Ecosystem services provided by armadillos

Abstract

Awareness of the natural ecological processes provided by organisms that benefit human well‐being has significantly progressed towards the goal of making conservation a mainstream value. Identifying different services and the species that provide them is a vital first step for the management and maintenance of these so‐called ecosystem services. Herein, we specifically address the armadillos, which play key functional roles in terrestrial ecosystems, including as ecosystem engineers, predators, and vectors of invertebrates and nutrients, although these roles have often been overlooked. Armadillos can control pests, disperse seeds, and be effective sentinels of potential disease outbreaks or bioindicators of environmental contaminants. They also supply important material (meat, medicines) and non‐material (learning, inspiration) contributions all over the Americas. We identify key gaps in the understanding of ecosystem services provided by armadillos and areas for future research required to clarify their functional role in terrestrial ecosystems and the services they supply. Such information will produce powerful arguments for armadillo conservation.

An estimate of wild mammal roadkill in São Paulo state, Brazil

“…A high loss of common species is also ecologically relevant as they might severely affect ecosystem services provided by them. Armadillos, for example, are important ecosystem engineers through their burrows ( Desbiez and Kluyber 2013 ) and also provide important other ecosystem services ( Rodrigues et al., 2020 ).…”

Pulmonary adiaspiromycosis in armadillos killed by motor vehicle collisions in Brazil

“…Armadillos (order Cingulata) play a role in the epidemiological cycle of some zoonoses (e.g., hanseniasis and paracoccidioidomycosis) 3 , 4 . Despite being protected species, armadillo meat is commonly consumed in several South American countries 5 , 6 . Direct contact between humans and armadillos could pose a transmission route for several pathogens, thus, health investigations on armadillos may be relevant to public health.…”

Zoonotic parasites infecting free‐living armadillos from Brazil

“…(Cardona-Castro et al, 2009;Rodrigues et al, 2019). In Latin America, armadillos are hunted for cultural practices such as medicinal use, manufacturing of musical instruments but especially, for food (Capellão et al, 2015;Rodrigues et al, 2020).…”

“…Humans have a direct relationship with armadillos causing negative impacts on populations, usually killing them for cultural beliefs, poaching for medicine or hunting for handcrafted musical instrument, especially in Latin America (Rodrigues et al, 2020 ). In South America, armadillos are hunted for food due to their taste and high protein level, and are considered relevant species for public health (Deps et al., 2008; Richini‐Pereira et al., 2009).…”