ATBC conference Declarations are useful tools for conveying pressing tropical conservation issues with a global audience. We surveyed media and social media posts for the 16 ATBC Declarations and found that there is considerable scope to increase social media coverage of Declarations via mainstream platforms. We present five case study Declarations that had a range of outcomes for the conservation issue of concern, and present five criteria to assist with preparation and delivery of future Declarations.

COVID-19 has impacted humanity and the global environment in myriad ways, and more changes are on the horizon. Here we consider the impact of COVID-19 on our collective ability to restore degraded habitats and facilitate forest recovery in the tropics.

Callithrix jacchus gouging affects positively the death of trees, with larger effects on smaller trees. Tree-gouging by marmosets may enhance forest turnover.

We used drone flights and ground verification to locate 7 lightning-caused disturbances in a northwestern Amazonian forest where lightning disturbance was previously undescribed. Our observations indicate that lightning damage is readily identifiable based on radial patterns of lethal and nonlethal damage, and that lightning is an important agent of large tree death in this forest.

We investigated trophic networks between dung beetles and megafauna species in five forest fragments in Singapore varying in size and isolation. We found that Singapore’s dung beetle communities were attracted to extant and extinct dung types from different dietary groups. All forest fragment networks were similar and displayed high generalism and high nestedness.

We examined the effects of seasonal climatic variability on seed phenology of four dominant species and community-level leaf phenology in a montane wet forest on Hawaiʻi using monthly data collected over ~6 years. For three species, including two foundational species of Hawaiian forests (Acacia koa and Metrosideros polymorpha), seed production declined with increasing maximum temperatures and increased with rainfall while relationships with light availability were the most variable across all four species. Community-level leaf litterfall decreased with minimum temperatures, increased with rainfall, and showed a peaked relationship with light availability.

Lianas compete strongly with trees and this competition may be particularly devastating to trees in forest fragments, where liana densities are typically high. Using a liana removal experiment in a semideciduous seasonal forest fragment in south-eastern Brazil, we found that lianas reduced tree diametric growth by up to 304%, with the strongest effect occurring during the wet season. The effect of liana removal was particularly strong for two of the five tree species, indicating that the effect of lianas on tree growth varies both seasonally and with tree species identity.

Many tropical plant species show asynchronous reproduction among individuals and aseasonal phenological patterns at the population level, yet little is known about the proximate factors that control their phenology. Using a 9-year records of 178 individuals of the asynchronous canopy palm Oenocarpus bataua, we show that access to sunlight and current reproductive investment influence rates of inflorescence production among individuals, while inter-annual climate anomalies associated to El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) determine the proportion of trees in the population initiating reproduction. Our results suggest that a greater focus on resource-related variables and the role of resource levels as endogenous cues for reproduction might help explain the frequent aseasonal phenological patterns observed among tropical plants

Identifying keystone plant resources for frugivores remains a contentious issue in ecology and conservation. We developed a novel quantitative framework for the identification of Neotropical keystone resources by combining centrality and effects of simulated removals on fruit-frugivore network properties. Only species in six genera out of 373 genera on fruit-frugivore networks were retrieved as keystones. The simulated removal of species in Miconia, Cecropia and Byrsonima led to significant changes in network descriptors, suggesting that these plants play important roles in maintaining the structure of Neotropical fruit–frugivore interaction networks, regardless of latitude or elevation.

Number of attacks and number of seedlings of ten Atlantic Forest native tree species attacked by leaf-cutting ants over six months in a transplant experiment inside a restoration site in Paraná state, Brazil. Surprisingly, there was no difference in number of attacks between pioneer (P) and non pioneer (NP) species groups, but species differed and the differences can be partially explained by species traits, such as leaf specific area, and leaf nitrogen N and tannin T content. Larger symbols for leaf traits indicates higher relative trait values. Trait data for A. integrifolia not available.

Analysis of multi-temporal, multi-resolution satellite imagery of the Atewa Forest Reserve and surrounding areas in Ghana, illustrates a degradation and fragmentation of the habitat of Limbochromis robertsi, a unique freshwater cichlid with an extremely limited distribution range. Field visits over the last 30 years confirm a decrease in its total population by 90% with loss of riparian forest through land use and cover change to mining and agriculture along with an increased presence of predatory species being the main contributors to its habitat degradation and fragmentation.

We investigated the role of local and landscape environmental variables on anurans density classified as habitat specialists and generalists in grassland landscapes. We recorded 35 species, eleven of which are specialists in the grasslands. The specialists and generalists presented different relationships local and landscape environmental variables. In conclusion, reproductive sites with higher local quality and located within landscapes with higher percentages of natural grasslands are essential to conserve anurans in this habitat.

Agricultural intensification and the consequent land-use changes significantly affect herpetofauna abundance and diversity. Reptiles and amphibians respond differently to various landscape factors at multiple spatial scales.

C and C and N stable isotope analysis of tissues from 26 bird species in a Neotropical semiarid zone revealed that use of CAM-derived food was mainly restricted to seven bird species (three frugivores, one nectarivore, one granivore, and two omnivores) whereas C3-derived food sustained most of the bird species studied (three frugivores, two nectarivores, four granivores, three omnivores, four insectivores and three carnivores). Consumption of C3 insects extended to the entire assemblage of birds, including plant-eating species.

The distribution of birds in our study area depends on the combined influence of geographical barriers, environmental heterogeneity, and ecological characteristics of species. The Tapajós River is a biogeographical boundary for birds, while environmental heterogeneity is relevant to compositional variation within interfluves. The Tapajós River affects differently the birds distributions.

We compared the use of heterothermy between fruit- and insect-eating Neotropical bats sampled from the same region and time of year. Our data show considerable variation in the thermoregulatory patterns of Neotropical bats and generally, that smaller bats cool quicker and to a greater extent than larger bats. Our results highlight the importance of energy conservation even in environments in which resources are relatively abundant.

The effects of spatial heterogeneity and habitat configuration overcame the influence of habitat composition on alpha and beta mammal diversity in heterogeneous fragmented landscapes within western Brazil. Landscape composition alone should not be used to support landscape management strategies aimed at mammalian conservation. Improving vegetation structural complexity in both habitat patches and the matrix enables landscapes to harbor high species diversity by increasing niche availability.

We used 16S rRNA sequencing to determine whether the gut microbiome was related to host dietary niche using two closely-related, sympatric non-human primate species: the tufted gray langur (Semnopithecus priam) - a dietary generalist, and the purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus) - a specialist whose diet focuses on leaves. Our results demonstrate that despite strong gut microbial similarities, gray langurs had a more diverse gut microbiome that harbored more Prevotella and Akkermansia, taxa involved in starch degradation, while the purple-faced langur gut microbiome harbored Roseburia, Clostridium, and Ruminococcus, taxa involved in breaking down plant structural carbohydrates. Our findings suggest that the more generalist gut microbiome of gray langurs may provide them greater resilience to anthropogenic change, while the more specialized gut microbiome of purple-faced langurs may render them more vulnerable to extinction.

Bees and wasps respond positively to the landscape’s structural complexity. Agriculture can offer additional food resources, but the surrounding landscape needs to maintain the complexity of the structural one, ensuring locomotion, diversity of types of food and places for nesting these animals.