Project title: Fragmentation effect in specific and functional diversity of primates in Brazil

 

Abstract: Tropical forests are the most threatened biome by human activities worldwide. Each animal species within that environment plays an important role in this ecosystem functioning, such as seed dispersal. The Primate order represents almost 40% of the frugivore vertebrate biomass in tropical forests and features a large number of endangered species. Given the importance of primates in the ecosystem functioning through their role as seed dispersers, it is extremely important to understand how the specific and functional diversity are altered by fragmentation of tropical forests. Therefore, this project aims to analyze the influence of forest fragmentation in specific and functional diversity of primates in Amazon and Atlantic forest. For this, we will create database of primates in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest and its functional traits related to seed dispersal. With this data will be generated functional diversity indices (Fric, FDIs, Fdiv and Feve) and will also be examined metrics of the landscape of these fragments, like patch size, average isolation between the fragments, distance to the urban area, distance to the continuous forest (> 100 km2), functional connectivity and percentage of forest cover surrounding the fragment. This project will help to understand the consequences of fragmentation for the functioning and regeneration of tropical forests.

 

 

 

Back