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Publication list

  • May 5
  • 11 min read

Updated: Jun 27

Scientific publications from our collaborative network.


Eye-level view of a vibrant art installation featuring colorful geometric shapes


Publications generated by the DISPERSE network:



  1. Cazetta, E., P. R. Guimarães. 2026. The disruption of seed dispersal networks: disentangling the effects of habitat loss and fragmentation. Oikos (in press).

  2. Fadini, R. F., Pizo, M. A., Fontúrbel, F. E., Cazetta. E. 2026. A global review of mistletoe frugivory and seed dispersal: the plant perspective. Plant Biology (in press).

  3. Bonfim, F. C. G. Galetti, M., Rios, E., Oliveira, C., Gama, M., Bona, K., Novais-Pereira, G. C., Ribeiro, T. C., Cazetta, E. Habitat loss reshuffles ecological and evolutionary interactions ina seed dispersal network. Oikos (in press).



Publications involving members of the DISPERSE:



Our research network emerged from a series of collaborations that have generated more than 130 articles since 1994. Here, we highlight selected contributions related to the study of interactions between plants and frugivores.


  1. Daibes, L. F., Rogers, H. S., Gnonlonfoun, F. J., Zupo, T., Sühs, R. B., Vinha, D., Rother, D. C., ... & Pizo, M. A. (2026). Landscape features predict broad‐scale seed rain patterns across fragments of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Journal of Ecology, 114(5), e70328.

  2. da Silva Batista, G., Brocardo, C. R., Castro, A. B., Fogliatti, E. F., Galetti, M., Pires, M. M., & Fadini, R. F. (2025). Defaunation disrupts the behavior of large terrestrial vertebrates, impacting ecological functions in the Amazon. Global Ecology and Conservation, 59, e03522.

  3. Bonfim, F. C. G., Galetti, M., Benchimol, M., Morante‐Filho, J. C., Magioli, M., & Cazetta, E. (2024). Land‐use homogenization reduces the occurrence and diversity of frugivorous birds in a tropical biodiversity hotspot. Ecological Applications, 34(4), e2980.

  4. Genes, L., Galetti, M., & Pires, A. S. (2024). La recuperación de interacciones planta-animal como herramienta para restaurar funciones ecológicas perdidas. In Más allá de la pérdida de especies: Interacciones ecológicas en el Antropoceno (pp. 258-274). Ediciones Fremen.

  5. Bonfim, F. C. G., Dodonov, P., Guimarães Jr, P. R., & Cazetta, E. (2023). Habitat loss shapes the structure and species roles in tropical plant–frugivore networks. Oikos, 2023(4), e09399.

  6. Cosmo, L. G., Assis, A. P. A., de Aguiar, M. A., Pires, M. M., Valido, A., Jordano, P., ... & Guimarães Jr, P. R. (2023). Indirect effects shape species fitness in coevolved mutualistic networks. Nature, 619(7971), 788-792.

  7. Pires, M. M., & Galetti, M. (2023). Beyond the “empty forest”: The defaunation syndromes of Neotropical forests in the Anthropocene. Global Ecology and Conservation, 41, e02362.

  8. Assis, A. P. A., Galetti, M., Maia, K. P., & Guimarães Jr, P. R. (2022). Reduced evolutionary potential of a frugivorous bird species in fragmented forests. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10, 804138.

  9. Carlo, T. A., Cazetta, E., Traveset, A., Guimarães Jr., P. R., & McConkey, K. R. (2022). Fruits, animals and seed dispersal: timely advances on a key mutualism. Oikos, 2022(2).

  10. Cruz, L. R., Muylaert, R. L., Galetti, M., & Pires, M. M. (2022). The geography of diet variation in Neotropical Carnivora. Mammal Review, 52(1), 112-128.

  11. Friedemann, P., Côrtes, M. C., de Castro, E. R., Galetti, M., Jordano, P., & Guimarães Jr, P. R. (2022). The individual‐based network structure of palm‐seed dispersers is explained by a rainforest gradient. Oikos, 2022(2).

