Potencial de contribuição de Tapirus terrestris (Tapiridae, Perissodactyla) na restauração florestal pós mineração de bauxita na Amazônia Oriental

Abstract

Seed dispersal is one of the ecosystem services with high potential to accelerate the forest restoration process in degraded areas. Considered the largest terrestrial herbivores in South America, tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) L.1758 play an essential role in dispersal, herbivory and nutrient cycling in neotropical forests. In this study, we investigated the potential of the Tapirus terrestris species to contribute to the forest restoration process through seed dispersal in areas recovering after bauxite extraction. To do this, we collected 30 faecal samples and screened and identified the seeds found. We recorded 51,961 seeds from 33 plant species distributed across 11 families. Of the total seeds recorded, 78% remained physically intact after passing through the tapirs' digestive tract. The high concentration of faeces in forest restoration areas shows that these areas are attractive to tapirs. The most abundant taxa were from Cecropia, Byrsonima, Mimosa and Solanum. Our results reinforce the seed-dispersing role attributed to the species Tapirus terrestris, in addition to adding at least seven new potentially dispersed species to the general list existing for the Neotropics in the literature.