Urban expansion threatens biodiversity, especially on islands where native habitats and biological populations are naturally restricted. To understand how biodiversity responds to ongoing urban-driven landscape changes, we assessed how landscape configuration and composition shape mammal diversity on Santa Catarina Island-the largest Atlantic Forest island in Brazil-still largely forested. Between 2019 and 2022, we deployed camera traps at 22 sampling sites (> 1 km apart) across nine protected forest patches. Landscape metrics related to forest area, shape, isolation, and surrounding land cover were evaluated for their relationship with species richness, abundance, composition, and functional traits. Over 6569 camera trap days, we obtained 4151 independent records from 11 species. Richness decreased with surrounding unvegetated and urban matrix, while abundance peaked in smaller and more isolated patches, suggesting opportunistic species dominate these landscapes. Assemblage composition shifted from species-rich core forests to depauperate edge patches dominated primarily by the Dasyprocta azarae, followed by the Didelphis aurita and small rodents. The carnivore guild was represented by a single detection of the semi-aquatic Lontra longicaudis, reflecting the absence of native felids and potential detection limitations for elusive species. This trophic group showed no significant association with landscape variables in multivariate trait-environment models, suggesting a current functional gap in predator roles. Our findings highlight the legacy of habitat loss, fragmentation, and defaunation. Without connectivity and top-down ecological controls, the island risks transitioning to a functionally degraded state. Urgent landscape-level planning is needed, including forest restoration, connectivity, and rewilding strategies to restore lost functional groups.

MotivationHere, we make available a second version of the BioTIME database, which compiles records of abundance estimates for species in sample events of ecological assemblages through time. The updated version expands version 1.0 of the database by doubling the number of studies and includes substantial additional curation to the taxonomic accuracy of the records, as well as the metadata. Moreover, we now provide an R package (BioTIMEr) to facilitate use of the database.Main Types of Variables IncludedThe database is composed of one main data table containing the abundance records and 11 metadata tables. The data are organised in a hierarchy of scales where 11,989,233 records are nested in 1,603,067 sample events, from 553,253 sampling locations, which are nested in 708 studies. A study is defined as a sampling methodology applied to an assemblage for a minimum of 2 years.Spatial Location and GrainSampling locations in BioTIME are distributed across the planet, including marine, terrestrial and freshwater realms. Spatial grain size and extent vary across studies depending on sampling methodology. We recommend gridding of sampling locations into areas of consistent size.Time Period and GrainThe earliest time series in BioTIME start in 1874, and the most recent records are from 2023. Temporal grain and duration vary across studies. We recommend doing sample-level rarefaction to ensure consistent sampling effort through time before calculating any diversity metric.Major Taxa and Level of MeasurementThe database includes any eukaryotic taxa, with a combined total of 56,400 taxa.Software Formatcsv and. SQL.

. The Island of Santa Catarina is the largest island on the Brazilian coast. Within the Atlantic Forest domain, it serves as a model for investigating the decline in biodiversity within this ecosystem. This decline is associated with the loss of a large part of forest cover and mammalian species. Although the forest environment in the island has recovered more in comparison to the rest of the Atlantic Rainforest (66% versus 28%, respectively), the isolation typical of islands has hindered the recolonization of sensitive species, particularly those that are threatened. Two decades after the first publication of the mammal list of the Island of Santa Catarina, we revised past data to identify which species became extinct and which native and exotic species remain, focusing on the inclusion of Chiroptera. Through bibliographical reviews, scientific collections and field surveys, a total of 59 species of native mammals, non-volant and volants, were confirmed. Among these, eight species were determined to be extirpated, all threatened with extinction, including large ungulates and top cats, in addition to the occurrence of nine domestic and exotic invasive species. Studies employing specific methodologies and sampling techniques in inadequately assessed environments have the potential to augment species richness, particularly among rodents, marsupials, and bats.

Habitat loss can lead to biotic homogenization (decrease in β diversity) or differentiation (increase in β diversity) of biological communities. However, it is unclear which of these ecological processes predominates in human-modified landscapes. We used data on vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants to quantify β diversity based on species occurrence and abundance among communities in 1367 landscapes with varying amounts of habitat (<30%, 30-60%, or >60% of forest cover) throughout the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Decreases in habitat amount below 30% led to increased compositional similarity of vertebrate and invertebrate communities, which may indicate a process of biotic homogenization throughout the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. No pattern was detected in plant communities. We found that habitat loss was associated with a deterministic increase in faunal community similarity, which is consistent with a selected subset of species being capable of thriving in human-modified landscapes. The lack of pattern found in plants was consistent with known variation between taxa in community responses to habitat amount. Brazilian legislation requiring the preservation of 20% of Atlantic Forest native vegetation may be insufficient to prevent the biotic homogenization of faunal communities. Our results highlight the importance of preserving large amounts of habitat, providing source areas for the recolonization of deforested landscapes, and avoiding large-scale impacts of homogenization of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

