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Most tropical rainforests have been defaunated of large-bodied mammals and the cascading effects of such extirpations have been poorly studied, particularly on other animals. We used a natural experiment in the Brazilian Atlantic rainforest to investigate the ecological responses of rodents to the functional extinction of a dominant terrestrial mammal, the white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari). We detected a 45% increase in the abundance and a decrease in diversity of rodents in defaunated forests. Two of these species (Akodon montensis and Oligoryzomys nigripes) are important hosts of Hantavirus, a lethal virus for humans. Stable isotope ratios (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) derived from the hair of rodents and peccaries and their food resources indicate that at least two rodent species shifted to a diet more similar to peccaries in the defaunated forest. Because most tropical rainforests are facing dramatic extirpation of large mammals, we can expect changes in the composition and structure of small mammal communities with potential consequences for human health even in non-fragmented landscapes.

Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Departamento de Ecologia, C.P. 199, Rio Claro

Instituto de Ecología, A.C. Red de Biología Evolutiva, Carretera Antigua a Coatepec 351

CENA, Universidade de São Paulo, C.P. 96

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Santa Cruz

School of Life Sciences, Peking University

Santa Fe Institute

Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), Departamento de Ecologia, C.P. 199, Rio Claro