José M. V. Fragoso

Bio: José M. V. Fragoso is an academic researcher from Stanford University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Biodiversity. The author has an hindex of 24, co-authored 41 publications receiving 2662 citations. Previous affiliations of José M. V. Fragoso include California Academy of Sciences & University of Hawaii at Manoa.

Forecasting Regional to Global Plant Migration in Response to Climate Change

Abstract: The rate of future climate change is likely to exceed the migration rates of most plant species. The replacement of dominant species by locally rare species may require decades, and extinctions may occur when plant species cannot migrate fast enough to escape the consequences of climate change. Such lags may impair ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration and clean water production. Thus, to assess global change, simulation of plant migration and local vegetation change by dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) is critical, yet fraught with challenges. Global vegetation models cannot simulate all species, necessitating their aggregation into plant functional types (PFTs). Yet most PFTs encompass the full spectrum of migration rates. Migration processes span scales of time and space far beyond what can be confidently simulated in DGVMs. Theories about climate change and migration are limited by inadequate data for key processes at short and long time scales and at small and large spatial scales. These theories must be enhanced to incorporate species-level migration and succession processes into a more comprehensive definition of PFTs.

Tapir-generated seed shadows : scale-dependent patchiness in the amazon rain forest

Abstract: 1 Maximiliana maripa is a large seeded palm that occurs in monodominant patches (clumps) in the Amazonian forest of Marac'a Island, Roraima, Brazil. 2 Rodents, collared peccaries (Tayassu tajacu), deer (Odocoileus virginianus and Mazama spp.) and primates, all short-distance, small-to-medium bodied dispersers, ate the pulp of Maximiliana fruits and spat out intact seeds, from 97 to 100% of them within 5 m of parent plants (below the tree crown). 3 Tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) swallowed entire fruits and defecated intact seeds at latrines located up to 2 km from the nearest palm clump, creating a large-scale, punctuated seed shadow. 4 Bruchid beetle (Pachymeris cardo) larvae killed 77% of seeds remaining near parent trees, but only 0.7% of the 6140 seeds dispersed by tapirs to latrines. 5 Densities of zero-year seedlings to fifth-year saplings were significantly higher at tapir latrine sites than around parent trees located in conspecific aggregations; they were also significantly higher for the zero and one year classes at latrines than at randomly selected nonpalm, nonlatrine control trees. 6 Seeds dispersed by tapirs to latrines and secondarily dispersed by rodents gave rise to the seedlings and saplings located around the latrine sites, while seeds secondarily dispersed by rodents gave rise to the seedlings and saplings around control trees. 7 Collared (Tayassu tajacu) and white-lipped (T. pecari) peccaries accounted for high seedling and sapling mortality around parent trees. 8 Adult Maximiliana attained densities of 32 trees per 2500 m2 within these patches. 9 Clump dispersal of seeds by tapirs, a meso-scale process, interacting with the smallscale process of seed dispersal by rodents, is sufficient to explain the creation of palm patches.

Long‐distance seed dispersal by tapirs increases seed survival and aggregates tropical trees

Abstract: The dominant models explaining tree species diversity and distribution pat- terns in tropical forests are the Janzen-Connell and Recruitment Limitation models, neither of which considers the effect of long-distance seed dispersal on seed survival, seedling establishment, or the aggregated distributions of trees empirically observed at mesoscales in tropical forests. At a neotropical forest site (Maracai Island Ecological Reserve, Roraima, Brazil), we experimentally reproduced long-distance clumped seed dispersal by tapirs for the palm Maximiliana maripa. Such dispersal protects seeds from attack by species-specific bruchid beetles by (1) covering them in protective fecal material and (2) placing them in sites distant from conspecific adult tree aggregations, where beetles are less active. En- docarps distant from parent patches survived bruchid attack at a significantly higher rate than those in parent patches, as did in-feces endocarps compared to clean endocarps. A significant interaction effect between distance from patches and feces treatment showed that feces conferred protection to seeds within a parent patch but did not appear to confer additional protection to seeds already protected by distance from the parent patch. A me- soscale map compiled from aerial photography, satellite imagery, and air- and ground- truthing revealed an aggregated pattern of M. maripa palms associated with tapir latrine sites, supporting the view that long-distance seed dispersal by tapirs is responsible for the generation of palm patches and potentially important in forest-savanna boundary dynamics. We conclude that seed shadows and survival rates can justifiably be studied at the scale of tree aggregations rather than at the scale of individual trees, and that long-distance seed dispersal is neither rare nor unpredictable once we understand the movements and behavior of large, mobile animals.

