Adriano G. Chiarello

University of São Paulo | USP · Departamento de Biologia (Ribeirão Preto)

The expansion of agriculture and forest plantations over tropical biomes has caused significant species loss, while others persist in remnant native areas and anthropogenic lands. Penelope superciliaris , a large seed disperser bird, inhabits human‐modified landscapes; however, its habitat use is poorly known. We investigated how native land covers...

Camera traps became the main observational method of a myriad of species over large areas. Data sets from camera traps can be used to describe the patterns and monitor the occupancy, abundance, and richness of wildlife, essential information for conservation in times of rapid climate and land‐cover changes. Habitat loss and poaching are responsible...

Governmental and private protected areas are a key focus of conservation concern, as they tend to be associated with greater biodiversity and abundance of threatened mammals than non-protected areas. Protected areas are also effective at limiting anthropogenic pressures that threaten endemic species. Behavioural shifts are often the most immediate...

European Hare (Lepus europaeus), like many invasive species, have declined in much of their native range but flourished in non-native regions (e.g. South America). Previous studies suggested that loss of farmland heterogeneity due to agricultural intensification is the main driver of the species decline in its native range in Europe. Yet, little is...

Human activities and biological invasions have caused unprecedented biodiversity loss over the past 500 years. Proximity to humans drives the spatial distribution of species toward less disturbed habitats. Invasive species can competitively exclude native species, but species may coexist due to different habitat preferences. Here, we investigated h...

Roads can impact population abundance due to mortality from collisions with vehicles, habitat degradation and loss of connectivity. Some species, however, can be unaffected or even positively affected by roads and roadside environments. Despite this, there is scarce information on population‐level responses to roads. To fill this knowledge gap, we...

The first step towards understanding the conservation situation and informing conservation decision‐making is to identify the habitat loss drivers. However, for nearly all tropical biota, there is a glaring lack of information on the spatiotemporal patterns of anthropogenic drivers. Our objective was to analyse the spatial and temporal distribution...

Intensive, large‐scale agriculture promotes the conversion of natural habitats and diversified crops into monocultures, decreasing both native vegetation cover and landscape heterogeneity, leading to landscape simplification. Yet, a key knowledge gap persists on the relative impacts of the loss of native vegetation and landscape heterogeneity on bi...

Mammalian carnivores are often vulnerable to the conversion of natural habitat. Although some species might be frequent in anthropogenic areas, it is not entirely clear how they use modified landscapes, particularly in tropical agroecosystems. Here, we investigated how Puma (Puma concolor) and Maned Wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) used three disturbed...

Zoochory is a fundamental process that can be the main mechanism for seed and plant dispersal for many species. Mammals of the Carnivora order are among the most important dispersing agents; however, little is known regarding the role of canids as seed dispersers. Although the maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus) has a potentially important role in s...

The purported sustainability of sustainable-use reserves (SURs) has been questioned in recent decades due to anthropogenic disturbance, including widespread game hunting. A fuller understanding of the drivers of harvest- induced game population changes in SURs is needed to inform this debate. We deployed 720 camera traps around 100 local communitie...

The helminth Echinococcus vogeliRausch & Bernstein, 1972 is a causative agent of Neotropical Echinococcosis, a chronic zoonotic disease which is endemic to the Neotropical region. This parasite is transmitted from bush dogs (Speothos venaticus) to their prey, which include lowland pacas (Cuniculus paca) and agoutis (Dasyprocta spp.). In Brazil, mos...

Climate change and habitat loss have been identified as the main causes of species extinction. Forest regeneration and protected areas are essential to buffer climate change impacts and to ensure quality habitats for threatened species. We assessed the current and future environmental suitability for the maned sloth, Bradypus torquatus, under both...

Mammals are charismatic organisms that play a fundamental role in ecological functions and ecosystem services, such as pollination, seed dispersal, nutrient cycling, and pest control. The state of São Paulo represents only 3% of the Brazilian territory but holds 33% of its mammalian diversity. Most of its territory is dominated by agriculture, past...

Here, we aimed to evaluate the existence of temporal variation in the jaguar's diet and to determine if the adjustments in the diet apply to all prey or if there are species that are more important independently of temporal aspects. The study was carried out in one of the last Atlantic Forest remnants where all potential jaguar's prey are present....

Brown-throated Sloth Bradypus variegatus has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2022. Bradypus variegatus is listed as Least Concern.

Hoffmann's Two-toed Sloth Choloepus hoffmanni has most recently been assessed for The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in 2022. Choloepus hoffmanni is listed as Least Concern.

Understanding of resource requirements of vulnerable species is key for conservation planning. Here, we used stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) of hair from giant armadillos (Priodontes maximus) to understand individual resource use. We collected hair from 19 giant armadillos analyzing 34 samples from the Brazilian Pantanal and compa...

A considerable proportion of tropical protected areas are Sustainable Use Reserves (SURs), where socio-biodiversity protection and sustainable resource extraction are the main goals. Subsistence hunting is the most widespread form of subcanopy forest resource extraction, and often depletes game populations within SURs, but the degree to which these...