  12. Fuzessy, L., Sobral, G., Carreira, D., Rother, D. C., Barbosa, G., Landis, M., ... & Jordano, P. (2022). Functional roles of frugivores and plants shape hyper‐diverse mutualistic interactions under two antagonistic conservation scenarios. Biotropica, 54(2), 444-454.

  13. Mittelman, P., Landim, A. R., Genes, L., Assis, A. P. A., Starling‐Manne, C., Leonardo, P. V., ... Guimarães Jr., P. R. & Pires, A. S. (2022). Trophic rewilding benefits a tropical community through direct and indirect network effects. Ecography, 2022(4).

  14. Rother, D. C., de Sousa, I. L., Gressler, E., Liboni, A. P., Souza, V. C., Rodrigues, R. R., & C Morellato, L. P. (2022). Comparing the potential reproductive phenology between restored areas and native tropical forest fragments in Southeastern Brazil. Restoration Ecology, 30(3), e13529.

  15. Carvalho, C. D. S., García, C., Lucas, M. S., Jordano, P., & Côrtes, M. C. (2021). Extant fruit‐eating birds promote genetically diverse seed rain, but disperse to fewer sites in defaunated tropical forests. Journal of Ecology, 109(2), 1055-1067.

  16. Mittelman, P., Dracxler, C. M., Santos‐Coutinho, P. R., & Pires, A. S. (2021). Sowing forests: a synthesis of seed dispersal and predation by agoutis and their influence on plant communities. Biological Reviews, 96(6), 2425-2445.

  17. Sales, L. P., Kissling, W. D., Galetti, M., Naimi, B., & Pires, M. M.(2021). Climate change reshapes the eco‐evolutionary dynamics of a Neotropical seed dispersal system. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 30(5), 1129-1138.

  18. Assis, A. P. A., Thompson, J. N., Santana, P. C., Jordano, P., Bascompte, J., & Guimarães Jr, P. R. (2020). Genetic correlations and ecological networks shape coevolving mutualisms. Ecology letters, 23(12), 1789-1799.

  19. Emer, C., Jordano, P., Pizo, M. A., Ribeiro, M. C., da Silva, F. R., & Galetti, M. (2020). Seed dispersal networks in tropical forest fragments: Area effects, remnant species, and interaction diversity. Biotropica, 52(1), 81-89.

  20. Nascimento, L. F. D., Guimarães Jr, P. R., Onstein, R. E., Kissling, W. D., & Pires, M. M. (2020). Associated evolution of fruit size, fruit colour and spines in Neotropical palms. Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 33(6), 858-868.

  21. Quintero, E., Pizo, M. A., & Jordano, P. (2020). Fruit resource provisioning for avian frugivores: the overlooked side of effectiveness in seed dispersal mutualisms. Journal of Ecology, 108(4), 1358-1372.

  22. Villar, N., Siqueira, T., Zipparro, V., Farah, F., Schmaedecke, G., Hortenci, L., Brocardo, C. R., Jordano, P., & Galetti, M. (2020). The cryptic regulation of diversity by functionally complementary large tropical forest herbivores. Journal of Ecology, 108(1), 279-290.

  23. Carvalho, C. D. S., Valverde, J., Souza, M., Ribeiro, T., Nazareth, S., Galetti, M., & Côrtes, M. C. (2019). The role of thrushes in maintaining the genetic diversity and structure of a tropical palm.

  24. Emer, C., Galetti, M., Pizo, M. A., Jordano, P., & Verdú, M. (2019). Defaunation precipitates the extinction of evolutionarily distinct interactions in the Anthropocene. Sci. Adv. 5, eaav6699.

  25. Fernandes, L. D., Lemos-Costa, P., Guimarães Jr, P. R., Thompson, J. N., & de Aguiar, M. A. (2019). Coevolution creates complex mosaics across large landscapes. The American Naturalist, 194(2), 217-229.

