Laurence Culot

São Paulo State University | Unesp · Department of Biodiversity

Leaf-cutting ants and their fungal crops are a textbook example of a long-term obligatory mutualism. Many microbes continuously enter their nest containing the fungal cultivars, destabilizing the symbiosis and, in some cases, outcompeting the mutual-istic partners. Preferably, the ant workers should distinguish between different microorganisms to r...

Although lion tamarins (Leontopithecus spp.) are known to prey upon frogs, no study has attempted to document the frequency and seasonal patterns of such events. In this study, we compiled data on frog predation by black lion tamarins, Leontopithecus chry-sopygus, in southeastern Brazil between 2014 and 2020. We investigated the effects of seasonal...

Insectivorous-frugivorous birds have been described to benefit from multiple forms of interspecific feeding associations. Here we present quantitative data on a new feeding association between the black-goggled tanager (Trichothraupis melanops) and an endangered frugivorous-faunivorous neotropical primate, the black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chr...

Canopy bridges are crossing structures specific to mitigate the impact of roads on arboreal animals. Long-term monitoring of such infrastructures together with the analysis of design preferences has never been done in South America. To avoid the roadkills of a threatened primate species, the black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysopygus), in Guare...

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...

We present camera trap evidence of 10 Atlantic Forest mammals fur‐rubbing, licking, or biting balsam from cabreúvas (Myroxylon peruiferum, Fabaceae), native trees used in traditional medicine for their prophylactic and therapeutic virtues. Given the antiparasitic properties of cabreúvas, mammals may be using the balsam as topical self‐medication to...

Seed dispersal benefits plants and frugivores, and potentially drives co-evolution, with consequences to diversification evidenced for, e.g., primates. Evidence for macro-coevolutionary patterns in multi-specific, plant-animal mutualisms is scarce, and the mechanisms driving them remain unexplored. We tested for phylogenetic congruences in primate-...

Disentangling the structure of plant–animal mutualisms shed light on how species are organized, and allow us to infer about resilience, specificity, and ultimately the consequences of the loss of functions to the ecosystem. Here we gathered fruit–frugivore interactions for all the major vertebrate taxa interacting with plants in two conservation st...

To define the chances of a dispersed seed to produce a new recruit, it is essential to consider all stages of the dispersal process. Howler monkeys are recognized to have positive impacts on forest regeneration, acting as primary dispersers. Furthermore, dung beetles attracted to their feces protect the seeds against predators, and provide a better...

Seed dispersal is an ecosystem service strongly affected by the loss of mutualist dispersers, with economic consequences in terms of carbon sequestration and climate change mitigation policies. Especially, large frugivores are important contributors to carbon sequestration because they are the main disperser of large-seeded trees, which store a hig...

Seed dispersal, by entailing multiple benefits to plants and frugivores, potential drives trait evolution and species diversification. Frugivory and seed dispersal shaped the coevolution of interacting clades, with consequences to speciation and diversification evidenced for e.g., primates. Evidences for macro-coevolutionary patterns in multi-speci...

Human population growth and the activities resulting in habitat destruction are a threat to biodiversity worldwide. Despite the recognized importance of dung beetles in supporting tropical forest ecosystems, our understanding of their susceptibility to anthropogenic pressures remains limited. Previous research detailed the overall consequences of h...

As humanity continues to alter the environment extensively, comprehending the effect of anthropogenic disturbances on the health, survival, and fitness of wildlife is a crucial question of conservation biology. Many primate populations occupy sub-optimal habitats prone to diverse anthropogenic disturbances that may be sources of acute and chronic s...

Species distributions are influenced by both climate conditions and landscape structure. Here we propose an integrated analysis of climatic and landscape niche‐based models for a forest‐dependent primate, the endangered black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysopygus). We applied both climate and landscape variables to predict the distribution of th...

In the original publication of the article, the scientific name of veined treefrog.

