NERC-FAPESP: Revealing an invasive plant-mammal-disease vector system in São Paulo State, Brazil

Lead Research Organisation: Durham University
Department Name: Biosciences

Abstract

Plant invasions can have wide-ranging ecological impacts on native communities and ecosystems. In southern Brazil, tall, herbaceous invasive plants such as white ginger (Hedychium coronarium) and elephant grass (Cenchrus purpureus) could alter the distribution and abundance of capybara (Hydrochoerus hydrochaeris) within landscapes, by providing refuge and resting habitat, and potentially, food. Capybara carry the tick Amblyomma sculptum which is the disease-vector of the bacterium Rickettsia rickettsii; the agent of often-fatal Brazilian Spotted Fever (BSF) in people. Thus, there is potential for the invasive plants to increase disease risk in invaded areas, but the strength of the relationships between invasive plants, capybara and ticks remains unquantified. Understanding these dynamics and their generality will have significant consequences for understanding spatiotemporal patterns of tick-borne disease risk in this region. This project's overarching goal is to describe and understand the putative invasive plant-capybara-tick system in São Paulo state, which will form the basis of further investigation and forecasting of the human health risks posed by this system and its component species. Our project will be supported by three workshops: two at the University of São Paulo and a final project partner workshop at Durham University. At the start of the project, Workshop 1 will establish a network of researchers and protected area managers in the state focused on monitoring Hedychium, Cenchrus and their interactions with capybara and ticks. This network will form the basis of a data collection campaign to establish the distribution of the invasive plants and capybara. We will use these distribution data to select sites for tick abundance sampling and camera trap surveys, in paired invaded and uninvaded vegetation, to test if tick abundance and capybara occupancy are higher in invaded areas. Capybara and tick data will be collected in the second half of the project, after Workshop 2, when we will provide training in camera trap methods to estimate capybara occupancy, initiate a pilot study to confirm evidence of capybara presence from vegetation features in drone images, and finalise tick survey methods. After field data collection and analysis, we will review our key findings in Workshop 3 at the end of the project, discuss lessons learned and develop targeted grant applications to expand the project. Our project will bring together a unique combination of skills and experience of the project partners to form the basis of a long-lasting UK-São Paulo state collaborative network, focused on systems-based research of the impacts of invasive species.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Description We discovered that the invasive white ginger plant is far more widespread than initially thought and occrs in a broad range of habiats, as a result of survey work and observational data collected through the citizen science platform iNaturalist. Specificially, we have found that the species is invading forest edges and riparian habitats in both the Atlantic Forest and Cerrado savanna ecosystems of the state. The species is particularly frequent in the coastal region of the state. The invasive grasses (Cenchrus ciliaris, Megathyrsus maximus) are near uniquitous in open, more disturbed locations.

Preliminary data collected from the field suggests that invaded areas of vegetation can harbour disease-carrying ticks, but it is as yet unclear if they do so more than uninvaded vegetation. Further data collection (camera trap surveys) and analyses (tick abundance data) are necessary to shed further light on the interactions between the invasive plants, ticks, and capybara.
Exploitation Route The results so far provide a) a baseline for studying the distribution and abundance of key invasive plants in the state of Sao Paulo, b) useful pilot data on tick abundance and animal occupancy of invaded vegetation, which should inform subsequent study design.
Sectors Environment

 
Description Coauthoring a book chapter of invasive species in Grasslands 
Organisation Universidade de São Paulo
Country Brazil 
Sector Academic/University 
PI Contribution I led the writing of a book chapter on invasive species in grasslands, upon invitation. Because this book chapter is not specifically related to the project aims, I have listed it here as an additional collaboration instead of under 'publications.'
Collaborator Contribution Prof. VR Pivello (University of Sao Paulo) co-authored the book chapter, specifically drafting text on invasive species in South American grasslands.
Impact Book chapter (proof-stage)
Start Year 2023
 