  26. Oda, G. A. M., de Siqueira, M. F., Pires, A. D. S., & Portela, R. C. (2019). Micro‐or macroscale? Which one best predicts the establishment of an endemic Atlantic Forest palm?. Ecology and Evolution, 9(12), 7284-7290.

  27. Pedrosa, F., Bercê, W., Levi, T., Pires, M. M., & Galetti, M. (2019). Seed dispersal effectiveness by a large‐bodied invasive species in defaunated landscapes. Biotropica, 51(6), 862-873.

  28. Bomfim, J. A., Guimarães Jr, P. R., Peres, C. A., Carvalho, G., & Cazetta, E. (2018). Local extinctions of obligate frugivores and patch size reduction disrupt the structure of seed dispersal networks. Ecography, 41(11), 1899-1909.

  29. Emer, C., Galetti, M., Pizo, M. A., Guimaraes Jr, P. R., Moraes, S., Piratelli, A., & Jordano, P. (2018). Seed‐dispersal interactions in fragmented landscapes–a metanetwork approach. Ecology Letters, 21(4), 484-493.

  30. Galetti, M., Moleón, M., Jordano, P., Pires, M. M., Guimarães Jr, P. R., Pape, T., ... & Svenning, J. C. (2018). Ecological and evolutionary legacy of megafauna extinctions. Biological Reviews, 93(2), 845-862.

  31. Marjakangas, E. L., Genes, L., Pires, M. M., Fernandez, F. A., De Lima, R. A., De Oliveira, A. A., ... & Galetti, M. (2018). Estimating interaction credit for trophic rewilding in tropical forests. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 373(1761).

  32. Pires, M. M., Guimarães, P. R., Galetti, M., & Jordano, P. (2018). Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions and the functional loss of long‐distance seed‐dispersal services. Ecography, 41(1), 153-163.

  33. Rother, D. C., Gorgens, E., Guerin, N., Rodrigues, R. R., & Pizo, M. A. (2018). Seedling community in a patchy tropical vegetation under the influence of bamboos. Tropical Conservation Science, 11, 1940082918767124.

  34. Bello, C., Galetti, M., Montan, D., Pizo, M.A., Mariguela, T.C., Culot, L., Bufalo, F., Labecca, F., Pedrosa, F., Constantini, R., Emer, C., Silva, W.R., da Silva, F.R., Ovaskainen, O. & Jordano, P. (2017), Atlantic frugivory: a plant–frugivore interaction data set for the Atlantic Forest. Ecology, 98: 1729-1729.

  35. Guimarães Jr, P. R., Pires, M. M., Jordano, P., Bascompte, J., & Thompson, J. N. (2017). Indirect effects drive coevolution in mutualistic networks. Nature, 550(7677), 511-514.

  36. Portela, R. D. C. Q., Pires, A. D. S., Braz, M. I. G., & de Mattos, E. A. (2017). Species richness and density evaluation for plants with aggregated distributions: fixed vs. variable area methods. Journal of Plant Ecology, 10(5), 765-770.

  37. Staggemeier, V. G., Cazetta, E., & Morellato, L. P. C. (2017). Hyperdominance in fruit production in the Brazilian Atlantic rain forest: the functional role of plants in sustaining frugivores. Biotropica, 49(1), 71-82.

  38. Portela, R. C. Q., Pires, A. S., Braz, M. I. G., & de Mattos, E. A. (2017). Species richness and density evaluation for plants with aggregated distributions: fixed vs. variable area methods. Journal of Plant Ecology, 10(5), 765-770.

  39. Carvalho, C. S., Galetti, M., Colevatti, R. G., & Jordano, P. (2016). Defaunation leads to microevolutionary changes in a tropical palm. Scientific reports, 6(1), 31957.

  40. Rother, D. C., Pizo, M. A., & Jordano, P. (2016). Variation in seed dispersal effectiveness: the redundancy of consequences in diversified tropical frugivore assemblages. Oikos, 125(3), 336-342.

