The Evolutionary History of Coronavirus in Human-Wildlife Relationships

Campos, F. S., & Lourenço-de-Moraes, R. (2020). Ecological Fever: The Evolutionary History of Coronavirus in Human-Wildlife Relationships. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 8, 1-4. [575286]. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.575286The rapid dissemination of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV−2) has opened up an environmental dilemma—investigating the relationship between the evolutionary history of coronaviruses (CoVs) and the zoonotic spillover in humans to avoid new rapidly evolving pathogens. To guide politicians in health policy decision-making, scientists have an urgent need to explore how cross-species virus transmission can help prevent pandemics (Zhou et al., 2020). The emergence of new epidemic diseases varies among different taxonomic groups, and the human-made change in natural environments causes eco-evolutionary consequences. Therefore, the alteration of this natural role caused by human pressures on wild species, we label as “ecological fever” —a new One Health perspective from ecology to society. Following the new phylogenies of coronavirus proposed by Gorbalenya et al. (2020) and Zhang et al. (2020), we explore the adaptive evolution of coronaviruses across mammal species and its importance for wildlife conservation. Here, we show reconstructed ancestral states of coronaviruses under maximum-likelihood estimations across an entire class of host organisms (i.e., Mammalia). In this opinion paper, we explore the evolution and cross-species transmission of coronaviruses and highlight the need to preserve natural habitats of wildlife in order to prevent future pandemics.publishersversionpublishe

implications for conservation planning in a Neotropical Hotspot

Covre, A. C., Lourenço-De-Moraes, R., Campos, F. S., & Benedito, E. (2022). Spatial relationships between fishes and amphibians: implications for conservation planning in a Neotropical Hotspot. Environmental Management, 70(6), 978–989. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-1479895/v1, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-022-01707-7 ---- This work received financial support from CAPES (Finance Code 001), CNPq (151473/2018-8), FCT (PTDC/CTA-AMB/28438/2017), and MagIC/NOVA IMS (UIDB/04152/2020).Species distribution patterns are widely used to guide conservation planning and are a central issue in ecology. The usefulness of spatial correlation analysis has been highlighted in several ecological applications so far. However, spatial assumptions in ecology are highly scale-dependent, in which geographical relationships between species diversity and distributions can have different conservation concerns. Here, an integrative landscape planning was designed to show the spatial distribution patterns of taxonomic and functional diversity of amphibians and fishes, from multiple species traits regarding morphology, life history, and behavior. We used spatial, morphological, and ecological data of amphibians and fishes to calculate the functional diversity and the spatial correlation of species. Mapping results show that the higher taxonomic and functional diversity of fishes is concentrated in the West Atlantic Forest. Considering amphibians, are located in the East portion of the biome. The spatial correlation of species indicates the regions of the Serra do Mar and the extreme southern part of the Central Corridor as the main overlapped species distribution areas between both groups. New key conservation sites were reported within the Brazilian Atlantic Forest hotspot, revealing cross-taxon mismatches between terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems. This study offers useful spatial information integrating suitable habitats of fishes and amphibians to complement existing and future research based on terrestrial and freshwater conservation. New priorities for biodiversity conservation in rich-species regions highlight the importance of spatial pattern analysis to support land-use planning in a macroecological context.authorsversionpublishe

List of anurans (Amphibia: Anura) from the rural zone of the municipality of Maringá, Paraná state, southern Brazil

We report the anurans of four locations at the rural zone from municipality Maringá, Paraná state, Brazil. Specimens were registered by acoustic and direct visual search. Twenty-one species of frogs in eight families were collected between August 2006 and July 2007: Hylidae (9), Leptodactylidae (7), Bufonidae (1), Odontophrynidae (1), Hylodidae (1), Microhylidae (1) and Ranidae (1)

Global conservation prioritization areas in three dimensions of crocodilian diversity

