A global map of species at risk of extinction due to natural hazards.

An often-overlooked question of the biodiversity crisis is how natural hazards contribute to species extinction risk. To address this issue, we explored how four natural hazards, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, and volcanoes, overlapped with the distribution ranges of amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles that have either narrow distributions or populations with few mature individuals. To assess which species are at risk from these natural hazards, we combined the frequency and magnitude of each natural hazard to estimate their impact. We considered species at risk if they overlapped with regions where any of the four natural hazards historically occurred (n = 3,722). Those species with at least a quarter of their range subjected to a high relative impact were considered at high risk (n = 2,001) of extinction due to natural hazards. In total, 834 reptiles, 617 amphibians, 302 birds, and 248 mammals were at high risk and they were mainly distributed on islands and in the tropics. Hurricanes (n = 983) and earthquakes (n = 868) affected most species, while tsunamis (n = 272), and volcanoes (n = 171) affected considerably fewer. The region with the highest number of species at high risk was the Pacific Ring of Fire, especially due to volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis, while hurricane-related high-risk species were concentrated in the Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and northwestern Pacific Ocean. Our study provides important information regarding the species at risk due to natural hazards and can help guide conservation attention and efforts to safeguard their survival.

Defaunation impacts on the carbon balance of tropical forests.

The urgent need to mitigate and adapt to climate change necessitates a comprehensive understanding of carbon cycling dynamics. Traditionally, global carbon cycle models have focused on vegetation, but recent research suggests that animals can play a significant role in carbon dynamics under some circumstances, potentially enhancing the effectiveness of nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change. However, links between animals, plants, and carbon remain unclear. We explored the complex interactions between defaunation and ecosystem carbon in Earth's most biodiverse and carbon-rich biome, tropical rainforests. Defaunation can change patterns of seed dispersal, granivory, and herbivory in ways that alter tree species composition and, therefore, forest carbon above- and belowground. Most studies we reviewed show that defaunation reduces carbon storage 0-26% in the Neo- and Afrotropics, primarily via population declines in large-seeded, animal-dispersed trees. However, Asian forests are not predicted to experience changes because their high-carbon trees are wind dispersed. Extrapolating these local effects to entire ecosystems implies losses of ∼1.6 Pg CO2 equivalent across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and 4-9.2 Pg across the Amazon over 100 years and of ∼14.7-26.3 Pg across the Congo basin over 250 years. In addition to being hard to quantify with precision, the effects of defaunation on ecosystem carbon are highly context dependent; outcomes varied based on the balance between antagonist and mutualist species interactions, abiotic conditions, human pressure, and numerous other factors. A combination of experiments, large-scale comparative studies, and mechanistic models could help disentangle the effects of defaunation from other anthropogenic forces in the face of the incredible complexity of tropical forest systems. Overall, our synthesis emphasizes the importance of-and inconsistent results when-integrating animal dynamics into carbon cycle models, which is crucial for developing climate change mitigation strategies and effective policies.

Impactos de la defaunación sobre el balance de carbono en los bosques tropicales La urgencia por mitigar y adaptarse al cambio climático requiere que se entiendan las dinámicas del ciclo del carbono. Es común que los modelos del ciclo del carbono se enfoquen en la vegetación, pero estudios recientes sugieren que los animales pueden tener un papel significativo en las dinámicas del carbono bajo ciertas circunstancias, lo que tiene el potencial para mejorar la efectividad de las soluciones basadas en la naturaleza para mitigar el cambio climático. Sin embargo, todavía no está clara la relación entre los animales, las plantas y el carbono. Exploramos las interacciones complejas entre la defaunación y el carbono ambiental en el bioma más biodiverso y más rico en carbono de la Tierra: los bosques tropicales. La defaunación puede cambiar los patrones de dispersión de semillas, granivoría y herbivoría de manera que alteran la composición de especies de árboles y, por lo tanto, el carbono boscoso encima y debajo de la tierra. La mayoría de los estudios que revisamos muestran que la defaunación reduce el almacenamiento de carbono 0­26% en las zonas neotropical y afrotropical, principalmente por medio de las declinaciones poblacionales de los árboles con semillas grandes dispersadas por animales. Sin embargo, no hay pronósticos de que los bosques asiáticos sufran cambios porque sus árboles de carbono alto tienen dispersión por viento. Si extrapolamos estos efectos locales a ecosistemas completos, hay una pérdida explícita equivalente de ∼1.6 Pg CO2 en el Bosque Atlántico Brasileño y de 4 ­ 9.2 Pg en la Amazonia a lo largo de cien años; la pérdida es de ∼14.7 ­ 26.3 Pg en la cuenca del Congo a lo largo de 250 años. Además de que son difíciles de cuantificar con precisión, los efectos de la defaunación sobre el carbono ambiental dependen en gran parte del contexto; los resultados variaron con base en el balance entra las interacciones de las especies mutualistas y antagonistas, las condiciones abióticas, la presión antropogénica y muchos factores más. Una combinación de experimentos, estudios comparativos a gran escala y modelos mecánicos podrían ayudar a comprender los efectos de la defaunación causada por otras fuerzas antropogénicas de frente a la increíble complejidad de los sistemas de bosques tropicales. En general, nuestra síntesis resalta la importancia de ­ y los resultados inconstantes cuando ­ la integración de las dinámicas animales en los modelos del ciclo del carbono, lo cual es importante para desarrollar estrategias de mitigación del cambio climático y políticas efectivas.