  41. Rother, D. C., Rodrigues, R. R., & Pizo, M. A. (2016). Bamboo thickets alter the demographic structure of Euterpe edulis population: a keystone, threatened palm species of the Atlantic forest. Acta Oecologica, 70, 96-102.

  42. Bello, C., Galetti, M., Pizo, M. A., Magnago, L. F. S., Rocha, M. F., Lima, R. A., ... & Jordano, P. (2015). Defaunation affects carbon storage in tropical forests. Science advances, 1(11), e1501105.

  43. Camargo, M. G. G., Schaefer, H. M., Habermann, G., Cazetta, E., Soares, N. C., & Morellato, L. P. C. (2015). Bicolored display of Miconia albicans fruits: Evaluating visual and physiological functions of fruit colors. American Journal of Botany, 102(9), 1453-1461.

  44. Rother, D. C., Pizo, M. A., Siqueira, T., Rodrigues, R. R., & Jordano, P. (2015). Community-wide spatial and temporal discordances of seed-seedling shadows in a tropical rainforest. PLoS One, 10(4), e0123346.

  45. Camargo, M. G. G., Cazetta, E., Morellato, L. P. C., & Schaefer, H. M. (2014). Characterizing background heterogeneity in visual communication. Basic and Applied Ecology, 15(4), 326-335.

  46. Muler, A. E., Rother, D. C., Brancalion, P. S., Naves, R. P., Rodrigues, R. R., & Pizo, M. A. (2014). Can overharvesting of a non-timber-forest-product change the regeneration dynamics of a tropical rainforest? The case study of Euterpe edulis. Forest Ecology and Management, 324, 117-125.

  47. Pires, M. M., Galetti, M., Donatti, C. I., Pizo, M. A., Dirzo, R., & Guimarães Jr, P. R. (2014). Reconstructing past ecological networks: the reconfiguration of seed-dispersal interactions after megafaunal extinction. Oecologia, 175(4), 1247-1256.

  48. Vidal, M. M., Hasui, E., Pizo, M. A., Tamashiro, J. Y., Silva, W. R., & Guimarães Jr, P. R. (2014). Frugivores at higher risk of extinction are the key elements of a mutualistic network. Ecology, 95(12), 3440-3447.

  49. Camargo, M. G. G., Cazetta, E., Schaefer, H. M., & Morellato, L. P. C. (2013). Fruit color and contrast in seasonal habitats–a case study from a cerrado savanna. Oikos, 122(9), 1335-1342.

  50. Galetti, M., Guevara, R., Côrtes, M. C., Fadini, R., Von Matter, S., Leite, A. B., ... & Jordano, P. (2013). Functional extinction of birds drives rapid evolutionary changes in seed size. Science, 340(6136), 1086-1090.

  51. Pizo, M. A., Galetti, M., Laps, R., & Silva, W. (2013). Frugivory in cotingas of the Atlantic Forest of southeast Brazil. Ararajuba - Revista Brasileira de Ornitologia, 10(17), 10.

  52. Rother, D. C., Jordano, P., Rodrigues, R. R., & Pizo, M. A. (2013). Demographic bottlenecks in tropical plant regeneration: A comparative analysis of causal influences. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics, 15(2), 86-96.

  53. Vidal, M. M., Pires, M. M., & Guimarães Jr, P. R. (2013). Large vertebrates as the missing components of seed-dispersal networks. Biological Conservation, 163, 42-48.

  54. Cazetta, E., Galetti, M., Rezende, E. L., & Schaefer, H. M. (2012). On the reliability of visual communication in vertebrate‐dispersed fruits. Journal of Ecology, 100(1), 277-286.

  55. de Castro, E. R., Côrtes, M. C., Navarro, L., Galetti, M., & Morellato, L. P. C. (2012). Temporal variation in the abundance of two species of thrushes in relation to fruiting phenology in the Atlantic rainforest. Emu-Austral Ornithology, 112(2), 137-148.

