Crop-raiding by a forest ungulate in Earth's largest tropical agricultural frontier potentially costs local farmers ~US$700 m and disproportionately penalizes smallholders Hugo C. M. Costa, Carlos A. Peres, Neander M. Heming, Dionei José da Silva, Manoel dos Santos‐Filho, et al. Journal of Applied Ecology, 2026 Agricultural expansion for global commodity production is a major driver of tropical deforestation. This widespread land‐use change isolates wildlife into human‐dominated landscapes, intensifying conflicts over space and resources. Crop raiding is one of the most severe and widespread forms of human–wildlife conflict (HWC), undermining rural livelihoods and reducing support for the conservation of large vertebrates, especially those incurring high local costs despite high global conservation value. The white‐lipped peccary ( Tayassu pecari ), a large‐herd‐living tropical ungulate and key ecological engineer, has been extirpated from much of its former range. Yet, it is considered a pest in Mato Grosso, the leading Brazilian state in soybean and maize production. We used GPS tracking, landholder interviews and landscape variables to model crop‐raiding risk across ~28,000 rural properties in Mato Grosso. The total suitable conflict area covers 849,009 ha, potentially causing annual economic losses of US$664 million. Forest cover and connectivity were the most important predictors of conflict risk. Smallholders manage proportionally more vulnerable land than largeholders. Addressing conflict effectively requires moving beyond indiscriminate retaliatory culling, which threatens long‐term population viability. Population regulation, compensatory payments promoting coexistence and deflection of white‐lipped peccary herd movements are feasible conflict mitigation measures that should replace currently excessive retaliatory killing. Synthesis and applications . Our spatially explicit modelling identifies landscape‐scale hotspots of crop raiding by a key Neotropical forest ungulate in the southern Amazon. By predicting where conflict is most likely to occur, this approach provides actionable information for landholders and decision‐makers to proactively plan crop placement, target preventive measures and implement landscape management strategies that deflect white‐lipped peccary movements away from vulnerable fields. These applications support coexistence‐based management, reduce reliance on indiscriminate retaliatory culling and contribute to the long‐term conservation of this ecologically important and vulnerable species in rapidly expanding monocultural landscapes.
Unraveling the Taxonomic, Functional, and Phylogenetic Diversity of Lizard Assemblages in Riparian Forest Areas in the Amazon–Pantanal Ecotone Rafael Assis Barros, Odair Silva‐Diogo, Vancleber Divino Silva‐Alves, Manoel Santos‐Filho, Dionei José Silva Biotropica, 2025 Historical, ecological, and biogeographical processes have shaped species distribution and diversity on Earth. However, in ecotonal regions, the action of these processes becomes even more complex. In this study, we analyzed how species richness (SR), as well as functional diversity (standardized functional diversity—SES.FD, functional dispersion—FDis, and functional redundancy—FR), and phylogenetic diversity (phylogenetic species variability – PSV and phylogenetic redundancy – PR) of lizard assemblages varied along riparian forests in the Amazon–Pantanal ecotone. Sampling was carried out at 24 sites distributed along the Paraguay River in Brazil, using pitfall traps and active searches. We recorded 262 lizards from 13 species and 8 families. Species composition differed among the sampled ecoregions. Functional redundancy (FR) and PR were greater in the riparian forest areas of the Amazon; PSV was greater in the assemblages from the Pantanal and Amazon–Pantanal ecotone, while SR, SES.FD, and FDis did not differ among the regions. The variation in the diversity patterns of the lizard assemblages is probably a result of the different environmental conditions and evolutionary histories among these ecoregions and their ecotone. The greater diversity of lineages in the lizard assemblages of the riparian forest areas from the Pantanal was probably influenced by the contact between ecologically and historically distinct regions. However, the lower redundancy in the traits and lineages of these assemblages indicates that they are highly susceptible to disturbances, emphasizing the need for conservation policies and actions to protect the lizard assemblages in the world's largest floodplain area.
