Marco Aurélio Pizo

Bio: Marco Aurélio Pizo is an academic researcher from Sao Paulo State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Seed dispersal & Frugivore. The author has an hindex of 33, co-authored 120 publications receiving 3337 citations. Previous affiliations of Marco Aurélio Pizo include Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos & State University of Campinas.

Defaunation affects carbon storage in tropical forests

Abstract: Carbon storage is widely acknowledged as one of the most valuable forest ecosystem services. Deforestation, logging, fragmentation, fire, and climate change have significant effects on tropical carbon stocks; however, an elusive and yet undetected decrease in carbon storage may be due to defaunation of large seed dispersers. Many large tropical trees with sizeable contributions to carbon stock rely on large vertebrates for seed dispersal and regeneration, however many of these frugivores are threatened by hunting, illegal trade, and habitat loss. We used a large data set on tree species composition and abundance, seed, fruit, and carbon-related traits, and plant-animal interactions to estimate the loss of carbon storage capacity of tropical forests in defaunated scenarios. By simulating the local extinction of trees that depend on large frugivores in 31 Atlantic Forest communities, we found that defaunation has the potential to significantly erode carbon storage even when only a small proportion of large-seeded trees are extirpated. Although intergovernmental policies to reduce carbon emissions and reforestation programs have been mostly focused on deforestation, our results demonstrate that defaunation, and the loss of key ecological interactions, also poses a serious risk for the maintenance of tropical forest carbon storage.

The dimensionality of ecological networks

Abstract: How many dimensions (trait-axes) are required to predict whether two species interact? This unanswered question originated with the idea of ecological niches, and yet bears relevance today for understanding what determines network structure. Here, we analyse a set of 200 ecological networks, including food webs, antagonistic and mutualistic networks, and find that the number of dimensions needed to completely explain all interactions is small ( < 10), with model selection favouring less than five. Using 18 high-quality webs including several species traits, we identify which traits contribute the most to explaining network structure. We show that accounting for a few traits dramatically improves our understanding of the structure of ecological networks. Matching traits for resources and consumers, for example, fruit size and bill gape, are the most successful combinations. These results link ecologically important species attributes to large-scale community structure.

Polinização e dispersão de sementes em Myrtaceae do Brasil

Abstract: Myrtaceae is one of the most important plant families in Brazilian vegetation, especially forests. Its white, hermaphrodite flowers, with numerous stamens, and the fleshy fruits are exploited by a variety of animal species. This revision aimed to summarize the knowledge of the reproductive ecology of Brazilian Myrtaceae, bringing together information about the pollinators and seed dispersers of a great number of species. Data were compiled from the literature, complemented with unpublished information from the authors and other researchers. The majority of the pollination studies were carried out in Cerrado vegetation, whereas seed dispersal studies were conducted mainly on Atlantic forest. Pollen is the major resource offered by Myrtaceae flowers. The flowers are visited mainly by bees, the pollinators of almost all species studied until now. The greatest number of visits to flowers is from Meliponinae and Bombinae bees (Apidae). Other insects such as flies and wasps also visit myrtaceous flowers, occasionally acting as pollinators. Bird pollination was reported for Acca sellowiana (O. Berg) Burret and Myrrhinium atropurpureum Schott, in which the main floral resource are the fleshy and sweet petals. Birds and monkeys are the main seed dispersers of Brazilian Myrtaceae, although other mammals, reptiles, fish and ants may interact and casually disperse seeds. Information on the pollination and seed dispersal agents of Myrtaceae in Brazil are still scarce, and its knowledge is essential to species preservation and the conservation of the Brazilian forests.

Seed dispersal and predation in two populations of Cabralea canjerana (Meliaceae) in the Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil

