Effect of Land Use History on Biodiversity of Pine Plantations

Abstract

The growing replacement of native vegetation by forest plantations is considered a global threat to biodiversity. Significant variation in biotic communities among stands with similar management suggests that previous land use might have an effect on the capacity of forest plantations to harbor native species. The goal of our study was to determine the effect of land-use history on the biodiversity currently present in pine plantations in the coastal range of Central Chile. In particular, we hypothesized that plantations that directly replaced native forests should have higher diversity of plants and birds than plantations that were established in agricultural areas. We also expected that plantations of higher number of rotations should have fewer habitat-specialists and more generalists/exotics, reflecting a process of biotic homogenization. Using aerial photographs and satellite images encompassing a period of six decades, we classified 108 4-ha sampling units into native forests, and mature (17–20 year) pine plantations of first, second, and third rotation, of either forest or agricultural origin. At each site, we collected data on the abundance and richness of diurnal birds and understory plants, and analyzed their behavior in relation to the land-use history using Generalized Linear Models (GLMs). Also, we evaluated dissimilarity of communities of each pine plantation “treatment” to assess the occurrence of biotic homogenization. As predicted, pine plantations that directly replaced native forests had a higher abundance of forest specialists and less abundance of exotics and generalists than plantations of agricultural origin. In contrast, the number of rotations of pine plantations not only did not affect negatively the diversity and abundance of forest specialist species, but the models showed some signs of naturalization in the studied systems over time, such as the increase in the abundance of native herbs and a reduction in the abundance of their exotic counterparts. These results agree with the lack of evidence for a decrease in the dissimilarity of biotic communities in plantations with time, suggesting that the management of pine plantations in Central Chile is not promoting biotic homogenization, beyond the impact of the initial stages of land use change.

Landscape Fragmentation at Arauco Province in the Chilean Forestry Model Context (1976–2016)

“…These results have been translated into landscape homogenization dynamics, which can be seen in the increase in the number of patches and the decrease in their size. This had already been reported for southern central Chile [12,73].…”

“…At the beginning of the forestry model in 1974, the native forest occupied soils of greater accessibility in the intermediate depression and on the eastern slope of the coastal range between Maule (34 • LS-71 • W) and Araucanía (39 • LS-72 • W) [73]. However, the substitution of native forest by exotic plantations is not complete because this mountain range still has relics of native vegetation with high ecological value.…”

Large‐scale sampling of beetle communities in Laos shows that conversion of natural forests into plantations leads to a decline in family richness and abundance

“…of land use intensification has been reported for beetles and other insects in tropical forests in Asia, as well as in Africa and America(Phillips et al, 2017). Several observational and experimental studies have revealed that the conversion of natural forests into plantations is harmful to species that cannot adapt to their new environmental conditions(Uribe et al, 2021;Warren-Thomas et al, 2015); our results show that Laos is no exception. Therefore, a large number of insect communities may be, currently or in the near future, at risk from land use intensification in Laos, even though the region is still mainly covered by mountains and forests.A more in-depth understanding of the response of beetle diversity to current and future economic development in Laos is needed to implement practical conservation actions.…”

Homogeneización biótica en comunidades arbóreas de bosques tropicales: una revisión sistemática

“…Un factor recurrente en la evaluación de la homogeneización es el cambio en el uso y la cobertura de la tierra, pero solo una publicación lo evaluó a lo largo del tiempo. Uribe et al (2021) estudiaron la influencia de este factor en la biodiversidad en plantaciones de Pinus, donde la escala temporal estuvo representada por el tiempo de rotación de cada plantación (20 años). Se encontró que las plantaciones que reemplazaron directamente a los bosques nativos presentaban un gran número de especies especialistas y un menor número de generalistas, y que el número de rotaciones no influía en la diversidad local.…”