Lourenço-De-Moraes, R., Campos, F. S., Cabral, P., Silva-Soares, T., Nobrega, Y. C., Covre, A. C., & França, F. G. R. (2023). Global conservation prioritization areas in three dimensions of crocodilian diversity. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 1-13. [2568 ]. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28413-6. --- Funding: This work was supported by the 715 Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the project - 716 UIDB/04152/2020 - Information Management Research Center (MagIC/NOVA IMS), 717 and the European Union-Next Generation EU. This study was financed in part by the 718 CAPES - Finance Code 001.Crocodilians are a taxonomic group of large predators with important ecological and evolutionary benefits for ecosystem functioning in the face of global change. Anthropogenic actions affect negatively crocodilians' survival and more than half of the species are threatened with extinction worldwide. Here, we map and explore three dimensions of crocodilian diversity on a global scale. To highlight the ecological importance of crocodilians, we correlate the spatial distribution of species with the ecosystem services of nutrient retention in the world. We calculate the effectiveness of global protected networks in safeguarding crocodilian species and provide three prioritization models for conservation planning. Our results show the main hotspots of ecological and evolutionary values are in southern North, Central and South America, west-central Africa, northeastern India, and southeastern Asia. African species have the highest correlation to nutrient retention patterns. Twenty-five percent of the world's crocodilian species are not significantly represented in the existing protected area networks. The most alarming cases are reported in northeastern India, eastern China, and west-central Africa which include endangered species with low or non-significant representation in the protected area networks. Our highest conservation prioritization model targets southern North America, east-central Central America, northern South America, west-central Africa, northeastern India, eastern China, southern Laos, Cambodia, and some points in southeastern Asia. Our research provides a global prioritization scheme to protect multiple dimensions of crocodilian diversity for achieving effective conservation outcomes.publishersversionpublishe

Global conservation prioritization areas in three dimensions of crocodilian diversity

Crocodilians are a taxonomic group of large predators with important ecological and evolutionary benefits for ecosystem functioning in the face of global change. Anthropogenic actions affect negatively crocodilians' survival and more than half of the species are threatened with extinction worldwide. Here, we map and explore three dimensions of crocodilian diversity on a global scale. To highlight the ecological importance of crocodilians, we correlate the spatial distribution of species with the ecosystem services of nutrient retention in the world. We calculate the effectiveness of global protected networks in safeguarding crocodilian species and provide three prioritization models for conservation planning. Our results show the main hotspots of ecological and evolutionary values are in southern North, Central and South America, west-central Africa, northeastern India, and southeastern Asia. African species have the highest correlation to nutrient retention patterns. Twenty-five percent of the world's crocodilian species are not significantly represented in the existing protected area networks. The most alarming cases are reported in northeastern India, eastern China, and west-central Africa, which include threatened species with low or non-significant representation in the protected area networks. Our highest conservation prioritization model targets southern North America, east-central Central America, northern South America, west-central Africa, northeastern India, eastern China, southern Laos, Cambodia, and some points in southeastern Asia. Our research provides a global prioritization scheme to protect multiple dimensions of crocodilian diversity for achieving effective conservation outcomes

