diversity Article Conserving the Diversity of Ecological Interactions: The Role of Two Threatened Macaw Species as Legitimate Dispersers of “Megafaunal” Fruits José L. Tella 1,*, Fernando Hiraldo 1, Erica Pacífico 1, José A. Díaz-Luque 2, Francisco V. Dénes 1 , Fernanda M. Fontoura 3,4, Neiva Guedes 3,4 and Guillermo Blanco 5 1 Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC. Américo Vespucio s/n, E-41092 Sevilla, Spain;
[email protected] (F.H.); ericapacifi
[email protected] (E.P.);
[email protected] (F.V.D.) 2 Foundation for the Research and Conservation of Bolivian Parrots (CLB). Estación Argentina, C/ Fermín Rivero 3460, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia;
[email protected] 3 Universidade Anhanguera - Uniderp, Programa de Pós Graduação em Meio Ambiente e Desenvolvimento Regional, Rua Alexandre Herculano, 1400, Bairro Jardim Veraneio, 79037- 280 Campo Grande, Brazil;
[email protected] (F.M.F);
[email protected] (N.G.) 4 Instituto Arara Azul, Pesquisa em Conservação, Rua Klaus Sthurk, 106, Jardim Mansur, 79051-660 Campo Grande, Brazil 5 Department of Evolutionary Ecology, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, CSIC. José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006 Madrid, Spain;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] Received: 4 January 2020; Accepted: 21 January 2020; Published: 24 January 2020 Abstract: The extinction of ecological functions is increasingly considered a major component of biodiversity loss, given its pervasive effects on ecosystems, and it may precede the disappearance of the species engaged. Dispersal of many large-fruited (>4 cm diameter) plants is thought to have been handicapped after the extinction of megafauna in the Late Pleistocene and the recent defaunation of large mammals.