Forecasting plant migration rates: managing uncertainty for risk assessment

Abstract: Summary 1 Anthropogenic changes in the global climate are shifting the potential ranges of many plant species 2 Changing climates will allow some species the opportunity to expand their range, others may experience a contraction in their potential range, while the current and future ranges of some species may not overlap Our capacity to generalize about the threat these range shifts pose to plant diversity is limited by many sources of uncertainty 3 In this paper we summarize sources of uncertainty for migration forecasts and suggest a research protocol for making forecasts in the context of uncertainty

Home Range and Movement Patterns of White‐lipped Peccary (Tayassu pecari) Herds in the Northern Brazilian Amazon1

Abstract: Two white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari) herds were radio-tracked for 5 and 13 mo, respectively, on Maraca Island Ecological Reserve, Roraima, Brazil. Home range size was 109.6 km2 for the larger herd (130 animals) and 21.8 km2 for the smaller herd (53 animals). Neither herd migrated or moved nomadically during the study period. The herd with the longer observation period increased its home range size during the flooded season by including new sites not used in the nonflooded season and continuing to use the nonflooded season sites. This pattern of simultancously using distinct seasonal ranges also occurred between the rainy and dry periods and the herd regularly and predictably returned to favored feeding sites. Population declines and disappearances in this study and others may have been caused by in situ mortality rather than by long-distance movements.

Mechanisms of plant survival and mortality during drought: why do some plants survive while others succumb to drought?

Abstract: Summary Severe droughts have been associated with regional-scale forest mortality worldwide. Climate change is expected to exacerbate regional mortality events; however, pre- diction remains difficult because the physiological mechanisms underlying drought survival and mortality are poorly understood. We developed a hydraulically based theory considering carbon balance and insect resistance that allowed development and examination of hypotheses regarding survival and mortality. Multiple mechanisms may cause mortality during drought. A common mechanism for plants with isohydric

Climate change 2014 - Mitigation of climate change

Abstract: The talk with present the key results of the IPCC Working Group III 5th assessment report. Concluding four years of intense scientific collaboration by hundreds of authors from around the world, the report responds to the request of the world's governments for a comprehensive, objective and policy neutral assessment of the current scientific knowledge on mitigating climate change. The report has been extensively reviewed by experts and governments to ensure quality and comprehensiveness.

Spatial patterns of seed dispersal, their determinants and consequences for recruitment.

Abstract: Growing interest in spatial ecology is promoting new approaches to the study of seed dispersal, one of the key processes determining the spatial structure of plant populations. Seed-dispersion patterns vary among plant species, populations and individuals, at different distances from parents, different microsites and different times. Recent field studies have made progress in elucidating the mechanisms behind these patterns and the implications of these patterns for recruitment success. Together with the development and refinement of mathematical models, this promises a deeper, more mechanistic understanding of dispersal processes and their consequences.

Response diversity, ecosystem change, and resilience

Abstract: Biological diversity appears to enhance the resilience of desirable ecosystem states, which is required to secure the production of essential ecosystem services. The diversity of responses to environmental change among species contributing to the same ecosystem function, which we call response diversity, is critical to resilience. Response diversity is particularly important for ecosystem renewal and reorganization following change. Here we present examples of response diversity from both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and across temporal and spatial scales. Response diversity provides adaptive capacity in a world of complex systems, uncertainty, and human-dominated environments. We should pay special attention to response diversity when planning ecosystem management and restoration, since it may contribute considerably to the resilience of desired ecosystem states against disturbance, mismanagement, and degradation.

The ecology of seeds

Abstract: What determines the number and size of the seeds produced by a plant? How often should it reproduce them? How often should a plant produce them? Why and how are seeds dispersed, and what are the implications for the diversity and composition of vegetation? These are just some of the questions tackled in this wide-ranging review of the role of seeds in the ecology of plants. The authors bring together information on the ecological aspects of seed biology, starting with a consideration of reproductive strategies in seed plants and progressing through the life cycle, covering seed maturation, dispersal, storage in the soil, dormancy, germination, seedling establishment, and regeneration in the field. The text encompasses a wide range of concepts of general relevance to plant ecology, reflecting the central role that the study of seed ecology has played in elucidating many fundamental aspects of plant community function.