The Cerrado has been severely impacted by anthropogenic disturbances, with a tiny proportion of its original extent remaining in its southern portions. In the state of São Paulo, only 7% of this vegetation remains and relatively little is known about the biodiversity of these fragments. To fill this knowledge gap, we inventoried medium and large-si...

Conservation decision is a challenging and risky task when it aims at prioritizing species or protected areas (PAs) to prevent extinction while ensuring fair treatment of all stakeholders. Better conservation decisions are those made upon a broader evidence base that includes both ecological and social considerations. However, in some of the most b...

We report from three localities four new records of the threatened Brazilian Atlantic Forest endemic Chaetomys sub-spinosus (Olfers, 1818). These are the first records of this porcupine species from the state of Minas Gerais, and these new data extend the distribution of this species by approximately 220 km to the southwest. As C. subspinosus was o...

Having accurate information about population parameters of armadillos (Mammalia, Cin-gulata) is essential for the conservation and management of the taxon, most species of which remain poorly studied. We investigated whether we could accurately identify 4 armadillo species (Euphractus sexcinctus, Dasypus novemcinctus, Cabassous tatouay, and Cabasso...

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest of Southern Bahia is a megadiverse region given its remarkable number of species and endemism. Despite being a priority region for biodiversity conservation, the role of protected and unprotected forest remnants for long-term species conservation is unknown. Here, we unveil the main patterns of occurrence and distribut...

Land-use changes are a main driver of modifications in tropical ecosystems, leading to the loss of species and ecological traits and affecting key ecological functions. Although much attention has been given to predict the effects of species loss on ecological processes, information on the large-scale effects of land-use changes over ecological fun...

The drastic reduction of the Brazilian Cerrado has transformed this savanna hotspot into vast swaths of commodity-based agriculture fields, mainly soybean, sugarcane, and beef-production pasturelands. The resulting habitat loss and fragmentation are the principal factors underlying population decline of native species inhabiting the Cerrado, partic...

The European hare (Lepus europaeus) was introduced in the late 19th century in Argentina and has since rapidly expanded northwards, currently occupying the Brazilian south and southeast. Although European hare is known to be a farmland specialist in its native Europe, what habitat types or landscape features are facilitating its expansion in the Ne...

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive, it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a nonnative habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat, and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In...

Mammalian carnivores are considered a key group in maintaining ecological health and can indicate potential ecological integrity in landscapes where they occur. Carnivores also hold high conservation value and their habitat requirements can guide management and conservation plans. The order Carnivora has 84 species from 8 families in the Neotropica...

Biological invasion is one of the main threats to native biodiversity. For a species to become invasive it must be voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into a non-native habitat. Mammals were among first taxa to be introduced worldwide for game, meat and labor, yet the number of species introduced in the Neotropics remains unknown. In...

(Open access article - Full text available in https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.5863). Introduced in South America at the end of the 19th century, the European hare population has expanded dramatically and now represents a risk to native Brazilian forest rabbits. Monitoring the invasive Lepus europaeus and its coexistence with native Sylvilagus brasilie...

Urbanization is a major threat to wildlife with its cohort of environmental stressors. Urban remnant vegetation can help mitigate these impacts, but such remnants are subject to stressors that might be detrimental for some species. Habitat generalists have flexible diets and broader habitat tolerances that could favour their persistence in these re...

Defaunation is considered one of the main drivers of modifications in tropical ecosystems, extirpating many large-sized vertebrates, which in turn compromises key ecological functions. Although much attention has been given to predict the effects of species loss on ecological processes, there is a lack of information on the large-scale effects of d...

Habitat loss and the isolation of remaining habitats are undoubtedly the two greatest threats to biodiversity conservation, especially for the maned sloth, due to its ecological restrictions. In this study, we identified a critical threshold of forest cover for maned sloth occurrence and explored the effects of other local and landscape variables....

Habitat destruction is the single greatest anthropogenic threat to biodiversity. Decades of research on this issue have led to the accumulation of hundreds of data sets comparing species assemblages in larger, intact, habitats to smaller, more fragmented, habitats. Despite this, little synthesis or consensus has been achieved, primarily because of...

Introduzida na América do Sul pela primeira vez no final do século XIX, a lebre europeia (Lepus europaeus) vem apresentando um acentuado crescimento populacional e expandindo sua distribuição, representando um risco para a espécie nativa, o tapiti (Sylvilagus brasiliensis). O hábito crepuscular e noturno apresentado pelas duas espécies pode dificul...

Awareness of the natural ecological processes provided by organisms that benefit human well‐being has significantly progressed towards the goal of making conservation a mainstream value. Identifying different services and the species that provide them is a vital first step for the management and maintenance of these so‐called ecosystem services. He...

Protected areas can mediate negative effects of habitat loss and human-related pressures on key ecological groups. However, different protected area categories can vary substantially in their degree of enforcement, which may ensure different levels of effectiveness for biodiversity protection. Because little attempt has been made to quantify this,...

Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across...

Xenarthrans—anteaters, sloths, and armadillos—have essential functions for ecosystem maintenance, such as insect control and nutrient cycling, playing key roles as ecosystem engineers. Because of habitat loss and fragmentation, hunting pressure, and conflicts with domestic dogs, these species have been threatened locally, regionally, or even across...