We report on the predation of a veined treefrog (Trachycephalus venulosus) and an ocellated treefrog (Itapotihyla langs-dorffii), both species with noxious skin secretions, by black lion tamarins (Leontopithecus chrysopygus). The two predation events took place in Morro do Diabo State Park, an Atlantic Forest reserve in southeastern Brazil. The vei...

Aim Forest fragmentation is among the principal causes of global biodiversity loss, yet how it affects mutualistic interactions between plants and animals at large spatial scale is poorly understood. In particular, tropical forest regeneration depends on animal‐mediated seed dispersal, but the seed‐dispersing animals face rapid decline due to fores...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Identifying the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on the health, survival, and well-being of species has become a key question of conservation biology. Many primate species are forest-dependent, making them particularly vulnerable to habitat change and excellent ecological indicators in tropical ecosystems. Before affecting primates at a populat...

Identifying the impact of anthropogenic disturbances on the health, survival, and well-being of species has become a key question of conservation biology. Many primate species are forest-dependent, making them particularly vulnerable to habitat change and excellent ecological indicators in tropical ecosystems. Before affecting primates at a populat...

Measuring fecal glucocorticoid metabolites (FGM) has become a potent non-invasive tool in ethological studies and conservation biology of threatened species, including primates. However, species differences (among other factors) in excreted metabolites require an experimental validation of the applied method to prove that the enzyme immunoassay (EI...

Increasingly large proportions of tropical forests are anthropogenically disturbed. Where natural regeneration is possible at all, it requires the input of plant seeds through seed dispersal from the forest matrix. Zoochorous seed dispersal – the major seed dispersal mode for woody plants in tropical forests – is particularly important for natural...

Roads have a myriad of negative effects on biodiversity, ultimately threatening the persistence of populations. In this Perspective we call attention to an extreme example , where the entire current geographic range of the endangered golden lion tama-rin (Leontopithecus rosalia, GLT) is bisected by a major highway that is being widened to four lane...

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The human-induced introductions of marmoset species (Callithrix genus) threaten the native species persistence within Brazilian biodiversity hotspots. Invasive marmosets can hybridize with native congeners reducing the genetic integrity on native populations. However, no study quantified the spatial extent of these invasions and which species can b...

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...

Habitat fragmentation is one of the major threats hanging over primate populations in South America. Before affecting primates at a population level, environmental perturbations affect the physiology of the individuals. Glucocorticoids (GCs), often referred to as stress hormones, are metabolic hormones which mediate the energetic demands needed to...

Primary seed dispersal by primates (phase I) followed by secondary seed dispersal by dung beetles (phase II) is a common diplochorous system in tropical forests. In such systems, phase I affects the occurrence/outcome of phase II, triggering cascading effects along the chain of plant recruitment with direct consequences on seed dispersal effectiven...

Primates play important roles as seed dispersers in many tropical ecosystems, such that studies of their seed dispersal services and impacts have gained interests among primatologists and ecologists in the past few decades. In this article, we first report that the number of scientific publications on primate seed dispersal has increased rapidly ov...

The extinction of large frugivores has consequences for the recruitment of large-seeded plants with potential lasting effects on carbon storage in tropical rainforests. However, previous studies relating frugivore defaunation to changes in carbon storage ignore potential compensation by redundant frugivores and the effects of seed predators on plan...

Nine polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized for Cryptocarya mandioccana Meisner, a tree from the Atlantic Rainforest with seeds dispersed by large animals. The loci were characterized using 48 individuals from two populations and their genotyping success tested in four tissues: leaves from adults and seedlings, and two dias...

The dataset provided here includes 8320 frugivory interactions (records of pairwise interactions between plant and frugivore species) reported for the Atlantic Forest. The dataset includes interactions between 331 vertebrate species (232 birds, 90 mammals, five fishes, one amphibian and three reptiles) and 788 plant species. We also present informa...

Large frugivores play an important role as seed dispersers and their extinction may affect plant regeneration. The consequences of such extinctions depend on the likelihood of other species being functionally redundant and on how post-dispersal events are affected. We assess the functional redundancy of two seed dispersers of the Atlantic Forest, t...

