What is it about?
We used a natural experiment in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest to investigate the ecological responses of rodents to the functional extinction of a dominant terrestrial mammal, the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari).
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Why is it important?
Because most tropical rainforests are facing dramatic extirpation of large mammals, we can expect changes in the composition and structure of small mammal communities with potential consequences for human health even in non-fragmented landscapes.
Perspectives
This article indicate that large herbivores can serve to maintain a higher diversity of rodent species, suppressing the populations of dominant rodents via resource competition with granivores and interfering in the habitat of fossorial insectivores.
Dr Ricardo S Bovendorp
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz - UESC
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Defaunation affects the populations and diets of rodents in Neotropical rainforests, Biological Conservation, October 2015, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.biocon.2015.04.032.
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