ATLANTIC MAMMAL TRAITS: a data set of morphological traits of mammals in the Atlantic Forest of South America.

Measures of traits are the basis of functional biological diversity. Numerous works consider mean species-level measures of traits while ignoring individual variance within species. However, there is a large amount of variation within species and it is increasingly apparent that it is important to consider trait variation not only between species, but also within species. Mammals are an interesting group for investigating trait-based approaches because they play diverse and important ecological functions (e.g., pollination, seed dispersal, predation, grazing) that are correlated with functional traits. Here we compile a data set comprising morphological and life history information of 279 mammal species from 39,850 individuals of 388 populations ranging from -5.83 to -29.75 decimal degrees of latitude and -34.82 to -56.73 decimal degrees of longitude in the Atlantic forest of South America. We present trait information from 16,840 individuals of 181 species of non-volant mammals (Rodentia, Didelphimorphia, Carnivora, Primates, Cingulata, Artiodactyla, Pilosa, Lagomorpha, Perissodactyla) and from 23,010 individuals of 98 species of volant mammals (Chiroptera). The traits reported include body mass, age, sex, reproductive stage, as well as the geographic coordinates of sampling for all taxa. Moreover, we gathered information on forearm length for bats and body length and tail length for rodents and marsupials. No copyright restrictions are associated with the use of this data set. Please cite this data paper when the data are used in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using the data.

Atlantic small-mammal: a dataset of communities of rodents and marsupials of the Atlantic forests of South America.

The contribution of small mammal ecology to the understanding of macroecological patterns of biodiversity, population dynamics, and community assembly has been hindered by the absence of large datasets of small mammal communities from tropical regions. Here we compile the largest dataset of inventories of small mammal communities for the Neotropical region. The dataset reviews small mammal communities from the Atlantic forest of South America, one of the regions with the highest diversity of small mammals and a global biodiversity hotspot, though currently covering less than 12% of its original area due to anthropogenic pressures. The dataset comprises 136 references from 300 locations covering seven vegetation types of tropical and subtropical Atlantic forests of South America, and presents data on species composition, richness, and relative abundance (captures/trap-nights). One paper was published more than 70 yr ago, but 80% of them were published after 2000. The dataset comprises 53,518 individuals of 124 species of small mammals, including 30 species of marsupials and 94 species of rodents. Species richness averaged 8.2 species (1-21) per site. Only two species occurred in more than 50% of the sites (the common opossum, Didelphis aurita and black-footed pigmy rice rat Oligoryzomys nigripes). Mean species abundance varied 430-fold, from 4.3 to 0.01 individuals/trap-night. The dataset also revealed a hyper-dominance of 22 species that comprised 78.29% of all individuals captured, with only seven species representing 44% of all captures. The information contained on this dataset can be applied in the study of macroecological patterns of biodiversity, communities, and populations, but also to evaluate the ecological consequences of fragmentation and defaunation, and predict disease outbreaks, trophic interactions and community dynamics in this biodiversity hotspot.

Trophic cascades help restore vegetation.

Herbivores and their predators have a major impact on restoration outcomes.