Coloration anomalies are mainly genetically-based disorders in which body pigmentation is either reduced (hypopigmentation) or produced in excess (melanism), in parts or the totality of the body. Cases of hypopigmentation have been documented in many neotropical mammals, including the tayra (Eira barbara Linnaeus, 1758). We expand the account of an...

We report on a study of the occurrence and distribution of primates in three areas in the valleys of the rios Mucuri and Jequitinhonha in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia. The areas were chosen on the basis of their classification as priority areas of high biological importance for conservation (numbered 213, 217, and 221) during a regional pri...

We report on a study of the occurrence and distribution of primates in three areas in the valleys of the rios Mucuri and Jequitinhonha in the states of Minas Gerais and Bahia. The areas were chosen on the basis of their classification as priority areas of high biological importance for conservation (numbered 213, 217, and 221) during a regional pri...

Atualização da avaliação do status de conservação da preguiça-de-coleira, Bradypus torquatus, para a nova edição do Livro Vermelho da Fauna Brasileira Ameaçada de Extinção (2018). A espécie foi listada como ameaçada de extinção na categoria Vulnerável (VU) pelos critérios B2ab(ii,iii).

Atualização do status de conservação do tamanduá-bandeira (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) para a Livro Vermelho da Fauna Brasileira Ameaçada de Extinção. A espécie foi listada na categoria Vulnerável (Vu) sob os critérios A2c.

Atualização do status de conservação do tatu-canastra (Priodontes maximus) no Brasil. Este tatu foi listado na categoria Vulnerável (Vu) pelos critérios A2cd.

Atualização do status de conservação do tatu-bola (Tolypeutes tricinctus) para o Livro Vermelho da Fauna Brasileira Ameaçada de Extinção. A espécie foi considerada ameaçada de extinção, estando listada na categoria Em Perigo (EN) pelos critérios A2cd.

Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate specie...

Given the accelerating worldwide expansion of agriculture, biofuel production and managed forest plantations, the future of many tropical mammals depends on understanding why or when some species successfully survive in anthropogenically modified habitats, while others do not. Armadillos are potentially able to adapt to agricultural landscapes and...

Primates play an important role in ecosystem functioning and offer critical insights into human evolution, biology, behavior, and emerging infectious diseases. There are 26 primate species in the Atlantic Forests of South America, 19 of them endemic. We compiled a dataset of 5,472 georeferenced locations of 26 native and 1 introduced primate specie...

Domestic dog is the most successful invasive mammalian predator species, and reducing its ecological impacts on wildlife is a central conservation goal globally. Free-ranging dogs can negatively interact with wildlife at multiple levels, posing issues for biodiversity conservation in tropical forests, especially in fragmented Atlantic Forest. To op...

Worldwide, private lands have attracted increased attention from conservationists, not only because most of the globe is privately owned, but also because private lands can be an asset to the protected area conservation strategy. In Brazil, the riverine Areas of Permanent Protection (APPs) are a key instrument of the Forest Code to protect biodiver...

The establishment of protected areas is one of the most common environmental policy tools which can effectively contribute to landscape protection, biodiversity conservation, and ecosystem services provision. In this sense, the Brazilian Law on Native Vegetation Protection establishes the legal reserves, mandatory protected spaces within private ru...

Many carnivore species, particularly felids, are sensitive to land use changes and may disappear from landscapes with reduced natural habitat and increased fragmentation. The jaguar (Panthera onca) is highly affected by these factors and is particularly endangered in the Atlantic Forest (AF) of South America, one of the most threatened biomes in th...

Temporal segregation may be one of the most effective mechanism adopted by a subordinate species to reduce competition with a dominant species. We hypothesized temporal segregation by ocelots as the main strategy of reducing direct contact with pumas and humans in Atlantic Forest protected areas. Through a standardized camera trap protocol, we meas...

Over 80% of Atlantic Forest remnants are <50 ha and protected areas are embedded in a matrix dominated by human activities, undermining the long-term persistence of carnivores. The ocelot (Leopardus pardalis) is an opportunistic species, but little is known about its tolerance to habitat alterations and the influence of other species on its occupan...

Our understanding of mammal ecology has always been hindered by the difficulties of observing species in closed tropical forests. Camera trapping has become a major advance for monitoring terrestrial mammals in biodiversity rich ecosystems. Here we compiled one of the largest datasets of inventories of terrestrial mammal communities for the Neotrop...

Because of massive conversion of natural habitat into cropland, the future of many tropical mammals depends on understanding how agricultural landscapes influence biodiversity. We assessed the effects of natural and anthropogenic land covers and disturbances on occupancy of gray brocket deer (Mazama gouazoubira) in 3 agricultural landscapes in the...

Despite the ubiquity of domestic dogs, their role as zoonotic reservoirs and the large number of studies concerning parasites in urban dogs, rural areas in Brazil, especially those at the wildlife-domestic animal-human interface, have received little attention from scientists and public health managers. This paper reports a cross-sectional epidemio...