Seed dispersal is a key ecological process in tropical forests, with effects on various levels ranging from plant reproductive success to the carbon storage potential of tropical rainforests. On a local and landscape scale, spatial patterns of seed dispersal create the template for the recruitment process and thus influence the population dynamics...

We conducted interviews with local residents at a new area of occurrence for the black lion tamarin in order to gather data about matrix use and crossing events.

Primates play a fundamental role as seed dispersers, particularly in tropical rainforests. Because defaunation and fragmentation are leading several primate species to local extinction, it is fundamental to understand the role of primates as effective seed dispersers. Here we present a systematic review of studies of seed dispersal by primates in a...

Seed dispersal effectiveness (SDE) is a conceptual framework that aims at quantifying the contribution of seed dispersal vectors to plant fitness. While it is well recognized that diplochorous dispersal systems, characterized by two successive dispersal steps performed by two different vectors (Phase I = primary seed dispersal and Phase II = second...

Overhunting has caused severe decline or local extinction in many large-bodied mammals with direct consequences on plant regeneration, yet little is known about indirect impacts of selective defaunation on commensal species. Cascading effects of species extinction across dependent species groups are likely to occur in coprophagous beetles, because...

Functional redundancy has been debated largely in ecology and conservation, yet we lack detailed empirical studies on the roles of functionally similar species in ecosystem function. Large bodied frugivores may disperse similar plant species and have strong impact on plant recruitment in tropical forests. The two largest frugivores in the neotropic...

Species dispersed and number of seeds per scat by tapirs ( Tapirus terrestris ) and muriquis ( Brachyteles arachnoides ) in Carlos Botelho State Park, Atlantic Forest, Brazil. (DOC)

Compiled information from a literature review of seed size of species dispersed by muriquis (Brachyteles arachnoides and hypoxanthus) and tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) in the Brazilian Atlantic forest. Plant names of eaten fleshy fruits follow [33]. (DOC)

Comparative of seed size (diameter) of plant species eaten by muriquis ( Brachyteles arachnoides and B . hypoxanthus ) and tapirs ( Tapirus terrestris ) in the Atlantic forest (*P<0.05, ** P<0.01, *** P<0.001, ns = not significant). (TIF)

Tropical rain forest conservation requires a good understanding of plant–animal interactions. Seed dispersal provides a means for plant seeds to escape competition and density-dependent seed predators and pathogens and to colonize new habitats. This makes the role and effectiveness of frugivorous species in the seed dispersal process an important t...

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most studied Brazilian biomes in relation to its mammalian fauna. However, there is still a series of gaps of knowledge about the distribution and persistence of some of these species which prevents taking adequate conservation measures to better protect the mammals. In order to make the inventory of the non-volant...

Maternal infanticide in wild non-human primates has only been reported twice. In this paper, we report a possible new case of infanticide and cannibalism within a series of four successive reproductive failures in wild moustached tamarins, Saguinus mystax. Necropsy and genetic analyses of the corpses enabled us to rule out any pathology, and to det...

The spatial distributions of dispersed seeds have important evolutionary consequences for plants. Repeated defecations in sites frequently used by seed dispersers can result in high seed concentrations. We observed the resting behavior of a mixed-species group of tamarins in Peru and recorded the occurrence of seed dispersal (over 8 mo) and seed fa...

Reduced dispersal of large seeds into degraded areas is one of the major factors limiting rain forest regeneration, as many seed dispersers capable of transporting large seeds avoid these sites with a limited forest cover. However, the small size of tamarins allows them to use small trees, and hence to disperse seeds into young secondary forests. S...

Dung beetles fulfill several key functions in ecosystems but their role as secondary seed dispersers is probably one of the most complex ones. Various factors, such as seed characteristics, dispersal pattern induced by the primary disperser, season, and habitat, can affect the seed-beetle interaction. Particularly little