João Vitor Messeder

Research Interests

I am an international Ph.D. student (from Belo Horizonte, Brazil) and a Fulbright Scholar at the Ecology program. I have completed a master's degree in Plant Biology and a bachelor's degree in Biological Sciences both at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (Brazil). Broadly speaking, for my PhD I am investigating the ecology and evolution of fruit-frugivore interactions, asking questions about how different frugivore groups can shape the evolution of fruit traits, and where the dispersal syndrome paradox stands using Neotropical Solanum species as a study model

Publications 

• MESSEDER, J.V.S., Silveira, F.A.O., Cornelissen, T.G., Fuzessy, L.F., Guerra T.J. 2021. Frugivory and seed dispersal in a hyper-diverse plant clade and its role as keystone resource for the Neotropical fauna. Annals of Botany, 127(5): 577–595. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaa189
  
• Oliveira, C.S., MESSEDER, J.V.S., Teixido, A.L., Arantes, M.R.R., Silveira, F.A.O. 2021. Vegetative and reproductive phenology in a tropical grassland-savanna-forest mosaic. Journal of Vegetation Science, 32(2): e12997. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12997
• MESSEDER, J.V.S., Guerra, T.J., Dáttilo, W., Silveira, F.A.O. 2020. Searching for keystone plant resources in fruit-frugivore interaction networks across the Neotropics. Biotropica, 52(5): 857-870. https://doi.org/10.1111/btp.12804
• Arruda, A.J., Costa, F.V., Guerra, T.J., Junqueira, P.A., Dayrell, R.L.C., MESSEDER, J.V.S., Rodrigues, H.T.S., Buisson, E., Silveira, F.A.O. 2020. Topsoil disturbance reshapes diaspore interactions with ground‐foraging animals in a megadiverse grassland. Journal of Vegetation Science, 31(6): 1039-1052. https://doi.org/10.1111/jvs.12866
• Guerra, T.J., MESSEDER, J.V.S., Arruda, A.J., Fuzessy, L.F., Dayrell, R.L.C., Neves, F.S., Silveira, F.A.O. 2018. Handling by avian frugivores affect diaspore secondary removal. PLOS ONE, 13(8): e0202435. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202435
• Guerra, T.J., Dayrell, R.L.C., Arruda, A.J., Dáttilo, W., Teixido, A.L., MESSEDER, J.V.S., Silveira, F.A.O. 2017. Intraspecific variation in fruit-frugivore interactions: effects of fruiting neighborhood and consequences for seed dispersal. Oecologia, 185(2): 233-243. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-017-3943-z

Teixido, A.L., Dayrell, R.L.C., Arruda, A.J., Azevedo, L.O., Junqueira, P.A., MESSEDER, J.V.S., Silveira F.A.O. 2017. Differential gender selection on flower size in two Neotropical savanna congeneric species. Plant Ecology, 219(1): 89-100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-017-0780-4