Research Interests

I am involved in research work examining the (i) large-scale patterns of large-bodied vertebrate diversity and abundance in Amazonian forests; (ii) effects of different forms on human disturbance, including hunting, habitat fragmentation and wildfires, on Amazonian forest vertebrates; and (iii) reserve selection and design criteria in relation to regional gradients of biodiversity value and implementation costs. I also co-supervise a research program on natural resource management at the Kayapó Reserve of eastern Amazonia focusing on the population ecology of key timber and non-timber forest products such as Brazil-nuts and game vertebrates.

A 100-word Biography

Born in Belém, Brazil (1963), Carlos Peres was exposed to Amazonian natural history from early childhood, and his father's ranch in eastern Pará, consisting largely of primary forest, became his playground. For the last 16 years he has been studying wildlife community ecology in Amazonian forests and the biological criteria for designing nature reserves. He currently co-directs two research programs on the ecology of key timber and non-timber forest resources at the Uauaçú Reserve of the lower Purús river and the Kayapó Indian Reserve of southeastern Amazonia. He has published over 60 papers on neotropical forest ecology and conservation at scales ranging from populations to entire regional landscapes. In 1995 he received a "Biodiversity Conservation Leadership Award", and in 2000 was elected an "Environmentalist Leader for the New Millennium" by Time Magazine. He is currently a lecturer at the University of East Anglia, UK, and divides his time between Norwich and fieldwork in the Brazilian Amazon.

Recent Publications

Peres, C.A. 2001. Synergistic effects of subsistence hunting and habitat fragmentation on Amazonian forest vertebrates. Conservation Biology 15:1490-1505.

Peres, C.A. 2001. Paving the way to the future of Amazonia. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 16:217-219.

Peres, C.A. 2001. The fire next time. Time Magazine, 8/1/2001:48. Translated into Spanish at: www.aolamericas.com/canales/voces/time/peres/index.adp

Chapman, C.A. and C.A. Peres. 2001. Primate conservation in the new millennium: The role of scientists Evolutionary Anthropology 10:16-33

Peres, C.A. & B. Zimmerman. 2001. Perils in Parks or Parks in Peril? Reconciling conservation in Amazonian reserves with and without use. Conservation Biology 15:793-797.

Zimmerman, B., C.A. Peres, J. Malcolm, and T. Turner. 2001. Conservation and development alliances with the Kayapó of south-eastern Amazonia, a tropical forest indigenous peoples. Environmental Conservation 28 (1):10-22

Fa J.E. & C.A. Peres. 2001. Game vertebrate extraction in African and Neotropical forests: an Intercontinental Comparison. In: Conservation of Exploited Species edited by J.D. Reynolds, G.M. Mace, K.H. Redford & J.G. Robinson, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Pp. 203-241.

Peres, C.A. & J. Terborgh. 2001. Reservas Naturales Amazónicas: Un análisis del estado de defensa de las unidades de conservación existentes y criterio de diseño para el futuro. In: Amazonía: Ortientaciones Para el Desarrollo Sustenible, p. 104-119 (M. Pyhälä, J. Salo, R. Kalliola, C. Padoch, M. Pinedo-Vasquez & J Torres-Vásquez, Eds.). Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo (PNUD), Lima, Peru.

Peres, C.A. 2002. Expanding networks of conservation areas in our last tropical forest frontiers: the case of Brazilian Amazonia. In "Making Parks Work, Strategies for Preserving Tropical Nature" edited by J. Terborgh, C. van Schaik, M. Rao, and l. Davenport, Island Press, Washington, DC.

Terborgh, J. & C.A. Peres. 2002. Indigenous people and protected areas. In "Making Parks Work, Strategies for Preserving Tropical Nature" edited by J. Terborgh, C. van Schaik, M. Rao, and l. Davenport, Island Press, Washington, DC.

