Abstract Ecological knowledge plays a significant role in ensuring efficient ecological restoration. We conducted a systematic review to assess if sufficient ecological knowledge has been accumulated to aid restoration practices for the Cerrado, a Brazilian biome dominated by savanna ecosystems and threatened by anthropogenic disturbances. Most Cerrado restoration studies were performed by few research groups and focused primarily on two vegetation types: cerrado sensu stricto (typical savanna) and riparian forest. We also found that defining reference ecosystems and selecting plant species for restoration programs is neglected, mostly disregarding their original occurrence and proportion of plant growth forms. Furthermore, studies lacked standardized and systematic evaluation of restoration outcomes. Hence, we argue that current ecological knowledge is insufficient to guarantee the success of large-scale ecological restoration of the Cerrado. We strengthen the need to explicitly define the reference ecosystem for each Cerrado ecosystem and use its structure and composition as guidance for ecological restoration research, which should be based on a scientific approach. We encourage investigations into ecological dynamics and natural regeneration of the different vegetation types of the Cerrado and highlight the importance of integrating such knowledge with environmental laws, societal engagement and cost-effective techniques to advance Cerrado ecological restoration.

A fragmentação de habitats pode afetar negativamente a relação mutualística entre plantas e animais, se estes tornarem-se localmente extintos nos fragmentos. No decorrer do processo de fragmentação há evidências de substituição de espécies especialistas por generalistas, adotando também sua função no ecossistema. Nós estudamos a frugivoria de Copaifera langsdorfii por aves para avaliar o efeito do tamanho do fragmento no potencial de dispersão das suas sementes. Durante o ano de 2008 foram selecionadas vinte plantas focais distribuídas em cinco remanescentes de Mata Atlântica (amplitude 29,2 a 104,8 ha) para descrever o comportamento de forrageamento de aves consumidoras e avaliar o potencial de dispersão de sementes de cada espécie através do método de observação focal. O potencial de dispersão variou entre as espécies, juntamente com o padrão de distribuição e abundância nos diferentes fragmentos. O tamanho dos fragmentos afetou positivamente o número de interações de espécies com bom potencial de dispersão (R2 = 0,85; p = 0,05). A riqueza de espécies com má qualidade de dispersão foi negativamente afetada pelo tamanho do fragmento, mas com significância marginal (R2 = 0,77; p= 0,08). Portanto a preservação de fragmentos de maior tamanho garante mais eventos de interação entre a C. langsdorfii e seus bons dispersores, e consequentemente favorece seu sucesso reprodutivo.

Effect of fragment size on Copaifera langsdorffii seed dispersal. Habitat fragmentation may cause functional disruption in seed dispersal, if the disperser species become locally extinct in the fragments. However during the fragmentation process, there is empirical evidence of replacement of specialist by generalist species, and these generalist species could also replace the functional activity of the specialists in the ecosystem. We studied bird frugivory on C. langsdorffii in order to evaluate the patch size effect on the potential of seed dispersal of this plant. During 2008 we chose 20 focal trees distributed in five Atlantic forest remnants (range 29.2 to 104.8 ha), looking for which bird species consumed the fruits, describing their foraging behavior and consequently evaluating the potential for seed dispersal. The results suggest that there was lower similarity of bird richness among the patches. The ability to disperse seeds also varied among birds and their patterns of distribution and abundance were related with patch size. The number of good disperser species and their interactions were positively related with patch size (R2 = 0.85; p = 0.05); in contrast, the poor dispersers had the opposite tendency (R2 = 0.77; p=0.08). Therefore the preservation of larger patch size increases the interaction events between C. langsdorffii and their good dispersers, and consequently improving their fitness.