Ecological Connectivity for Amphibians Under Climate Change

Campos, F. S., Lourenço-de-Moraes, R., Ruas, D. S., Mira-Mendes, C. V., Franch, M., Llorente, G. A., ... Cabral, P. (2019). Searching for Networks: Ecological Connectivity for Amphibians Under Climate Change. Environmental Management, 65(1), 46-61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-019-01240-0Ecological connectivity depends on key elements within the landscape, which can support ecological fluxes, species richness and long-term viability of a biological community. Landscape planning requires clear aims and quantitative approaches to identify which key elements can reinforce the spatial coherence of protected areas design. We aim to explore the probability of the ecological connectivity of forest remnants and amphibian species distributions for current and future climate scenarios across the Central Corridor of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Integrating amphibian conservation, climate change and ecological corridors, we design a landscape ranking based on graph and circuit theories. To identify the sensitivity of connected areas to climate-dependent changes, we use the Model for Interdisciplinary Research on Climate by means of simulations for 2080–2100, representing a moderated emission scenario within an optimistic context. Our findings indicate that more than 70% of forest connectivity loss by climate change may drastically reduce amphibian dispersal in this region. We show that high amphibian turnover rates tend to be greater in the north-eastern edges of the corridor across ensembles of forecasts. Our spatial analysis reveals a general pattern of low-conductance areas in landscape surface, yet with some well-connected patches suggesting potential ecological corridors. Atlantic Forest reserves are expected to be less effective in a near future. For improved conservation outcomes, we recommend some landscape paths with low resistance values across space and time. We highlight the importance of maintaining forest remnants in the southern Bahia region by drafting a blueprint for functional biodiversity corridors.authorsversionpublishe

Diet of juveniles of the venomous frog <em>Aparasphenodon brunoi</em> (Amphibia: Hylidae) in southeastern Brazil

Seventy juvenile individuals of Aparasphenodon brunoi were collected on the low parts of tree trunks in an Atlantic Forest remnant. Arthropods were the dominant prey found in their stomachs. Coleoptera (adult and larvae) was the most important prey regarding prey frequency, number, weight, and index of relative importance. Secondary preys included Hymenoptera that was important regarding number of prey and Hemiptera that was important regarding prey weight. Trophic ontogeny was detected. The diversity of prey suggests A. brunoi is an opportunistic sit-and-wait predator

Diet of juveniles of the venomous frog Aparasphenodon brunoi (Amphibia: Hylidae) in southeastern Brazil

Seventy juvenile individuals of Aparasphenodon brunoi were collected on the low parts of tree trunks in an Atlantic Forest remnant. Arthropods were the dominant prey found in their stomachs. Coleoptera (adult and larvae) was the most important prey regarding prey frequency, number, weight, and index of relative importance. Secondary preys included Hymenoptera that was important regarding number of prey and Hemiptera that was important regarding prey weight. Trophic ontogeny was detected. The diversity of prey suggests A. brunoi is an opportunistic sit-and-wait predator

Advertisement call of species of the genus Frostius Cannatella 1986 (Anura: Bufonidae)

Frostius pernambucensis and F. erythrophthalmus are cryptic bufonid species recognized mainly by the iris color: yellow in F. permambucensis and red in F. erythrophthalmus. However, field studies showed that the iris color of F. erythrophthalmus could vary between yellow and red. To improve the recognition of these species we described the advertisement call of Frostius pernambucensis and Frostius erythrophthalmus and we tested if call characteristics are influenced by temperature, male size and perch height. We also report on a physical interaction between two males of F. pernambucensis and the associated vocalization, suggesting that F. pernambucensis has not a territorial call or encounter call. Comparing the advertisement calls, the call of F. pernambucensis was lower, shorter and with a smaller number of notes than the call of F. erythrophthalmus. Dominant frequency and fundamental frequency variation of the F. pernambucensis advertisement call were related to the male’s size, while the call emission rate was related to air temperature. However, we could not find relationship among the acoustic characteristic of F. erythrophthalmus and male size or temperature

Diet of juveniles of the venomous frog Aparasphenodon brunoi (Amphibia: Hylidae) in southeastern Brazil

Seventy juvenile individuals of Aparasphenodon brunoi were collected on the low parts of tree trunks in an Atlantic Forest remnant. Arthropods were the dominant prey found in their stomachs. Coleoptera (adult and larvae) was the most important prey regarding prey frequency, number, weight, and index of relative importance. Secondary preys included Hymenoptera that was important regarding number of prey and Hemiptera that was important regarding prey weight. Trophic ontogeny was detected. The diversity of prey suggests A. brunoi is an opportunistic sit-and-wait predator