  56. Genini, J., Côrtes, M. C., Guimarães Jr, P. R., & Galetti, M. (2012). Mistletoes play different roles in a modular host–parasite network. Biotropica, 44(2), 171-178.

  57. Pires, A. S., & Galetti, M. (2012). The agouti Dasyprocta leporina (Rodentia: Dasyproctidae) as seed disperser of the palm Astrocaryum aculeatissimum. Mastozoología neotropical, 19(1), 147-153.

  58. Donatti, C. I., Guimarães Jr, P. R., Galetti, M., Pizo, M. A., Marquitti, F. M., & Dirzo, R. (2011). Analysis of a hyper‐diverse seed dispersal network: modularity and underlying mechanisms. Ecology letters, 14(8), 773-781.

  59. Dracxler, C. M., Pires, A. S., & Fernandez, F. A. (2011). Invertebrate seed predators are not all the same: seed predation by bruchine and scolytine beetles affects palm recruitment in different ways. Biotropica, 43(1), 8-11.

  60. Galetti, M., Pizo, M. A., & Morellato, L. P. C. (2011). Diversity of functional traits of fleshy fruits in a species-rich Atlantic rain forest. Biota Neotropica, 11(1), 181-193.

  61. Guimarães Jr, P. R., Jordano, P., & Thompson, J. N. (2011). Evolution and coevolution in mutualistic networks. Ecology letters, 14(9), 877-885.

  62. Pires, M. M., Prado, P. I., & Guimarães Jr, P. R. (2011). Do food web models reproduce the structure of mutualistic networks?. PLoS One, 6(11), e27280.

  63. Cazetta, E., Schaefer, H. M., & Galetti, M. (2009). Why are fruits colorful? The relative importance of achromatic and chromatic contrasts for detection by birds. Evolutionary Ecology, 23(2), 233-244.

  64. Cortes, M. C., Cazetta, E., Staggemeier, V. G., & Galetti, M. (2009). Linking frugivore activity to early recruitment of a bird dispersed tree, Eugenia umbelliflora (Myrtaceae) in the Atlantic rainforest. Austral Ecology, 34(3), 249-258.

  65. Donatti, C. I., Guimarães Jr, P. R., & Galetti, M. (2009). Seed dispersal and predation in the endemic Atlantic rainforest palm Astrocaryum aculeatissimum across a gradient of seed disperser abundance. Ecological Research, 24(6), 1187-1195.

  66. Fadini, R. F., Fleury, M., Donatti, C. I., & Galetti, M. (2009). Effects of frugivore impoverishment and seed predators on the recruitment of a keystone palm. Acta oecologica, 35(2), 188-196.

  67. Genini, J., Galetti, M., & Morellato, L. P. C. (2009). Fruiting phenology of palms and trees in an Atlantic rainforest land-bridge island. Flora-morphology, distribution, functional ecology of plants, 204(2), 131-145.

  68. Rother, D. C., Rodrigues, R. R., & Pizo, M. A. (2009). Effects of bamboo stands on seed rain and seed limitation in a rainforest. Forest Ecology and Management, 257(3), 885-892.

  69. Cazetta, E., Schaefer, H. M., & Galetti, M. (2008). Does attraction to frugivores or defense against pathogens shape fruit pulp composition?. Oecologia, 155(2), 277-286.

  70. Guimarães Jr, P. R., Galetti, M., & Jordano, P. (2008). Seed dispersal anachronisms: rethinking the fruits extinct megafauna ate. PloS one, 3(3), e1745.

  71. Pizo, M. A., Donatti, C. I., Guedes, N. M. R., & Galetti, M. (2008). Conservation puzzle: Endangered hyacinth macaw depends on its nest predator for reproduction. Biological Conservation, 141(3), 792-796.