Wildfires and their toll on Brazil: Who's counting the cost? Ernandes Sobreira, Wilkinson Lopes Lázaro, Breno Dias Vitorino, Angélica Vilas Boas da Frota, Carlos Eduardo Frickmann Young, et al. Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation, 2025
The imminent environmental setback in Brazil driven by the Devastation Bill Breno Dias Vitorino, Angélica Vilas Boas da Frota, Ernandes Sobreira, Wilkinson Lopes Lázaro, Carlos Eduardo Frickmann Young, et al. Biota Neotropica, 2025 The Brazilian Congress has just approved Bill No. 2159/2021, which significantly weakens national environmental licensing regulations. The text dismantles fundamental safeguards, expands licensing exemptions without rigorous criteria, and allows self-licensing of medium-impact environmental activities. Amendments deepen the setback by introducing a “Special Environmental License” which a maximum one-year deadline for evaluating projects deemed strategic, regardless of their magnitude and socio-environmental consequences. The Bill opens the door to widespread environmental degradation, threatens public health, increases land conflicts, and perpetuates the deceptive narrative of “green capitalism”. It prioritizes the profits of a few over the collective well-being. In defense of natural heritage, environmental justice, and public health, we call for its veto.
Drivers of functional diversity in small-bodied mammals across a deforestation frontier in the Southern Brazilian Amazon Manoel Santos-Filho, Thalita Ribeiro, Dionei José da Silva, Juliano A. Bogoni, Ana Filipa Palmeirim Mammal Research, 2024 Deforestation remains the most pervasive driver of biodiversity erosion across tropical forests. Understanding how species can cope with such habitat changes is particularly important along the rapidly expanding agricultural frontiers. To do so, we used a functional perspective examining small mammal responses to habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation across the ‘Arc of Deforestation’ in the Southern Brazilian Amazon. Small mammals were surveyed using a combination of conventional and pitfall traps across 20 forest fragments—ranging from 42 to 4743 ha—in addition to two relatively continuous forest sites (> 7000 ha). These fragments lie isolated by a cattle pasture matrix of varying grazing intensity. We then analysed taxonomic and functional diversity patterns—represented by Simpson Diversity and Rao Quadratic entropy indices—in Generalised Linear Models containing local- to landscape-scale predictors of variation. Further, we used a functional trait composition approach based on community-weighted mean trait values to depict and predict small mammal functional variations across this degradation gradient. From a total of 847 individuals recorded belonging to 24 taxa, functional responses tended to follow the taxonomic diversity, both increasing with fragment area. The functional dimension further was promoted by low fire-related disturbance. Functional trait composition was mainly driven by habitat quality, represented by tree density, arthropod biomass, and fire-related disturbance. Our results reinforce that small forest fragments sustain depauperate small mammal assemblages both taxonomically and functionally. Accounting for habitat quality further allows for boosting the persistence across functional groups. Our findings can be used to improve the efficiency of management practices thereby maximising the multiple dimensions of small mammal diversity and their associated ecosystem services across tropical deforestation frontiers.
Ranging ecology and resource selection of white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari) in the world's largest tropical agricultural frontier Hugo C. M. Costa, Danielle Storck‐Tonon, Manoel dos Santos‐Filho, Dionei José da Silva, João Vitor Campos‐Silva, et al. Ecology and Evolution, 2023 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 (Tayassu pecari) play a pivotal role in forest structure, biodiversity, and nutrient cycling. However, they are highly sensitive to habitat fragmentation and hunting pressure. White‐lipped peccaries are, therefore, a wide‐ranging “landscape species,” the spatial and ecological requirements of which can be used to guide conservation planning in human‐modified landscapes. Using data from GPS‐tracked individuals in large‐scale mechanized agriculture landscapes in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil's largest soybean and maize producer, we investiated the home range size and resource selection during both the crop and non‐crop season. We observed a seasonal variation in home range size and an increased selection for croplands during the crop season. White‐lipped peccaries favored native vegetation patches and also exhibited avoidance of locations distant from perennial water bodies and distant cropland locations far from forest remmants. This study can contribute to inform effective conservation strategies and land management practices aimed at preserving suitable habitats and promoting wildlife coexistence with working agricultural landscapes.
Record of the crabs poppiana argentiniana (Rathbun, 1905) and valdivia camerani (nobili, 1896) in the diet of rhinella diptycha (cope, 1862) (anura: Bufonidae), in the pantanal mato-grossense, Brazil Herpetology Notes, 2020
