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.
Climate benefits of Amazon secondary forests—recent advances and research needs
Climate benefits of Amazon secondary forests—recent advances and research needs
A quarter of the deforested Amazon has regrown as secondary tropical forest and yet the climatic importance of these complex regenerating landscapes is only beginning to be recognised. Advances in satellite remote-sensing have transformed our ability to detect and...