The forests of southeastern Amazonia are highly threatened by disturbances such as fragmentation, understory fires, and extreme climatic events. Large‐bodied frugivores such as the lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) have the potential to offset this process, supporting natural forest regeneration by dispersing a variety of seeds over long distances to disturbed forests. However, we know little about their effectiveness as seed dispersers in degraded forest landscapes. Here, we investigate the seed dispersal function of lowland tapirs in Amazonian forests subject to a range of human (fire and fragmentation) and natural (extreme droughts and windstorms) disturbances, using a combination of field observations, camera traps, and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data.
Influence of leaf-cutting ant nests on secondary forest growth and soil properties in Amazonia
Leaf‐cutting ants (Atta spp.) often increase in abundance following deforestation and may have an important effect on forest succession on abandoned land. In this study, we evaluated the effects of leaf‐cutting ant (Atta sexdens) activity on physical and chemical...