Assessment of native fauna in the expansion of the invasive species Hovenia dulcis Thunb. (Japanese grape), in an urban fragment of Atlantic Forest, Municipality of Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil

Assessment of native fauna in the expansion of the invasive species Hovenia dulcis Thunb. (Japanese grape), in an urban fragment of Atlantic Forest, Municipality of Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Assessment of native fauna in the expansion of the invasive species Hovenia dulcis Thunb. (Japanese grape), in an urban fragment of Atlantic Forest, Municipality of Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil Marcos Henrique Schroeder, Patrik Gustavo Wiesel, Bruno Deprá, and 1 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7013427/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Invasive plants natural ecosystems, negatively impacting biodiversity through competition for resources such as light, water, and nutrients. Fauna plays a central role in the dispersion of native and invasive species, facilitating their expansion into new areas. When dispersed by fauna, invasive plants can rapidly colonize new habitats, competing with local flora and aggravating the problem of biological invasion, highlighting that understanding these interactions is essential to developing more effective management strategies. Thus, this research aimed to analyze the role of fauna in the dispersion of the invasive species Hovenia dulcis in an urban forest fragment of 465 hectares called Cinturão Verde, located in Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil. Five sampling points were established in the study area for 10 active sampling campaigns between March and November 2023. For passive sampling, 2,225 day-1 camera traps were used during the same period. The results indicated the occurrence of 15 mammal and 170 bird species in the Green Belt, with 40% of mammals and 8.8% of birds recorded consuming the pseudofruit of H. dulcis. These data demonstrate a significant interaction between native fauna and invasive species. Based on these results, a plan is suggested to gradually replace H. dulcis with native species that bear fruit in the same period, such as Schinus terebinthifolius (Brazilian pepper) and Psidium cattleyanum (strawberry guava), in order to meet the food needs of local fauna and protect biodiversity. Continuing research with these species is essential to preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services provided by the urban forest to the municipality's population. Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7013427","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":481162060,"identity":"91fc402c-c2cd-4320-b4fd-bf2d9f252b5c","order_by":0,"name":"Marcos Henrique Schroeder","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABFklEQVRIie3RMUvDQBTA8RcObrqQ9Y5Sv4FgOagOwc+So3Au1cUl44mQLtWsBvwQAaGrKV2vZHW0FDI5JJtDQV+ok6mlOjncH0ISwo/LvQNwuf5xEV60ffAMkALvZwDscELxJeK/IuxkLzmeLFd1vYErCBbVOo7Dftqzzdp/50cBK7y6GXfI0F5IkSVwDVyfDqzVMru/fJIs4lLcGSKyWZcUmhLfgDKcUXGTLFRu/VkPicpLwE87SFlRwjZIAtuSD/VsWbWfvOAqjCKBcUsKlTNGt2RpfiAV/nDCVcL1UBg7kg+WysGjxr1M57c791JqDycWqhQnJkx83k+nZPX6FoY4sdG8brrkK749lG/hGblcLpfrT30CeeZjB7AVAtMAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"University of Santa Cruz do Sul - UNISC, Santa Cruz do Sul","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Marcos","middleName":"Henrique","lastName":"Schroeder","suffix":""},{"id":481162061,"identity":"a659d8ba-d1ad-4ae5-8349-377f22901832","order_by":1,"name":"Patrik Gustavo Wiesel","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Santa Cruz do Sul - UNISC, Santa Cruz do Sul","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Patrik","middleName":"Gustavo","lastName":"Wiesel","suffix":""},{"id":481162062,"identity":"bc17ac19-2a3e-45a3-83a7-49699c2da8ea","order_by":2,"name":"Bruno Deprá","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Santa Cruz do Sul - UNISC, Santa Cruz do Sul","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bruno","middleName":"","lastName":"Deprá","suffix":""},{"id":481162063,"identity":"b247e027-215f-4af8-94fa-9d966441f6fb","order_by":3,"name":"Eduardo Alcayaga Lobo","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Santa Cruz do Sul - UNISC, Santa Cruz do Sul","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Eduardo","middleName":"Alcayaga","lastName":"Lobo","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-06-30 18:23:19","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7013427/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7013427/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":104024503,"identity":"5a020568-3279-4428-89b1-b0d55ba632ca","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-03-05 19:54:40","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1234489,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"AssessmentofnativefaunaintheexpansionoftheinvasivespeciesHoveniadulcisThunb.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7013427/v1_covered_0f31f40b-a73d-496c-96c0-779985a3a907.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Assessment of native fauna in the expansion of the invasive species Hovenia dulcis Thunb. 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Fauna plays a central role in the dispersion of native and invasive species, facilitating their expansion into new areas. When dispersed by fauna, invasive plants can rapidly colonize new habitats, competing with local flora and aggravating the problem of biological invasion, highlighting that understanding these interactions is essential to developing more effective management strategies. Thus, this research aimed to analyze the role of fauna in the dispersion of the invasive species Hovenia dulcis in an urban forest fragment of 465 hectares called Cinturão Verde, located in Santa Cruz do Sul, RS, Brazil. Five sampling points were established in the study area for 10 active sampling campaigns between March and November 2023. For passive sampling, 2,225 day-1 camera traps were used during the same period. The results indicated the occurrence of 15 mammal and 170 bird species in the Green Belt, with 40% of mammals and 8.8% of birds recorded consuming the pseudofruit of H. dulcis. 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