title: Defaunation affects carbon storage in tropical forests.
abstract: Carbon storage is widely acknowledged as one of the most valuable forest ecosystem services. Deforestation, logging, fragmentation, fire, and climate change have significant effects on tropical carbon stocks; however, an elusive and yet undetected decrease in carbon storage may be due to defaunation of large seed dispersers. Many large tropical trees with sizeable contributions to carbon stock rely on large vertebrates for seed dispersal and regeneration, however many of these frugivores are threatened by hunting, illegal trade, and habitat loss. We used a large data set on tree species composition and abundance, seed, fruit, and carbon-related traits, and plant-animal interactions to estimate the loss of carbon storage capacity of tropical forests in defaunated scenarios. By simulating the local extinction of trees that depend on large frugivores in 31 Atlantic Forest communities, we found that defaunation has the potential to significantly erode carbon storage even when only a small proportion of large-seeded trees are extirpated. Although intergovernmental policies to reduce carbon emissions and reforestation programs have been mostly focused on deforestation, our results demonstrate that defaunation, and the loss of key ecological interactions, also poses a serious risk for the maintenance of tropical forest carbon storage.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, São Paulo 13506-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bello
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, São Paulo 13506-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mauro
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8187-8696
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Galetti
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Zoologia, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, São Paulo 13506-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marco A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Pizo
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia, Setor de Ecologia e Conservação, Universidade Federal de Lavras, Lavras, Minas Gerais 37200-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz Fernando S
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Magnago
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biologia Geral, Laboratory of Ecology and Evolution of Plants, Av PH Rolfs s/n, Universidade Federal de Viçosa, 36570-900 MG, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mariana F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Ecologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-090, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renato A F
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR47TJ, UK.
authors.forename: Carlos A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Peres
authors.affiliation: Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, P. O. Box 65, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: Otso
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ovaskainen
authors.affiliation: Integrative Ecology Group, Estación Biológica de Doñana, EBD-CSIC, Isla de La Cartuja, Avenida Américo Vespucio S/N, E-41092 Sevilla, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2142-9116
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jordano
keywords: Atlantic Forest; Ecosystems; biodiversity; bushmeat; carbon storage; conservation; defaunation; rainforests; seed dispersal; tropical ecosystems
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