Abstract: The seed dispersal system of a neotropical tree, Cabralea canjerana (Meliaceae), was studied in two forested areas in southeastern Brazil. The first study site, Parque Estadual Intervales (PEI), is a 49,000-ha reserve composed mostly of old-growth Atlantic rain forest. The second site, Mata de Santa Genebra (MSG), is a 250-ha fragment of old-secondary semideciduous forest whose present bird fauna differs markedly from the original, in part as a consequence of forest fragmentation. At PEI 35 bird species ate the diaspores of C. canjerana. Black-tailed tityra (Tityra cayana, Tyrannidae) was the main seed disperser, but several other species were also important seed dispersers. In contrast, at MSG C. canjerana diaspores were eaten by 14 bird species. At this area, the red-eyed vireo (Vireo olivaceus, Vireonidae) was the most important seed disperser, but it was also a ‘waster’ which dropped seeds beneath parent plants, or carried them to sites unsuitable for germination. At PEI, exposed seeds on the forest floor were heavily preyed upon by rodents and insects. Insects destroyed mainly seeds deposited near to parent plants. Insect predation was less intense at MSG than at PEI. The rodent density at MSG was unusually small, and part of the post-dispersal seed predation may be done by terrestrial birds, such as doves and tinamous, which are especially common at MSG. Some of the differences recorded between the seed dispersal systems of C. canjerana at PEI and MSG may have been the result of the fragmentation and isolation of the latter area.

Frugivory by Toucans (Ramphastidae) at Two Altitudes in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil1

Abstract: Toucans are prominent components of the tropical American avifauna. Although these birds are very conspicuous, there are few ecological studies focusing on them. In this study, the diets of four sympatric toucans (Ramphastos vitellinus, R. dicolorus, Selenidera maculirostris, and Baillonius bailloni) were assessed by recording feeding bouts at two altitudes in the Atlantic Forest of southeast Brazil. Our results show that toucans are predominantly frugivorous birds (96.5% of the 289 feeding bouts were on fruits). In the lowlands (70 m elev.), only fruits (48 species, 27 families) were recorded, while in the highlands (700 m elev.), toucans were observed feeding on fruits (25 species, 22 families), flowers, leaves, and insects. Non-fruit items were recorded only in the highlands, most of them eaten by B. bailloni. Cecropia glaziovii and Euterpe edulis, two abundant plants in the highland and lowland sites, respectively, and Virola oleifera, a plant that produces lipid-rich arillate fruits, were ea...

Defaunation in the Anthropocene

Abstract: We live amid a global wave of anthropogenically driven biodiversity loss: species and population extirpations and, critically, declines in local species abundance. Particularly, human impacts on animal biodiversity are an under-recognized form of global environmental change. Among terrestrial vertebrates, 322 species have become extinct since 1500, and populations of the remaining species show 25% average decline in abundance. Invertebrate patterns are equally dire: 67% of monitored populations show 45% mean abundance decline. Such animal declines will cascade onto ecosystem functioning and human well-being. Much remains unknown about this “Anthropocene defaunation”; these knowledge gaps hinder our capacity to predict and limit defaunation impacts. Clearly, however, defaunation is both a pervasive component of the planet’s sixth mass extinction and also a major driver of global ecological change.

Increasing awareness of avian ecological function.

Abstract: Birds are one of the most diverse groups of ecosystem service providers, whose ecological functions range from creating soil to shaping primate behavior, Nevertheless, the impression that birds have little influence on ecological processes has been hard to change. Given the ongoing declines in avian functional groups, there is a pressing need to compare avian ecological functions to those of other taxa, to understand how these functions translate to ecosystem services and to estimate the ecological implications of bird declines. Here, I review the ecological functions of birds, link them to ecosystem services and outline research priorities for understanding avian contributions to ecosystem functioning.

Impending extinction crisis of the world's primates: why primates matter

Abstract: Nonhuman primates, our closest biological relatives, play important roles in the livelihoods, cultures, and religions of many societies and offer unique insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and the threat of emerging diseases. They are an essential component of tropical biodiversity, contributing to forest regeneration and ecosystem health. Current information shows the existence of 504 species in 79 genera distributed in the Neotropics, mainland Africa, Madagascar, and Asia. Alarmingly, ~60% of primate species are now threatened with extinction and ~75% have declining populations. This situation is the result of escalating anthropogenic pressures on primates and their habitats—mainly global and local market demands, leading to extensive habitat loss through the expansion of industrial agriculture, large-scale cattle ranching, logging, oil and gas drilling, mining, dam building, and the construction of new road networks in primate range regions. Other important drivers are increased bushmeat hunting and the illegal trade of primates as pets and primate body parts, along with emerging threats, such as climate change and anthroponotic diseases. Often, these pressures act in synergy, exacerbating primate population declines. Given that primate range regions overlap extensively with a large, and rapidly growing, human population characterized by high levels of poverty, global attention is needed immediately to reverse the looming risk of primate extinctions and to attend to local human needs in sustainable ways. Raising global scientific and public awareness of the plight of the world’s primates and the costs of their loss to ecosystem health and human society is imperative.