Ranging ecology and resource selection of white-lipped peccaries () in the world's largest tropical agricultural frontier.

Agricultural commodity production is one the main drivers of deforestation in Legal Brazilian Amazonia resulting in a deforested and/or fragmented landscape formed by forest remnants of different sizes and shape embedded within the agricultural matrix. As an ecosystem engineer and a crucial seed predator, white-lipped peccaries () play a pivotal role in forest structure, biodiversity, and nutrient cycling. However, they are highly sensitive to habitat fragmentation and hunting pressure.

New insights on the use of bill sheath as a biomonitoring tool for mercury in two kingfisher species: A comparison with different tissues.

Bird species have been widely used as suitable bioindicators of environmental mercury (Hg). However, there is still some debate about the most suitable tissue to indicate Hg body burden in birds. For a long time, blood and feathers have proved to be relevant to monitor Hg at different time scales, and recently, bill sheath has been suggested as a potential tissue to this end.

Extensive aquatic subsidies lead to territorial breakdown and high density of an apex predator.

Energetic subsidies between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems can strongly influence food webs and population dynamics. Our objective was to study how aquatic subsidies affected jaguar (Panthera onca) diet, sociality, and population density in a seasonally flooded protected area in the Brazilian Pantanal. The diet (n = 138 scats) was dominated by fish (46%) and aquatic reptiles (55%), representing the first jaguar population known to feed extensively on fish and to minimally consume mammals (11%).

Invertebrates for vertebrate biodiversity monitoring: Comparisons using three insect taxa as iDNA samplers.

Metabarcoding of environmental DNA (eDNA) is now widely used to build diversity profiles from DNA that has been shed by species into the environment. There is substantial interest in the expansion of eDNA approaches for improved detection of terrestrial vertebrates using invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA) in which hematophagous, sarcophagous, and coprophagous invertebrates sample vertebrate blood, carrion, or faeces. Here, we used metabarcoding and multiple iDNA samplers (carrion flies, sandflies, and mosquitos) collected from 39 forested sites in the southern Amazon to profile gamma and alpha diversity.

Rhamphotheca as a useful indicator of mercury in seabirds.

The evaluation of mercury (Hg) toxicity in wildlife species has prompted a search for sensitive indicators to accurately measure the body burden of Hg. Despite the extensive use of feathers as an indicator of Hg in birds, they do not appear to be an entirely suitable indicator of the extent of contamination in certain conditions and bird species since Hg levels are influenced by the growth period, timing of the last moult and migration. This research aimed to evaluate rhamphotheca as a potential indicator of environmental Hg concentrations in seabirds.

Hantavirus antibodies among phyllostomid bats from the arc of deforestation in Southern Amazonia, Brazil.

In order to determine whether southern Amazonian bats could harbour hantaviruses we, serologically and molecularly, screened blood, saliva, excreta and organ tissues of 47 bats captured from September to December 2015. We found that only phyllostomid bats presented antibodies against hantavirus. The seropositive bats belonged to two species of Phyllostomid bats: the greater spear-nosed bat Phyllostomus hastatus (omnivorous) and the gnome fruit-eating bat Dermanura gnoma.

Effects of small hydropower plants on mercury concentrations in fish.

Although the impacts of large dams on freshwater biota are relatively well known, the effects of small hydropower plants (SHP) are not well investigated. In this work, we studied if mercury (Hg) concentrations in fish rise in two tropical SHP reservoirs, and whether similar effects take place during impoundment. Total Hg concentrations in several fish species were determined at two SHP in the Upper Guaporé River basin floodplain, Brazil.

A new distribution range of Ateles chamek (Humboldt 1812) in an ecotone of three biomes in the Paraguay River Basin.

Historical records of Ateles chamek (black-faced black spider monkey) suggest that the species range extends further south of the known species distribution, within an ecotonal region between the Amazonia, Cerrado and Pantanal biomes in Brazil. Ecotones are zones of habitat transition with high species richness that remain undersampled as conservationists often prioritize biodiversity hotspots. Thus, distribution ranges may be inaccurately measured when species occur in ecotonal zones.

Non-lethal sampling for mercury evaluation in crocodilians.

Mercury (Hg) is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant that poses potential threats to ecosystems due to its toxicity to humans and wildlife. The development of non-lethal sampling techniques is a critical step for evaluation of Hg in threatened species in tropical floodplain environments, where most of Hg found is the result of land use and gold mining activities, and more methylation sites are available. We evaluated the spatial and seasonal effectiveness of caudal scutes and claws to estimate Hg bioaccumulation in crocodilians (Caiman yacare), in the scarcely documented Pantanal.