Carla C Gestich

• PhD in Ecology
• PostDoc Position at Federal University of São Carlos

Understanding the distribution range of a species is crucial for conservation efforts. Yet, precise confirmation of their presence throughout predicted areas can be a challenge. Molecular tools, associated with traditional survey methods, can help in species identification, settling the misidentification of specimens. This study uses a combination...

Defined as the killing of a newborn individual by a conspecific, infanticide by males is widespread in mammals. Results from this paper used genetic analysis to confirm and characterize the first report of non-parental infanticide in giant armadillos. Genetic evidence demonstrates that the killer male is unrelated to the killed infant but is the fa...

Over the past few years, insects have been used as samplers of vertebrate diversity by assessing the ingested‐derived DNA (iDNA), and dung beetles have been shown to be a good mammal sampler given their broad feeding preference, wide distribution and easy sampling. Here, we tested and optimized the use of iDNA from dung beetles to assess the mammal...

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...

Molecular techniques have emerged as powerful tools to study ecological aspects of biodiversity. As a result, the interdisciplinary field of Molecular Ecology was created, combining a wide range of strategies in order to address ecological questions, which may involve molecular species confirmation, species occurrence and distribution, demography e...

Transportation infrastructure is one of the biggest concerns for biodiversity worldwide. Roads affect ecological processes by creating barriers to animal movement, causing habitat loss and fragmentation, and increasing pollution and habitat degradation by promoting human access to new areas. For many species, mortality due to collision with vehicle...

Ingested-derived DNA (iDNA) from insects represents a powerful tool for assessing vertebrate diversity because insects are easy to sample, have a diverse diet and are widely distributed. Because of these advantages, the use of iDNA for detecting mammals has gained increasing attention. Here we aimed to compare the effectiveness of mosquitoes and fl...

Habitat loss, fragmentation and invasive species are the major causes of biodiversity loss. In the Atlantic Forest, Callithrix aurita is threatened by habitat modification and the invasion of Callithrix jacchus. We evaluated how landscape variables and a local one, the distance to the roads, influence the presence of the native and invasive species...

This is the preprint version of the manuscript "Comparing iDNA from mosquitoes and flies to survey mammals in a semi-controlled area". The full text of the preprint is available in: https://www.authorea.com/doi/full/10.22541/au.165701013.36411474/v1. ABSTRACT: Ingested-derived DNA (iDNA) from insects can represent a powerful tool for assessing ve...

Forest-dependent species are among the most threatened species due to landscape changes, and this is the case of the buffy-tufted-ear marmoset (Callithrix aurita), an Atlantic Forest endemic primate. Besides its extensive habitat reduction across Atlantic Forest, the species suffers from the negative impact of the presence of non-native congeners t...

Habitat disturbance is disrupting ecological processes globally. The Atlantic Forest is particularly affected by land‐use intensification and defaunation, where primates play a key role in seed dispersal. Here, we evaluate how primate assemblages in the Atlantic Forest change according to landscape modification and the ecological consequences on se...

ContextForest loss and fragmentation are rapidly expanding across the tropics. Although forest loss is a major driver of the current biodiversity crisis, the effect of fragmentation remains debated, particularly for forest-specialist species.Objectives We evaluated the univariate and combined effect of forest loss (percent of forest cover) and frag...

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...

The Neotropical region exhibits the greatest worldwide diversity and the diversification history of several clades is related to the puzzling geomorphologic and climatic history of this region. The freshwater Amazon ecoregion contains the main hydrographic basins of the Neotropical region that are highly dendritic and ecologically diverse. It conta...

For arboreal primates, ground use may increase dispersal opportunities, tolerance to habitat change, access to ground-based resources, and resilience to human disturbances, and so has conservation implications. We collated published and unpublished data from 86 studies across 65 localities to assess titi monkey (Callicebinae) terrestriality. We exa...

A perda e fragmentação do hábitat é hoje uma das principais ameaças à biodiversidade, porém pouco se sabe ainda sobre seus efeitos nos mamíferos em escala de paisagem. Essa abordagem é especialmente importante em regiões como o estado de São Paulo, em que a vegetação natural se encontra extremamente reduzida. Nosso objetivo foi caracterizar a diver...

The South American arowanas (Osteoglossiformes, Osteoglossidae, Osteoglossum) are emblematic species widely distributed in the Amazon and surrounding basins. Arowana species are under strong anthropogenic pressure as they are extensively exploited for ornamental and food purposes. Until now, limited genetic and cytogenetic information has been avai...

Free download link: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1ZfOn,Q4YJNLg0 The dynamic interaction between animals and plants through frugivory and seed dispersal is one of several ecological processes that modulates tropical biodiversity. Here we evaluated the potential role of a highly-frugivorous Neotropical primate, the black-fronted titi monkey (Calli...

Itatiaia National Park (INP) is Brazil’s oldest strictly protected area, established in June 1937 with the aim of protecting the fauna and flora of the Atlantic Forest. The region was dubbed the ‘citadel of waters’ by geographer Aziz Ab’Saber, because of the abundant springs and waterfalls in the park. This guide contains images, silhouettes, size...

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...

Primates employ many strategies to deal with the costs of reproduction. While income breeders exploit the food available in their environment during lactation, the most costly phase of reproduction, capital breeders tend to store energy for use in the period. We analyzed the relationship between resource availability and lactation in Callicebus coi...

Temporarily available for free at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1440-1703.1009 In the Anthropocene, many animal populations are increasingly confined to human- modified landscapes, in which different spatial variables describing landscape composition and configuration influence species persistence. Forest specialist species are...

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...

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...

The costs imposed by predation may result in behavioral adaptations to reduce mortality risk, including the choice and use of sleeping sites. The threat of predation, however, is rarely the sole force shaping sleeping site choice, which is likely to reflect other factors such as foraging needs as well. Here we describe the use of sleeping sites by...

Background Tropical landscapes are increasingly altered by extensive land-use worldwide. Such emerging landscapes have different structure, depending on the type and amount of different land covers (landscape composition) and on their spatial arrangement (landscape configuration). Understanding the relative impact of these two components of landsca...

Accurate measures of animal population densities are essential to assess their status, demography, and answer ecological questions. Among several methods proposed to collect abundance data, line transect sampling is used the most. The assumptions required to obtain accurate density estimates through this method, however, are rarely met when studyin...

Many birds and primates use loud vocalizations to mediate agonistic interactions with conspecifics, either as solos by males or females, or as coordinated duets. The extensive variation in duet complexity, the contribution of each sex, and the context in which duets are produced suggest that duets may serve several functions, including territory an...

The maintenance of body temperature in endothermic animals imposes considerable metabolic costs that vary with air temperature fluctuations. To minimise these costs, endotherms can adopt certain behaviours to adjust the pattern of heat transfer between their bodies and the environment. In this study, we evaluated whether a small Neotropical primate...

Air temperature can influence the behavior of endothermic animals in a number of ways. Here we investigated how temperature affected the activity pattern and food consumption of a free-living group of Callicebus nigrifrons. We conducted observations over 12 months (520 observation hours) in a semideciduous tropical forest in southern Brazil. The st...