Effects of landscape modification on species richness patterns of fruit‐feeding butterflies in Brazilian Atlantic Forest

The problem of conserving an ecosystem that has not been completely delineated and mapped: the case of the Cocais Palm Forest

Land cover changes threaten biodiversity and alter the geographic distribution of forests worldwide. Studies on this topic are important to establish conservation strategies and public policies. However, different studies may propose different spatial representations due to differences when identifying, classifying, and/or mapping the same vegetation formation, as observed for the Cocais Forest region. This palm-dominated ecosystem predominates the Brazilian mid-north region in an ecotone region with 3 of the 6 Brazilian biomes. In this study, we conducted a literature review of studies that delineated and mapped the Cocais Forest, aiming to compare different mapped regions and to establish a new distribution map integrating these spatial data. We found seven sources that revealed spatial divergences in identifying the spatial distribution of Cocais Forest, including its characteristics in terms of size and shape, which could affect the conservation, socioeconomic, and cultural policies and studies carried out on this emblematic vegetation formation and influence area. The delineation proposed by de Sousa Nascimento and Lima (Revista de Políticas Públicas 189-192, 2016) encompassed the largest area. In addition, there was a lack of consensus regarding the nomenclature for this ecosystem, and few works offered a detailed description of the mapping process. Despite the different spatial distributions found for the Cocais Forest, we succeeded in establishing a common area by overlapping individual maps, resulting in the identification of a core region exclusive located in the State of Maranhão.

Synergistic effects of climate and landscape change on the conservation of Amazonian lizards

The leading causes of the worldwide decline in biodiversity are global warming, allied with natural habitat loss and fragmentation. Here, we propose an analysis of the synergistic effects of these two factors in 63 species of Amazonian lizards. We predicted that the high-climatic suitability areas of species would be significantly impacted by different deforestation scenarios and the resultant landscape structure and considered that forest-dwelling species would be especially susceptible to deforestation scenarios. We also pointed out species threatened by both drivers and suggested critical areas for their future conservation. According to our results, most species will face future reductions in suitable areas for their occurrence according to five different patterns, two of which represent significant risks for 15 species. Some of these species already deal with severe habitat loss and fragmentation of their current distribution ranges, whereas others will suffer a considerable area reduction related to future range shifts. We emphasize the importance of protected areas (PAs), especially indigenous lands, and the need to plan combined strategies involving PAs' maintenance and possible implementation of ecological corridors. Finally, we highlight eight species of thermoconformer lizards that constitute present and future conservation concerns related to the combined effects of climate change and habitat loss and that should be carefully evaluated in extinction risk assessments.

The contribution of the BIOTA/FAPESP Program to the advancement of the knowledge on terrestrial invertebrates

Abstract The variability of the organisms living in a given area constitute what is referred to as biodiversity, one of nature’s fundamental properties, responsible for the balance and stability of ecosystems. The loss of biodiversity has been of great concern to scientists, especially because of the role played by human activities in this regard, able to lead to irreversible circumstances. The São Paulo Research Foundation (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, FAPESP) plays a major role in supporting research efforts in the most diverse branches of science. In the late 1990´s, FAPESP launched a major program to promote research on biodiversity, named BIOTA/FAPESP. So far, this program has financed the conduction of 26 projects, involving research activities in most of Brazil, while focusing mainly the State of São Paulo. These projects have generated about 1140 publications in peer-reviewed journals of high standard, providing relevant information, including the original description of 1187 species and 76 genera, the complementary description of 350 species, as well as a number of inventory works, biological studies, etc. The program has also been instrumental in the establishment or adequacy of research facilities and training of new taxonomists. Most extensively studied groups of terrestrial invertebrates include Insecta of the orders Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera and Diptera, and Arachnida of the subclasses Araneae and Acari. Distinct projects have also contributed to the detection of organisms potentially useful as biological control agents and in the determination of maps of major interest for the establishment of public policies. In the future, priority groups for study should include the Annelida and the Nematoda, for the potential both have as beneficial organisms, or for the potential some Nematoda have as organisms harmful to plants and animals.

Knowledge gaps hamper understanding the relationship between fragmentation and biodiversity loss: the case of Atlantic Forest fruit-feeding butterflies

Background

A key challenge for conservation biology in the Neotropics is to understand how deforestation affects biodiversity at various levels of landscape fragmentation. Addressing this challenge requires expanding the coverage of known biodiversity data, which remain to date restricted to a few well-surveyed regions. Here, we assess the sampling coverage and biases in biodiversity data on fruit-feeding butterflies at the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, discussing their effect on our understanding of the relationship between forest fragmentation and biodiversity at a large-scale. We hypothesize that sampling effort is biased towards large and connected fragments, which occur jointly in space at the Atlantic forest.

Methods

We used a comprehensive dataset of Atlantic Forest fruit-feeding butterfly communities to test for sampling biases towards specific geographical areas, climate conditions and landscape configurations.

Results

We found a pattern of geographical aggregation of sampling sites, independently of scale, and a strong sampling bias towards large and connected forest fragments, located near cities and roads. Sampling gaps are particularly acute in small and disconnected forest fragments and rare climate conditions. In contrast, currently available data can provide a fair picture of fruit-feeding butterfly communities in large and connected Atlantic Forest remnants.

Discussion

Biased data hamper the inference of the functional relationship between deforestation and biodiversity at a large-scale, since they are geographically clustered and have sampling gaps in small and disconnected fragments. These data are useful to inform decision-makers regarding conservation efforts to curb biodiversity loss in the Atlantic Forest. Thus, we suggest to expand sampling effort to small and disconnected forest fragments, which would allow more accurate evaluations of the effects of landscape modification.

Integrating climate and landscape models to prioritize areas and conservation strategies for an endangered arboreal primate

Species distributions are influenced by both climate conditions and landscape structure. Here we propose an integrated analysis of climatic and landscape niche-based models for a forest-dependent primate, the endangered black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus chrysopygus). We applied both climate and landscape variables to predict the distribution of this tamarin and used this information to prioritize strategic areas more accurately. We anticipated that this approach would be beneficial for the selection of pertinent conservation strategies for this flagship species. First, we built climate and landscape niche-based models separately, combining seven algorithms, to infer processes acting on the species distribution at different scales. Subsequently, we combined climate and landscape models using the EcoLand Analysis. Our results suggest that historic and current landscape fragmentation and modification had profoundly adverse effects on the distribution of the black lion tamarins. The models indicated just 2096 km² (out of an original distribution of 92,239 km² ) of suitable areas for both climate and landscape. Of this suitable area, the species is currently present in less than 40%, which represents less than 1% of its original distribution. Based on the combined map, we determined the western and southeast regions of the species range to be priority areas for its conservation. We identified areas with high climatic and high landscape suitability, which overlap with the remaining forest fragments in both regions, for habitat conservation and population management. We suggest that areas with high climatic but low landscape suitability should be prioritized for habitat management and restoration. Areas with high landscape suitability and low climatic suitability, such as the Paranapiacaba mountain range should be considered in light of projected climate change scenarios. Our case study illustrates that a combined approach of climatic and landscape niche-based modeling can be useful for establishing focused conservation measures that may increase the likelihood of success.