Degradation in landscape matrix has diverse impacts on diversity in protected areas

Häkkilä, Matti; Tortorec, Eric Le; Brotons, Lluı́s; Rajasärkkä, Ari; Tornberg, Risto; Mönkkönen, Mikko

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0184792

Cited by 28 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…This may be explained by the high proportion of old-growth boreal forests in the Finnish PAs which has been shown to have positive effects on the specialization of the avian community (Häkkilä et al, 2017). While the latter finding may partly be expected due to generally higher reliance on PAs among northern species (mean PA reliance 0.63 ± 0.14 SD), it underlines the fact that species with the highest reliance on protection were nearly absent outside PAs in the 2000s.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Protected areas act as a buffer against detrimental effects of climate change—Evidence from large‐scale, long‐term abundance data

Lehikoinen

Santangeli

Jaatinen³

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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Climate change is driving species to shift their distributions toward high altitudes and latitudes, while habitat loss and fragmentation may hamper species ability to follow their climatic envelope. These two drivers of change may act in synergy, with particularly disastrous impacts on biodiversity. Protected areas, PAs, may thus represent crucial buffers against the compounded effects of climate change and habitat loss. However, large‐scale studies assessing the performance of PAs as such buffers remain scarce and are largely based on species occurrence data. Conversely, abundance data have proven to be more reliable for addressing changes in wildlife populations under climate change. We evaluated changes in bird abundance from the 1970s–80s to the 2000s inside and outside PAs at the trailing range edge of 30 northern bird species and at the leading range edge of 70 southern species. Abundances of retracting northern species were higher and declined less inside PAs at their trailing range edge. The positive effect of PAs on bird abundances was particularly marked in northern species that rely strongly on PAs, that is, their density distribution is largely confined within PAs. These species were nearly absent outside PAs in the 2000s. The abundances of southern species were in general lower inside PAs and increased less from the 70s–80s to 2000s. Nonetheless, species with high reliance on PAs had much higher abundances inside than outside PAs in the 2000s. These results show that PAs are essential in mitigating the retraction of northern species, but also facilitate northward expansions of southern species highly reliant on PAs. Our study provides empirical evidence documenting the role of PAs in facilitating species to adjust to rapidly changing climatic conditions, thereby contributing to the mitigation of impending biodiversity loss. PAs may thus allow time for initiating wider conservation programs on currently unprotected land.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Protected areas act as a buffer against detrimental effects of climate change—Evidence from large‐scale, long‐term abundance data

Lehikoinen

Santangeli

Jaatinen³

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

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“…The composition of the anthropogenic matrix surrounding forest patches can also affect colonization–extinction dynamics and population persistence in HMTLs (Ewers and Didham , Franklin and Lindenmayer , Häkkilä et al. ). For example, edge effects and dispersal limitation in forested landscapes are stronger when the matrix is dominated by open areas (Mesquita et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fragmentation and matrix contrast favor understory plants through negative cascading effects on a strong competitor palm

Hernández‐Ruedas

Arroyo‐Rodríguez

Morante‐Filho

et al. 2018

Ecological Applications

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Understanding the patterns and processes driving biodiversity maintenance in fragmented tropical forests is urgently needed for conservation planning, especially in species-rich forest reserves. Of particular concern are the effects that habitat modifications at the landscape scale may have on forest regeneration and ecosystem functioning: a topic that has received limited attention. Here, we assessed the effects of landscape structure (i.e., forest cover, open area matrices, forest fragmentation, and mean inter-patch isolation distance) on understory plant assemblages in the Los Tuxtlas Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. Previous studies suggest that the demographic burst of the strong competitor palm Astrocaryum mexicanum in the core area of this reserve limits plant recruitment and imperils biodiversity conservation within this protected area. Yet, the local and landscape predictors of this palm, and its impact on tree recruitment at a regional scale are unknown. Thus, we used structural equation modeling to assess the direct and cascading effects of landscape structure on stem and species density in the understory of 20 forest sites distributed across this biodiversity hotspot. Indirect paths included the effect of landscape structure on tree basal area (a proxy of local disturbance), and the effects of these variables on A. mexicanum. Density of A. mexicanum mainly increased with decreasing both fragmentation and open areas in the matrix (matrix contrast, hereafter), and such an increase in palm density negatively affected stem and species density in the understory. The negative direct effect of matrix contrast on stem density was overridden by the indirect positive effects (i.e., through negative cascading effects on A. mexicanum), resulting in a weak effect of matrix contrast on stem density. These findings suggest that dispersal limitation and negative edge effects in more fragmented landscapes dominated by open areas prevent the proliferation of this palm species, enhancing the diversity and abundance of understory trees. This "positive" news adds to an increasing line of evidence suggesting that fragmentation may have some positive effects on biodiversity, in this case by preventing the proliferation of species that can jeopardize biodiversity conservation within tropical reserves.

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“…We found no statistically supported differences in species density in larger areas compared with small. Thus, larger reserves do not contain more species per unit area even if total species richness increases with the area of reserves (Häkkilä et al., ). In contrast, we found the highest predicted species density for the scenario of small area with high proportion of old forests and low proportion of shrubs around.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Correspondingly, Häkkilä et al. () showed that in boreal bird communities, intensification of forest management in the matrix is associated with lowered species specialization, but increased functional diversity within the forest reserves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rayner, Lindenmayer, Wood, Gibbons, and Manning (2014) demonstrated that species diversity within protected areas is highly sensitive to the quality of the matrix in which they are embedded. Correspondingly, Häkkilä et al (2017) showed that in boreal bird communities, intensification of forest management in the matrix is associated with lowered species specialization, but increased functional diversity within the forest reserves.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Habitat quality is more important than matrix quality for bird communities in protected areas

Häkkilä

Abrego

Ovaskainen

et al. 2018

Ecology and Evolution

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Protected areas are meant to preserve native local communities within their boundaries, but they are not independent from their surroundings. Impoverished habitat quality in the matrix might influence the species composition within the protected areas through biotic homogenization. The aim of this study was to determine the impacts of matrix quality on species richness and trait composition of bird communities from the Finnish reserve area network and whether the communities are being subject of biotic homogenization due to the lowered quality of the landscape matrix. We used joint species distribution modeling to study how characteristics of the Finnish forest reserves and the quality of their surrounding matrix alter species and trait compositions of forest birds. The proportion of old forest within the reserves was the main factor in explaining the bird community composition, and the bird communities within the reserves did not strongly depend on the quality of the matrix. Yet, in line with the homogenization theory, the beta‐diversity within reserves embedded in low‐quality matrix was lower than that in high‐quality matrix, and the average abundance of regionally abundant species was higher. Influence of habitat quality on bird community composition was largely explained by the species' functional traits. Most importantly, the community specialization index was low, and average body size was high in areas with low proportion of old forest. We conclude that for conserving local bird communities in northern Finnish protected forests, it is currently more important to improve or maintain habitat quality within the reserves than in the surrounding matrix. Nevertheless, we found signals of bird community homogenization, and thus, activities that decrease the quality of the matrix are a threat for bird communities.

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Degradation in landscape matrix has diverse impacts on diversity in protected areas

Cited by 28 publications

References 51 publications

Protected areas act as a buffer against detrimental effects of climate change—Evidence from large‐scale, long‐term abundance data

Protected areas act as a buffer against detrimental effects of climate change—Evidence from large‐scale, long‐term abundance data

Fragmentation and matrix contrast favor understory plants through negative cascading effects on a strong competitor palm

Habitat quality is more important than matrix quality for bird communities in protected areas

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