Peres, C.A. & M. van Roosmalen. 2002. Patterns of primate frugivory in Amazonia and the Guianan shield: implications to the demography of large-seeded plants in overhunted tropical forests. In Frugivory and Seed Dispersal: Ecological, Evolutionary and Conservation Issues (D. Levey, W. Silva & M. Galetti, editors) to be published by CAB International, Oxford.

Fa, J.E., C.A. Peres & J. Meeuwig^. In Press. Bushmeat exploitation in tropical forests: an intercontinental comparison. Conservation Biology. Feb. 2002

M. Tabarelli & C.A. Peres. 2002. Abiotic and vertebrate seed dispersal in the Atlantic forest: implications for forest regeneration. Biological Conservation. Feb 2002.

Barlow, B.J., T. Haugaasen & C.A. Peres. 2002. Avifaunal responses to understorey wildfires in Amazonian forests. Biological Conservation. March 2002

Jerozolimski, A. & C.A. Peres. In press. Impact of subsistence hunting on New World parrots. In: Ecology and Conservation of Neotropical Parrots (M. Galleti, ed.). Fundação O Boticário, Curitiba.

Chapman, C.A. and C.A. Peres. 2001. Primate conservation in the new millennium: The role of scientists Evolutionary Anthropology 10:16-33

Peres, C.A. 2000. Effects of subsistence hunting on vertebrate community structure in Amazonian forests. Conservation Biology 14:240-253.

Peres, C.A. 2000. Identifying keystone plant resources in tropical forests. Journal of Tropical Ecology 16:287-317.

Peres, C.A. 2000. Evaluating the impact and sustainability of subsistence hunting at multiple Amazonian forest sites. Pp. 83-115. In: Hunting for Sustainability in Tropical Forests (J.G. Robinson & E.L. Bennett, editors). Columbia University Press, New York.

Peres, C.A. 2000. Intergroup spacing and the ecology of group movements in Neotropical primates. Pp. 198-230. In: On the Move: How and Why Animals Move in Groups. (S. Boinski & P.A. Garber, eds.) University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Peres, C.A. & P. Dolman. 2000. Density compensation in neotropical primate communities: evidence from 56 hunted and non-hunted Amazonian forests of varying productivity. Oecologia 122:175-189

Develey, P.F. & C.A. Peres. 2000. Resource seasonality and the structure of mixed-species bird flocks in a coastal Atlantic forest of southeastern Brazil. Journal of Tropical Ecology 16:33-54.

PhD Students

• Jos Barlow
  Ecological effects of surface fires in Amazonian forests (NERC studentship)
• Carla Morsello
  Socio-economic sustainability of forest management by indigenous groups in Amazonia - a case study of the Kayapo. (UEA studentship)
• Rodolfo Salm
  Population ecology and seed dispersal biology of two arborescent palms in a southeastern Amazonian forest (CAPES studentship)
• Tor Haugaasen
  Seasonal dynamics of vertebrate frugivores in a highly heterogeneous Amazonian forest landscape: implications for nature reserve design (UEA studentship)
• Claudia Baider
  Ecology of an unharvested population of Brazil-nut trees in eastern Amazonia (FAPESP studentship)
• Tania Urquiza-Haas
  Conservation value of community-based forest management in southern Mexico (CONACYT studentship)

MSc Students

• Stephen Knapp
  Avian community ecology across an elevational gradient in the Brazilian Atlantic forest (MSc by Research)
• Ricardo Boulhosa
  Effects of top-predator control on terrestrial vertebrate assemblages in the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands (Wellcome Trust fellowship)
• Hilton Nascimento
  Population densities of vertebrate game species in hunted and nonhunted Amazonian forests (Wellcome Trust fellowship)
• Jorge Solorzano
  Demography and seed dispersal ecology of a relict population of Brazilian monkey-puzzle trees (Araucaria angustifolia) (FAPESP studentship)
• Maria Luiza Jorge
  Behavioural ecology and home range use of agoutis in southeastern Amazonia (CAPES studentship)
• Erwin Palacios
  Cross-scale ecological determinants of howler monkey population density in Neotropical forests