boullata, which is listed as “Vulnerable” on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Indeed, according to a journal article, the animals most important for seed dispersal are the first to disappear as a result of the destruction of the Atlantic rainforests. Biotropics.
“Seed dispersal is a complex process involving many vertebrate species simultaneously. Deforestation leads to the extinction of animals that lose their food and plants that can no longer spread their seeds,” said Lisier Fusessy, first author of the paper. .
The study was supported by FAPESP while Fusessi was doing postdoctoral research at the Institute of Biological Sciences of the State University of São Paulo (IB-UNESP) in Rio Claro, Brazil, and was part of the “Effects of Fragmentation on the Ecological Functions of Primates” project. also funded by FAPESP. The principal investigator for the project was Lawrence Kuhlo, Professor at IB-UNESP.
Fuzessi carried out part of the research during a fellowship at the Doñana Biological Station (EBD-CSIC) in Spain with a FAPESP fellowship and in collaboration with Prof. Pedro Giordano.
“Originally, we set out to investigate the role of primates in seed dispersal, but it soon became clear that we needed to analyze the roles that all vertebrates play,” Fusessi explained.
In addition to primates, the study covered seed dispersal by birds, bats, carnivores, marsupials, rodents, and ungulates (deer, tapirs, and peccaries, among others). Thus, the study has evolved into an unusually broad analysis of the interactions between animals and plants that support biodiversity.
Surviving territories and fragments
To understand the consequences of the disappearance of animals from the forests, the researchers compared the interactions of animals and plants in two forest regions of the state of São Paulo.
One of these was the Serra de Paranapiacaba, a well-preserved area of over 120,000 hectares of Atlantic rainforest, including parks or reserves, as well as private estates. The mountain range (or serra in Portuguese) is home to endangered mammals such as the jaguar (Panthera onca), bush dog (Speothos venaticus) and white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), as well as the already mentioned tapirs and muriki. The Serra de Paranapiacaba is also the most important refuge for the black-fronted guan (Pipile jacutinga), a large fruit-eating bird that has become extinct in most of the remnants of the Atlantic rainforest.
The other area explored was the Reserva de Santa Genebra, a 250-hectare fragment surrounded by urban development and farmland, like most of the remains of the biome. Its vegetation cover was steadily destroyed until 1984, when it received protected status. Very few large vertebrates live in the area, mostly small birds and medium-sized mammals such as spotted paca (Cuniculus paca), large American opossum (Didelphis species) and Brazilian squirrel (Guerlinguetus brasiliensis). Several large frugivores (frugivores) also live here, including A. guariba and the dark-footed guan (Penelope obscura). However, interaction levels were lower than in the protected area.
The researchers recorded 1588 interactions between 133 animals and 315 plants in the Serra de Paranapiacaba; and 221 interactions between 54 animals and 58 plants in the Reserva de Santa Genebra.
“The difference was very significant. Key species such as muriki and tapirs eat a much wider variety of fruits than, for example, birds,” said Fuzessi. “In addition to their strong calorie requirement, they have a wide cleft or esophagus that allows them to swallow large fruits and scatter plants, which would simply disappear in a cascading effect without them.”
This is another study demonstrating the importance of conserving not only species but also functional diversity – the interaction between animals and plants that allows a forest to thrive – and therefore serves as the basis for conservation and reforestation projects.
Human activities affect the interaction between plants and birds that disperse seeds.
Additional Information:
Lisieux Fuzessy et al. The functional roles of frugivores and plants form superdiverse mutualistic interactions within two antagonistic conservation scenarios, Biotropics (2022). DOI: 10.1111/btp.13065
Quote: Animals needed for seed dispersal are the first to disappear due to deforestation (2022 April 26), retrieved April 26, 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-04-animals-essential-seed -diversal-deforestation.html.
This document is protected by copyright. Except in any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without written permission. Content is provided for informational purposes only.