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Bogoni JA, Peres CA, Navarro AB, Carvalho-Rocha V, Galetti M. Using historical habitat loss to predict contemporary mammal extirpations in Neotropical forests. Conserv Biol 2024:e14245. [PMID: 38456548 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14245] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2024]
Abstract
Understanding which species will be extirpated in the aftermath of large-scale human disturbance is critical to mitigating biodiversity loss, particularly in hyperdiverse tropical biomes. Deforestation is the strongest driver of contemporary local extinctions in tropical forests but may occur at different tempos. The 2 most extensive tropical forest biomes in South America-the Atlantic Forest and the Amazon-have experienced historically divergent pathways of habitat loss and biodiversity decay, providing a unique case study to investigate rates of local species persistence on a single continent. We quantified medium- to large-bodied mammal species persistence across these biomes to elucidate how landscape configuration affects their persistence and associated ecological functions. We collected occurrence data for 617 assemblages of medium- to large-bodied mammal species (>1 kg) in the Atlantic Forest and the Amazon. Analyzing natural habitat cover based on satellite data (1985-2022), we employed descriptive statistics and generalized linear models (GLMs) to investigate ecospecies occurrence patterns in relation to habitat cover across the landscapes. The subregional erosion of Amazonian mammal assemblage diversity since the 1970s mirrors that observed since the colonial conquest of the Atlantic Forest, given that 52.8% of all Amazonian mammals are now on a similar trajectory. Four out of 5 large mammals in the Atlantic Forest were prone to extirpation, whereas 53% of Amazonian mammals were vulnerable to extirpation. Greater natural habitat cover increased the persistence likelihood of ecospecies in both biomes. These trends reflected a median local species loss 63.9% higher in the Atlantic Forest than in the Amazon, which appears to be moving toward a turning point of forest habitat loss and degradation. The contrasting trajectories of species persistence in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest domains underscore the importance of considering historical habitat loss pathways and regional biodiversity erosion in conservation strategies. By focusing on landscape configuration and identifying essential ecological functions associated with large vertebrate species, conservation planning and management practices can be better informed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliano A Bogoni
- Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul, Campo Grande, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Ambientais, Centro de Pesquisa de Limnologia, Biodiversidade e Etnobiologia do Pantanal-CELBE, Laboratório de Mastozoologia, Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Cáceres, Brazil
| | - Carlos A Peres
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
- Instituto Juruá, Manaus, Brazil
| | - Ana B Navarro
- Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Vitor Carvalho-Rocha
- Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil
- Departamento de Ecologia e Zoologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil
| | - Mauro Galetti
- Department of Biodiversity, Center for Research in Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, Brazil
- Kimberly Green Latin American and Caribbean Center, Florida International University (FIU), Miami, Florida, USA
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Souza BA, Rosa JCS, Campos PBR, Sánchez LE. Evaluating the potential of biodiversity offsets to achieve net gain. Conserv Biol 2023:e14094. [PMID: 37021395 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.14094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
Evaluating the outcomes and tracking the trajectory of biodiversity offsets is essential to demonstrating their effectiveness as a mechanism to conciliate development and conservation. We reviewed the literature to determine the principles that should underpin biodiversity offset planning and the criteria for offset evaluation at the project level. According to the literature, the core principles of equivalence, additionality, and permanence are used as criteria to evaluate conservation outcomes of offsets. We applied the criteria to evaluate offsets of a large iron ore mining project in the Atlantic Forest in Brazil. We examined equivalence in terms of the amount of area per biodiversity value affected and fauna and flora similarity, additionality in terms of landscape connectivity, and permanence in terms of guarantees to ensure protection and restoration offsets lasting outcomes. We found an offset ratio (amount of affected area:offset area) of 1:1.8 for forests and 1:2 for grasslands. Ecological equivalence (i.e., similarity between affected and offset areas) was found for forested areas, but not for ferruginous rupestrian grasslands or for fauna. Landscape metrics showed that connectivity improved relative to the preproject situation as a result of locating restoration offsets in the largest and best-connected forest patch. Permanence of offsets was addressed by establishing covenants and management measures, but financial guarantees to cover maintenance costs after mine closure were lacking. Offsets should be equivalent in type and size, provide conservation outcomes that would not be obtained without them (additionality), and be lasting (permanence). To monitor and evaluate offsets, it is necessary to determine how well these 3 principles are applied in the planning, implementation, and maintenance of offsets. Achieving measurable conservation outcomes from offsets is a long-term endeavor that requires sustained management support, and is information intensive. Thus, offsets require ongoing monitoring and evaluation as well as adaptive management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Almeida Souza
- Department of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Escola Politécnica, University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Josianne Claudia Sales Rosa
- Department of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Escola Politécnica, University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Pedro Bueno R Campos