Habitat loss has been shown to lead to either biotic homogenization (decrease in β-diversity) or differentiation (increase in β-diversity) of biological communities. However, it is unclear which of these two ecological processes predominates in human-modified landscapes. Using an extensive multi-taxa database, including vertebrates, invertebrates, and plants, we quantified β-diversity based on species occurrence and abundance among communities in 1,367 landscapes with varying amounts of habitat (<30%, 30-60%, or >60% of forest cover) throughout the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Decreases in habitat amount below 30% led to reduced compositional dissimilarity of vertebrate as well as invertebrate communities, indicating the prevalence of biotic homogenization with habitat loss. No pattern was detected in plant communities. Our results corroborate that habitat loss leads to biotic homogenization in faunal communities by deterministically selecting a specific subset of species capable of thriving in human-modified landscapes. Moreover, the lack of pattern found in plants reinforces existing variation between taxa in community responses to habitat amount. Legislation may be insufficient to prevent the biotic homogenization of faunal communities, which call for the importance of efforts to preserve landscapes with high amounts of habitat in order to provide source areas for the recolonization of deforested landscapes and avoid large-scale consequences of homogenization of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

Felids have evolved different hunting strategies depending on the prey they want to capture. The ambush by “sit and wait” is most effective when the amount or size of prey outweighs the cost of energy spent during waiting time, being advantageous for small cats if they could attract an animal or smaller predators for a lure. The ‘silhouettes’ of prey on the face of felids have been observed in 25 of the 40 species on average and may be associated only with our (human) perception. However, if this is not only a case of ‘facial pareidolia’, these ‘silhouettes’ could be associated with aggressive mimicry. To evaluate this hypothesis, we assembled a species-level data set of biological and ecological characteristics that could be associated with ‘silhouettes’ on the face of felids and combined these data with a dated molecular phylogeny. Next, we tested the association between ‘silhouettes’ and biological and ecological characteristics using a Bayesian implementation of the threshold model. Our results point out that 'silhouettes' on the face of felids are associated with small prey size and small body mass of predators. Taken together, these findings bring a new perspective to ecological, behavioral, and evolutionary studies of predator-prey relationships.

Camera traps became the main observational method of a myriad of species over large areas. Data sets from camera traps can be used to describe the patterns and monitor the occupancy, abundance, and richness of wildlife, essential information for conservation in times of rapid climate and land-cover changes. Habitat loss and poaching are responsible for historical population losses of mammals in the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot, especially for medium to large-sized species. Here we present a data set from camera trap surveys of medium to large-sized native mammals (>1 kg) across the Atlantic Forest. We compiled data from 5380 ground-level camera trap deployments in 3046 locations, from 2004 to 2020, resulting in 43,068 records of 58 species. These data add to existing data sets of mammals in the Atlantic Forest by including dates of camera operation needed for analyses dealing with imperfect detection. We also included, when available, information on important predictors of detection, namely the camera brand and model, use of bait, and obstruction of camera viewshed that can be measured from example pictures at each camera location. Besides its application in studies on the patterns and mechanisms behind occupancy, relative abundance, richness, and detection, the data set presented here can be used to study species' daily activity patterns, activity levels, and spatiotemporal interactions between species. Moreover, data can be used combined with other data sources in the multiple and expanding uses of integrated population modeling. An R script is available to view summaries of the data set. We expect that this data set will be used to advance the knowledge of mammal assemblages and to inform evidence-based solutions for the conservation of the Atlantic Forest. The data are not copyright restricted; please cite this paper when using the data.

Understand which factors influence the distribution of feline species can contribute to better planning of conservation strategies in a biodiversity hotspot. We modeled the potential distribution of seven cat species occurring in the Atlantic Forest (AF). Here, we combined climatic and landscape perspectives to determine the most suitable areas considering the taxonomic richness of these cats. We also assessed the ability of fully protected areas (FPAS) to protect these cat species. The results indicated that only 30% of the AF remnants are suitable for all species. Areas with low species richness were located in Argentina and northeastern Brazil. For taxonomic richness, the Serra do Mar (45.89%) and the Araucaria (27.90%) sub-regions had the highest suitable areas, followed by the Interior sub-region (21.89%). The Brejos Nordestinos and Pernambuco sub-regions had less than 1% suitability. Considering taxonomic richness, only 9% of suitable areas are covered by FPAs. Leopardus emiliae (1.37%) and Panthera onca (1.97%) had the lowest values of suitable areas covered by FPAs. The other species of cats are also under low protection (L. guttulus = 5.38%, L. wiedii = 5.71%, Herpailurus yagouaroundi = 6.70%, L. pardalis = 3.85%, and Puma concolor = 4.94%). We reveal that a low percentage of suitable areas are currently fully protected. This study also provides important conservation measures to be implemented in different AF sub-regions. These findings may help in the planning, maintenance, and implementation of FPAs through restoration programs and the establishment of ecological corridors.

The causes of megafauna extinction in the late Quaternary have long been a controversial subject, which may be related to the limitations of adequate information to evaluate global hypotheses related to climate change and the impacts of modern human dispersal. We propose a new global spatio-temporal approach using variations of Earth's orbital parameters and atmospheric CO2 levels as forcing factors for environmental and climate change with worldwide distribution. We analysed the overlap between 142 times-of-extinction of megafauna, and high obliquity (as a forcing factor for seasonality), low atmospheric CO2 levels (as a forcing factor for desertification), and the arrival of modern humans. We found that critical periods of seasonality and desertification intensified in the last 800 ka BP, and made the last 50 ka BP exceptionally severe in relation to the entire Quaternary. These critical periods significantly overlapped with 87% of extinctions in continental and connected islands, compared with 32.1% overlap of extinctions with the arrival of modern humans. In contrast the arrival of modern humans on isolated islands overlapped with 90.9% of the extinctions. The arrival of modern humans in continental regions had 81.3% of overlap with critical periods of climate change, suggesting that the synchrony observed between extinctions and the dispersal of modern humans in continental regions was driven by climate.