Correction: Pre-colonial Amerindian legacies in forest composition of southern Brazil.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235819.].

Preventing traditional management can cause grassland loss within 30 years in southern Brazil.

Woody encroachment threatens several ecosystems around the world. In general, management of grasslands includes regulation of fire and grazing regimes. Changes in these two types of disturbances are potential drivers of woody encroachment. Here we assessed how the traditional management carried out by local landholders affects a highland grassland ecosystem in southern Brazil. We hypothesized that grasslands converted to protected areas undergo fast woody encroachment. To reconstruct changes in vegetation, we interviewed former and current landholders and coupled their knowledge with an analysis of aerial and satellite images. During the first 11 years without fire and cattle, woody encroachment in grasslands increased exponentially. Woody encroachment occurred mostly by the replacement of grasslands by shrublands. Meanwhile, grasslands under traditional management remained almost unchanged for the last 40 years. The management of fire by local landholders has been part of their traditional practices for decades. Such management prevents large-scale wildfires and maintains natural highland grasslands. The quick pace of shrub encroachment in such grasslands threatens its exclusive diversity, human well-being and regional cultural heritage. Thus, conservation policies are needed to regulate and instruct about the use of fire as a management tool in highland grasslands of southern Brazil.

Melanism evolution in the cat family is influenced by intraspecific communication under low visibility.

Melanism in the cat family has been associated with functions including camouflage, thermoregulation and parasite resistance. Here we investigate a new hypothesis proposing that the evolution of melanism in cats has additionally been influenced by communication functions of body markings. To evaluate this hypothesis, we assembled a species-level data set of morphological (body marks: white marks on the backs of ears) and ecological (circadian activity: arrhythmic/nocturnal, and environmental preference: open/closed) characteristics that could be associated with communication via body markings, and combined these data with a dated molecular phylogeny. Next, we tested the association between melanism and communication, first by relating species' body marks with their ecological conditions, using a Bayesian implementation of the threshold model. Second, to explore the evolution of characteristics potentially influencing melanism in cat species, we modeled their evolution relative to melanism using models of coordinated vs. independent character changes. Our results suggest that white marks are associated with intraspecific communication between individuals that have non-melanistic phenotypes, as well as towards melanistic individuals (without white marks). The absence of white marks in a melanistic individual tends to be a limiting condition for intraspecific visual communication at night, resulting in an evolutionary dilemma for these species, i.e. to be almost invisible at night, but not to communicate visually. The comparative analysis of several evolutionary models indicated more support for the evolution of melanism being coordinated with the evolution of arrhythmic activity and white marks on the backs of ears.

Simple does not mean poor: grasslands and forests harbor similar ant species richness and distinct composition in highlands of southern Brazil / Simples não significa pobre: campos e florestas abrigam riqueza similar e composições distintas de espécies de formiga em regiões altas do sul do Brasil

Abstract: Several studies addressed ant communities in the dense Atlantic Forest that runs along the Brazilian coast. However, comparatively little is known about the mixed forests and grasslands that occur in the southern range of the Atlantic Forest domain. In this study we performed the first standardized assessment of ants in the forest-grassland mosaic found in the highlands of the state of Santa Catarina. We aimed to investigate and compare ant richness and composition between mixed forests and grasslands in the main mountain range of south Brazil. Ants were collected in two years with ground pitfalls, tree pitfalls and litter samples. Sixty ant species were recorded, resulting in 22 new records for "Planalto Serrano" region and three for the state of Santa Catarina: Eurhopalothrix depressa, Pheidole radoszkowskii and Wasmannia williamsoni. There was significant dissimilarity in ant species composition between grasslands and forests, but no difference in ant species richness, even considering the higher number of strata in mixed forests. Similar richness and low number of arboreal species suggest that this ant community is structured similarly to temperate ones. Both habitats presented a large proportion of exclusive species. The fact that species composition between grassland and forest areas differed, coupled with the similarity in species richness between habitats and the record of new ant species for the region, calls for strong conservation efforts in grasslands of southern Brazil, which still are little protected by conservation areas.

Resumo: Diversos estudos já foram realizados com comunidades de formigas nas regiões de Floresta Ombrófila Densa que ocorrem ao longo da costa do Brasil. Comparativamente menos é conhecido sobre as Florestas Ombrófilas Mistas e campos que ocorrem na parte meridional do domínio da Mata Atlântica. Neste estudo nós realizamos o primeiro levantamento padronizado de formigas no mosaico de florestas e campos que ocorre nas regiões altas de Santa Catarina. Nosso objetivo foi investigar e comparar a riqueza e composição de espécies entre florestas e campos na principal cordilheira do sul do Brasil. Formigas foram coletadas em dois anos com armadilhas de queda no solo e nas árvores, e com amostras de serapilheira. Sessenta espécies foram registradas, constituindo 22 novos registros para a região do Planalto Serrano e três para o estado de Santa Catarina: Eurhopalothrix depressa, Pheidole radoszkowskii e Wasmannia williamsoni. A composição de espécies diferiu significativamente entre florestas e campos, mas não houve diferença em riqueza de espécies, mesmo considerando o maior número de estratos nas florestas. Riqueza similar e pequeno número de espécies arbóreas sugere que esta comunidade é estruturada de modo semelhante às comunidades de regiões temperadas. Ambos os habitats apresentaram alta proporção de espécies exclusivas. O fato de que a composição foi diferente, somado à similaridade em riqueza de espécies entre habitats e ao registro de novas espécies, indica a necessidade de maiores esforços conservacionistas nos campos do Sul do Brasil, que ainda são pouco protegidos por unidades de conservação.