Caatinga: The largest tropical dry forest region in South America
- José Maria Cardoso Silva, I. Leal, M. Tabarelli
- Environmental Science
- 9 January 2018
Changing the Course of Biodiversity Conservation in the Caatinga of Northeastern Brazil
- I. Leal, J. C. D. da Silva, M. Tabarelli, T. Lacher
- Environmental Science
- 1 June 2005
Abstract: The 735,000‐km2 Caatinga is a mosaic of thorn scrub and seasonally dry forests, with more than 2000 species of vascular plants, fishes, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals. Endemism…
Caatinga: The Scientific Negligence Experienced by a Dry Tropical Forest
- J. Santos, I. Leal, J. Almeida-Cortez, G. Fernandes, M. Tabarelli
- Environmental Science
- 1 September 2011
Seasonally dry tropical forests (SDTFs) provide a habitat for a diverse number of species and cover significant land areas. Yet, the amount of scientific research they have attracted is minimal.…
Plant Herbivore Interactions at the Forest Edge
- R. Wirth, S. Meyer, I. Leal, M. Tabarelli
- Environmental Science
- 2008
Evidence and causal explanations are presented that edge-associated herbivores, via a range of direct and indirect impacts, may alter species interactions, delay successional processes at the edge, and amplify the often human-induced changes on forest biota.
Seed dispersal by ants in the semi-arid Caatinga of North-East Brazil.
- I. Leal, R. Wirth, M. Tabarelli
- Environmental ScienceAnnals of Botany
- 1 May 2007
The fact that seeds reach micro-sites suitable for establishment (ant nests) supports the directed dispersal hypothesis as a possible force favouring myrmecochory in this ecosystem.
Interactions between Fungus‐Growing Ants (Attini), Fruits and Seeds in Cerrado Vegetation in Southeast Brazil 1
- I. Leal, P. Oliveira
- Biology
- 1 June 1998
The results indicate that attine-frudseed interactions are particularly conspicuous in the cerrado, suggesting that fungus-growing ants may play a relevant role in fruitlseed biology in this vegetation type.
Foraging ecology of attine ants in a Neotropical savanna: seasonal use of fungal substrate in the cerrado vegetation of Brazil
- I. Leal, P. Oliveira
- Environmental ScienceInsectes Sociaux
- 1 November 2000
The results indicate that lower attines present an opportunistic foraging behavior, by collecting items in the vicinity of their nests, and in accordance with the phenology of the cerrado vegetation.
The Caatinga: Understanding the challenges
- José Maria Cardoso Silva, L. Barbosa, I. Leal, M. Tabarelli
- Environmental Science
- 2017
The Caatinga is a well-recognized ecological region that lies in the semiarid hinterland of northeastern Brazil and that covers 912,529 km2. The term ‘Caatinga’ refers mostly to a seasonally dry…
Multiple successional pathways in human‐modified tropical landscapes: new insights from forest succession, forest fragmentation and landscape ecology research
- V. Arroyo‐Rodríguez, F. Melo, M. Tabarelli
- Environmental ScienceBiological Reviews of The Cambridge Philosophical…
- 1 February 2017
It is shown that secondary succession in tropical landscapes is a multifactorial phenomenon affected by a myriad of forces operating at multiple spatio‐temporal scales, and succession must be examined using more comprehensive explanatory models.
The Multiple Impacts of Leaf‐Cutting Ants and Their Novel Ecological Role in Human‐Modified Neotropical Forests
- I. Leal, R. Wirth, M. Tabarelli
- Environmental Science
- 1 September 2014
It is found that leaf-cutting ants show that some herbivorous insects are able to generate ecologically important disturbance regimes via non-trophic activities and ecosystem-level effects from leaf- cutting ants are ecosystem engineering capable not only of altering the abundance of other organisms, but also the successional trajectory of vegetation.
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