- Department of Geography, Faculty of Philosophy, Languages and Human Sciences, University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
| | - Luis Enrique Sánchez
- Department of Mining and Petroleum Engineering, Escola Politécnica, University of São Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil
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Hatfield JH, Barlow J, Joly CA, Lees AC, Parruco CHDF, Tobias JA, Orme CDL, Banks-Leite C. Mediation of area and edge effects in forest fragments by adjacent land use. Conserv Biol 2020; 34:395-404. [PMID: 31313352 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2018] [Revised: 07/01/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation have pervasive detrimental effects on tropical forest biodiversity, but the role of the surrounding land use (i.e., matrix) in determining the severity of these impacts remains poorly understood. We surveyed bird species across an interior-edge-matrix gradient to assess the effects of matrix type on biodiversity at 49 different sites with varying levels of landscape fragmentation in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest-a highly threatened biodiversity hotspot. Both area and edge effects were more pronounced in forest patches bordering pasture matrix, whereas patches bordering Eucalyptus plantation maintained compositionally similar bird communities between the edge and the interior and exhibited reduced effects of patch size. These results suggest the type of matrix in which forest fragments are situated can explain a substantial amount of the widely reported variability in biodiversity responses to forest loss and fragmentation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jack H Hatfield
- Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and the Environment, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, U.K
| | - Jos Barlow
- Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, U.K
| | - Carlos A Joly
- Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Alexander C Lees
- School of Science and the Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, U.K
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
| | | | - Joseph A Tobias
- Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and the Environment, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, U.K
| | - C David L Orme
- Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and the Environment, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, U.K
| | - Cristina Banks-Leite
- Grand Challenges in Ecosystems and the Environment, Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, U.K
- Department of Ecology, Biosciences Institute, University of São Paulo, São Paulo SP, Brazil
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Vallejos MAV, Padial AA, Vitule JRS, Monteiro-Filho ELDA. Effects of crowding due to habitat loss on species assemblage patterns. Conserv Biol 2020; 34:405-415. [PMID: 31773785 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13443] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2018] [Revised: 08/08/2019] [Accepted: 08/30/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Terrestrial animals are negatively affected by habitat loss, which is assessed on a landscape scale, whereas secondary effects of habitat loss, such as crowding, are usually disregarded. Such impacts are inherently hard to address and poorly understood, and there is a growing concern that they could have dire consequences. We sampled birds throughout a deforestation process to assess crowding stress in an adjacent habitat remnant in the southern Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Crowding is expected of highly mobile taxa, especially given the microhabitat heterogeneity of Neotropical forests, and we hypothesized that the arrival of new individuals or species in refuges shifts assemblage patterns. We used point counts to obtain bird abundances in a before-after-control-impact design sampling of a deforestation event. Temporal changes in taxonomic and functional diversity were examined with metrics used to assess alpha and beta diversity, turnover of taxonomic and functional similarity, and taxonomic and functional composition. Over time increased abundance of some species altered the Simpson index and affected the abundance-distribution of traits in the habitat remnant. Taxonomic composition and functional composition changed in the remnant, and thus bird assemblages changed over time. Taxonomic and functional metrics indicated that fugitives affected resident assemblages in refuges, and effects endured >2 years after the deforestation processes had ceased. Dissimilarity of taxonomic composition between pre- and postdeforestation assemblages increased, whereas functional composition reverted to preimpact conditions. We found that ecological disruptions resulted from crowding and escalated into disruptions of species' assemblages and potentially compromising ecosystem functioning. It is important to consider crowding effects of highly mobile taxa during impact assessments, especially in large-scale infrastructure projects that may affect larger areas than is assumed.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - André Andrian Padial
- Laboratório de Análise e Síntese em Biodiversidade, Departamento de Botânica. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ecologia e Conservação, Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Av. Coronel Francisco Heráclito dos Santos, 100, CEP: 81530-000, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Jean Ricardo Simões Vitule
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, Departamento de Engenharia Ambiental, Setor de Tecnologia, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Av. Coronel Francisco Heráclito dos Santos, 100, CEP, 81530-000, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
| | - Emygdio Leite de Araujo Monteiro-Filho
- Laboratório de Biologia e Ecologia de Vertebrados, Departamento de Zoologia, Setor de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Av. Coronel Francisco Heráclito dos Santos, 100, CEP, 81530-000, Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil
- Instituto de Pesquisas Cananéia, Av. Nina, 523, CEP, 11990-000, Cananéia, São Paulo, Brazil
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