ATLANTIC-PRIMATES: a dataset of communities and occurrences of primates in the Atlantic Forests of South America

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 species, as hybrids in the genera Callithrix and Alouatta. The dataset includes 700 primate communities, 8,121 single species occurrences and 714 estimates of primate population sizes, covering most natural forest types of the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Forest of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and some other biomes. On average, primate communities of the Atlantic Forest harbor 2 ± 1 species (range = 1–6). However, about 40% of primate communities contain only one species. Alouatta guariba (N = 2,188 records) and Sapajus nigritus (N = 1,127) were the species with the most records. Callicebus barbarabrownae (N = 35), Leontopithecus caissara (N = 38), and Sapajus libidinosus (N = 41) were the species with the least records. Recorded primate densities varied from 0.004 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta guariba at Fragmento do Bugre, Paraná, Brazil) to 400 individuals/km 2 (Alouatta caraya in Santiago, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil). Our dataset reflects disparity between the numerous primate census conducted in the Atlantic Forest, in contrast to the scarcity of estimates of population sizes and densities. With these data, researchers can develop different macroecological and regional level studies, focusing on communities, populations, species co-occurrence and distribution patterns. Moreover, the data can also be used to assess the consequences of fragmentation, defaunation, and disease outbreaks on different ecological processes, such as trophic cascades, species invasion or extinction, and community dynamics. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this Data Paper when the data are used in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us of how they are using the data. © 2018 by the The Authors. Ecology © 2018 The Ecological Society of Americ

Indirect effects of habitat loss via habitat fragmentation: A cross-taxa analysis of forest-dependent species

Recent studies suggest that habitat amount is the main determinant of species richness, whereas habitat fragmentation has weak and mostly positive effects. Here, we challenge these ideas using a multi-taxa database including 2230 estimates of forest-dependent species richness from 1097 sampling sites across the Brazilian Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot. We used a structural equation modeling approach, accounting not only for direct effects of habitat loss, but also for its indirect effects (via habitat fragmentation), on the richness of forest-dependent species. We reveal that in addition to the effects of habitat loss, habitat fragmentation has negative impacts on animal species richness at intermediate (30–60%) levels of habitat amount, and on richness of plants at high (>60%) levels of habitat amount, both of which are mediated by edge effects. Based on these results, we argue that dismissing habitat fragmentation as a powerful force driving species extinction in tropical forest landscapes is premature and unsafe

ATLANTIC MAMMAL TRAITS: a data set of morphological traits of mammals in the Atlantic Forest of South America

Univ Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Dept Ecol, Inst Biociencias, BR-13506900 Rio Claro, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Santa Catarina, Ctr Ciencias Biol, Dept Ecol & Zool, Florianopolis, SC, Brazil|Caipora Cooperat, Florianopolis, SC, BrazilUniv Estadual Santa Cruz, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Conservac Biodiversidade, Lab Ecol Aplicada Conservacao, Ilheus, BA, BrazilUniv Estadual Santa Cruz, CMARF, Ilheus, BA, BrazilUniv Brasilia, Dept Ecol, Inst Ciencias Biol, Lab Ecol Vertebrados, Brasilia, DF, BrazilUniv Fed Santa Maria, Dept Ecol & Evolut, Santa Maria, RS, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Dept Zool, Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Espirito Santo, Ctr Ciencias Humanas & Nat, Dept Ciencias Biol, Vitoria, ES, BrazilUniv Fed Minas Gerais, Inst Ciencias Biol, Dept Biol Geral, Belo Horizonte, MG, BrazilUniv Fed Mato Grosso de Sul, Inst Biociencias, Campo Grande, MS, BrazilUniv Fed Parana, Dept Zool, Curitiba, Parana, BrazilUniv Fed Parana, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Conservcao, Curitiba, Parana, BrazilUniv Estado Rio de Janeiro, Dept Ecol, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Inst Biociencias, Dept Zool, Rio Claro, SP, BrazilUniv Extremo Sul Catarinense, Programa Posgrad Ciencias Ambientais, Criciuma, SC, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, ESALQ, Dept Ciencias Biol, Piracicaba, SP, BrazilUniv Nacl Misiones, CONICET, Inst Biol Subtrop, Puerto Iguazu, Misiones, ArgentinaAsociac Civil Ctr Invest Bosque Atlantico, Puerto Iguazu, Misiones, ArgentinaFIOCRUZ Amazonas, Inst Leonidas & Maria Deane, Manaus, Amazonas, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista, UNESP, Dept Zootecnia, Jaboticabal, SP, BrazilField Museum Nat Hist, Integrated Res Ctr, Chicago, IL 60605 USAUniv Fed Pernambuco, Ctr Biociencias, Dept Zool, Lab Ciencia Aplicada Conservacao Biodiversidade, Recife, PE, BrazilInst Chico Mendes Conservacao Biodiversidade, Ctr Nacl Pesquisa & Conservacao Mamiferos Carnivo, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Vale Rio dos Sinos, Sao Leopoldo, RS, BrazilUniv Reg Cariri, Dept Biol, Lab Ecol Mamiferos, Crato, CE, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Dept Ecol, Lab Vertebrados, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Federal Mato Grosso do Sul, Programa Posgrad Ecol & Conservacao, Campo Grande, MS, BrazilIPE, Nazare Paulista, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Minas Gerais, Programa Posgrad Zool, Belo Horizonte, MG, BrazilUniv Estado Minas Gerais, Dept Ciencias Biol, Ibirite, MG, BrazilPREA, Programa Educ Ambiental, Juiz De Fora, MG, BrazilChinese Acad Sci, Inst Zool, Key Lab Zool Systemat and Evolut, Beijing, Peoples R ChinaMinist Salud Nacion, Inst Nacl Med Trop INMeT, Puerto Iguazu, Misiones, ArgentinaUniv Fed Vicosa, Dept Engn Florestal, Vicosa, MG, BrazilUniv Fed Goias, Inst Biociencias, Jatai, Go, BrazilInst Chico Mendes Conservacao Biodiversidade ICMB, Ctr Nacl Pesquisa & Conservacao Primatas Brasilei, Joao Pessoa, PB, BrazilCtr Rescate Fauna Silvestre Guira Oga, Puerto Iguazu, ArgentinaFdn Hist Nat Felix de Azara, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaProjeto Carnivoros Iguacu, Foz Do Iguacu, PR, BrazilUniv Estadual Paulista, Dept Med Vet Prevent & Reprod Anim, Fac Ciencias Agr & Vet Jaboticabal, Jaboticabal, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Integracao Latinoamer, Inst Latinoamer Ciencias Vida & Nat, Foz Do Iguacu, PR, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Ciencias Ambientais, Diadema, SP, BrazilUniv Fed Paraiba, Dept Sistemat & Ecol, Lab Mamiferos, Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, BrazilIUCN Peccary Specialist Grp, Campo Grande, MS, BrazilWWF Brazil, Campo Grande, MS, BrazilChicago State Univ, Dept Biol Sci, Chicago, IL USAUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Nucleo Ecol & Desenvolvimento Socioambiental Maca, Macae, RJ, BrazilUniv Vila Velha, Programa Posgrad Ecol Ecossistemas, Vila Velha, ES, BrazilUniv Fed Rio de Janeiro, Museu Nacl, Dept Vertebrados, Rio De Janeiro, RJ, BrazilUniv Fed Bahia, Programa Posgrad Ecol, Salvador, BA, BrazilUniv Fed Paraiba, Dept Sistemat & Ecol, Programa Posgrad Ciencias Biol Zool, Lab Mamiferos, Joao Pessoa, Paraiba, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Dept Ciencias Ambientais, Diadema, SP, BrazilWeb of Scienc

NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES: a data set on carnivore distribution in the Neotropics

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 Neotropical region: Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Otariidae; Phocidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae. Herein, we include published and unpublished data on native terrestrial Neotropical carnivores (Canidae; Felidae; Mephitidae; Mustelidae; Procyonidae; and Ursidae). NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES is a publicly available data set that includes 99,605 data entries from 35,511 unique georeferenced coordinates. Detection/non-detection and quantitative data were obtained from 1818 to 2018 by researchers, governmental agencies, non-governmental organizations, and private consultants. Data were collected using several methods including camera trapping, museum collections, roadkill, line transect, and opportunistic records. Literature (peer-reviewed and grey literature) from Portuguese, Spanish and English were incorporated in this compilation. Most of the data set consists of detection data entries (n = 79,343; 79.7%) but also includes non-detection data (n = 20,262; 20.3%). Of those, 43.3% also include count data (n = 43,151). The information available in NEOTROPICAL CARNIVORES will contribute to macroecological, ecological, and conservation questions in multiple spatio-temporal perspectives. As carnivores play key roles in trophic interactions, a better understanding of their distribution and habitat requirements are essential to establish conservation management plans and safeguard the future ecological health of Neotropical ecosystems. Our data paper, combined with other large-scale data sets, has great potential to clarify species distribution and related ecological processes within the Neotropics. There are no copyright restrictions and no restriction for using data from this data paper, as long as the data paper is cited as the source of the information used. We also request that users inform us of how they intend to use the data

NEOTROPICAL ALIEN MAMMALS: a data set of occurrence and abundance of alien mammals in the Neotropics

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 this data set, we make available occurrence and abundance data on mammal species that (1) transposed a geographical barrier and (2) were voluntarily or involuntarily introduced by humans into the Neotropics. Our data set is composed of 73,738 historical and current georeferenced records on alien mammal species of which around 96% correspond to occurrence data on 77 species belonging to eight orders and 26 families. Data cover 26 continental countries in the Neotropics, ranging from Mexico and its frontier regions (southern Florida and coastal-central Florida in the southeast United States) to Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, and Uruguay, and the 13 countries of Caribbean islands. Our data set also includes neotropical species (e.g., Callithrix sp., Myocastor coypus, Nasua nasua) considered alien in particular areas of Neotropics. The most numerous species in terms of records are from Bos sp. (n = 37,782), Sus scrofa (n = 6,730), and Canis familiaris (n = 10,084); 17 species were represented by only one record (e.g., Syncerus caffer, Cervus timorensis, Cervus unicolor, Canis latrans). Primates have the highest number of species in the data set (n = 20 species), partly because of uncertainties regarding taxonomic identification of the genera Callithrix, which includes the species Callithrix aurita, Callithrix flaviceps, Callithrix geoffroyi, Callithrix jacchus, Callithrix kuhlii, Callithrix penicillata, and their hybrids. This unique data set will be a valuable source of information on invasion risk assessments, biodiversity redistribution and conservation-related research. There are no copyright restrictions. Please cite this data paper when using the data in publications. We also request that researchers and teachers inform us on how they are using the data