SummaryForest edges influence more than half the world’s forests and
contribute to worldwide declines in biodiversity and ecosystem functions.
However, predicting these declines is challenging in heterogeneous fragmented
landscapes. We assembled an unmatched global dataset on species responses to
fragmentation and developed a new statistical approach for quantifying edge
impacts in heterogeneous landscapes to quantify edge-determined changes in
abundance of 1673 vertebrate species. We show that 85% of species’
abundances are affected, either positively or negatively, by forest edges.
Forest core species, which were more likely to be listed as threatened by the
IUCN, only reached peak abundances at sites farther than 200-400 m from sharp
high-contrast forest edges. Smaller-bodied amphibians, larger reptiles and
medium-sized non-volant mammals experienced a larger reduction in suitable
habitat than other forest core species. Our results highlight the pervasive
ability of forest edges to restructure ecological communities on a global
scale.
Habitat loss is the primary driver of biodiversity decline worldwide, but the effects of fragmentation (the spatial arrangement of remaining habitat) are debated. We tested the hypothesis that forest fragmentation sensitivity—affected by avoidance of habitat edges—should be driven by historical exposure to, and therefore species’ evolutionary responses to disturbance. Using a database containing 73 datasets collected worldwide (encompassing 4489 animal species), we found that the proportion of fragmentation-sensitive species was nearly three times as high in regions with low rates of historical disturbance compared with regions with high rates of disturbance (i.e., fires, glaciation, hurricanes, and deforestation). These disturbances coincide with a latitudinal gradient in which sensitivity increases sixfold at low versus high latitudes. We conclude that conservation efforts to limit edges created by fragmentation will be most important in the world’s tropical forests.
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