Description 1/2 day Workshop at Serra do Mar State Park on invasive plant impacts and use of iNaturalist (June 2023) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact In June 2023, we ran another short (1/2 day) workshop at one of the visitor centres of Serra do Mar State Park in the Atlantic Forest, attended by local conservationists and park managers/wardens. As in the previous workshop, we explained the broad project aims, and demonstrated the use of iNaturalist to records observations in the field, and raised awareness about the three key invasive plant species and their potential impacts. The park managers and wardens reported enthusiasm for using iNaturalist and Seek apps to record observations of target and non-target plant species.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description End of project workshop, Durham, December 2023 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact We had the final project workshop including two of the Brazilian collaborators, and the two UK collaborators, in Durham 2023. The goal of the workshop was to discuss 1) the emerging datasets from the project, 2) how those datasets will be analysed, 3) paper outlines for publishing the findings of those analyses, and 4) the plans for ongoing fieldwork to complete data collection in Brazil (through a FAPESP project extension). The data collection has continued, and the analyses have been completed for one paper, which is currently in draft form.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Field visit 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact In August 2022, the UK PI made it out to Sao Paulo state to visit Brazilian collaborators, and field sites across the state (from the northern interior to the southern coastal region). The visits were intended to supplement the recording of invasive plant presence and therefore distributions in areas that had been less frequently visited by Brazilian researchers and iNaturalist observers. A large number of additional locations for the two invasive grasses and for white ginger were observed, extended the known distribution of the species in the state. During the visit, additional discussions were had between the UK PI and two masters students working on the project (Brazil-funded), about study design that informed subsequent data collection. Additional camera traps were brought in by the UK PI, and camera traps were set up in a new site.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Fieldwork campaign: tick abundance and camera trap surveys in invaded areas. 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact While our field survey campaign does not strictly represent engagement, there is no other category available in Researchfish that allows us to document the actual 'doing' of the research in the field. The UK PI and CoI visited Brazilian collaborators in the state of Sao Paulo in June 2023. Before the half-day workshop in Serra do Mar State Park, we accompanied Prof M LaBruna and his Masters student (University of Sao Paulo) on surveys to estimate tick presence and abundance in uninvaded and invaded riparian areas within the Cerrado ecosystem. We also retrieved camera traps that had been set up at one of the field sites previously by the Brazilian team. The UK colaborators brought in additional camera traps to be deployed during the visit. We later met with one of the Brazilian CoIs (Prof D Matos) in Sao Carlos, after which we then spent the rest of the visit setting up camera traps in new sites along rivers in the Atlantic Forest region. During the trip, the UK collaborators discussed experimental design and data analysis methods with the postgraduates and undergraduate involved (from University of Sao Paulo and Federal University of Sao Carlos). At the end of the trip, we made further agreements about additional sites where the Brazilian team would set up camera traps, after they have retrieved those left out in this visit. The Brazilian Team intended to extend the duration of their FAPESP funded part of the project to allow for more sampling (into 2024). We made plans for the final workshop in December 2023 in Durham.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Lecture given on invasion ecology, Federal University of Sao Carlos (Aug 2022) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Undergraduate students
Results and Impact The UK PI, during a visit to Brazil in August 2022, gave a 2-hour lecture on invasion ecology to a class of undergraduate students (plus interested postgraduate students) at the Federal University of Sao Carlos. 50% of the lecture was given in Portuguese. This provided the students with a broad understanding of the causes and consequences of plant invasions, and the aims of the current project.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
 
Description Outreach workshop to promote recording of invasive plants in Sao Paulo State (May 2022) 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Regional
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact In May 2022, the UK and Brazilian project partners organised and ran a workshop at the Federal University of Sao Carlos (Sao Paulo State) attended by mostly state park and nature reserve managers, and ecologists from the state, and local postgraduate and undergraduate students. Unfortunately the UK PI (WD) got covid the day before the flight out to Sao Paulo, and so the UK CoI and Brazilian partners ran the workshop in person, while the UK PI gave presentations and a demonstration of iNaturalist remotely online (in Portuguese). The activities included an in-the-field practice of using and recording species observations using iNaturalist, a discussion about the broader project and the collection project set up on iNaturalist, and much broader discussion about what is needed to better understand invasive plants and their impacts in Sao Paulo State. the UK CoI provided training to undergraduate and postgraduate students (including those linked to the FAPESP part of the project) how to design and set up camera trap studies in the field. The follow-up of the workshop involved contacting further potential contributors of iNaturalist observation data to the project, from a list drawn up during the workshop.

The participants from the workshop reported increased understanding of invasive plants and their impacts, and contibuted to in-depth discussion about how best to study and manage them. We have seen broader engagement with iNaturalist and recording of the invasive plants during the project lifetime.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022
URL https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/plantas-invasoras-do-estado-de-sao-paulo-invasive-plants-of-sao...