  72. Cazetta, E., & Galetti, M. (2007). Frugivoria e especificidade por hospedeiros na erva-de-passarinho Phoradendron rubrum (L.) Griseb.(Viscaceae). Brazilian Journal of Botany, 30, 345-351.

  73. Castro, E. R., Galetti, M., & Morellato, L. P. C. (2007). Reproductive phenology of Euterpe edulis (Arecaceae) along a gradient in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. Australian Journal of Botany, 55(7), 725-735.

  74. Donatti, C. I., Galetti, M., Pizo, M. A., Guimarães Jr., P. R., & Jordano, P. (2007). Living in the land of ghosts: Fruit traits and the importance of large mammals as seed dispersers in the Pantanal, Brazil. In Seed dispersal: theory and its application in a changing world (pp. 104-123). Wallingford UK: CABI.

  75. Staggemeier, V. G., Morellato, L. P. C., & Galetti, M. (2007). Fenologia reprodutiva de Myrtaceae em uma ilha continental de Floresta Atlântica. Revista Brasileira de Biociências, 5(S1), 423-425.

  76. Galetti, M., Donatti, C. I., Pires, A. S., Guimarães Jr, P. R., & Jordano, P. (2006). Seed survival and dispersal of an endemic Atlantic forest palm: the combined effects of defaunation and forest fragmentation. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 151(1), 141-149.

  77. Gressler, E., Pizo, M. A., & Morellato, L. P. C. (2006). Polinização e dispersão de sementes em Myrtaceae do Brasil. Brazilian Journal of Botany, 29(4), 509-530.

  78. Guimarães Jr, P. R., Kubota, U., Gomes, B. Z., Fonseca, R. L., Bottcher, C., & Galetti, M. (2006). Testing the quick meal hypothesis: The effect of pulp on hoarding and seed predation of Hymenaea courbaril by red‐rumped agoutis (Dasyprocta leporina). Austral Ecology, 31(1), 95-98.

  79. Jordano, P., Galetti, M. M., Pizo, M. A. & W .R. SIlva. 2006. Ligando Frugivoria e Dispersão de sementes à biologia da conservação. Pages 41 1-436, In:Duarte, C.F ., Bergallo, H.G., Dos Santos, M.A., and V a, A.E. (eds.). Biologia da conservação: essências. Editorial Rima, São Paulo, Brasil.

  80. Pizo, M. A., Guimarães Jr, P. R., & Oliveira, P. S. (2005). Seed removal by ants from faeces produced by different vertebrate species. Ecoscience, 12(1), 136-140.

  81. Von Allmen, C., Morellato, L. P. C., & Pizo, M. A. (2004). Seed predation under high seed density condition: the palm Euterpe edulis in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 20(4), 471-474.

  82. Pizo, M. A., & Morellato, L. P. C. (2002). A new rain‐operated seed dispersal mechanism in Bertolonia mosenii (Melastomataceae), a Neotropical rainforest herb. American Journal of Botany, 89(1), 169-171.

  83. Cazetta, E., Rubim, P., Lunardi, V. D. O., Francisco, M. R., & Galetti, M. (2002). Frugivoria e dispersão de sementes de Talauma ovata (Magnoliaceae) no sudeste brasileiro.

  84. Galetti, M., Zipparro, V. B., & Morellato, L. P. C. (1999). Fruiting phenology and frugivory on the palm Euterpe edulis in a lowland Atlantic Forest of Brazil. Ecotropica, 5, 115-122.

  85. Oliveira, P. S., Galetti, M., Pedroni, F., & Morellato, L. P. C. (1995). Seed cleaning by Mycocepurus goeldii ants (Attini) facilitates germination in Hymenaea courbaril (Caesalpiniaceae). Biotropica, 518-522.

  86. Galetti, M., Pedroni, F., & Morellato, L. P. C. (1994). Diet of the brown howler monkey Alouatta fusca in a forest fragment in southeastern Brazil. Mammalia, 58(1), 111-118.


 
 
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