Integrating plant richness in forest patches can rescue overall biodiversity in human-modified landscapes

Abstract

The substitution of natural ecosystems with agriculture has led to the establishment of human-modified landscapes globally. In some tropical regions, this process is decades-old, allowing for the study of the effect of such modifications on the remaining biodiversity. However, unlike forest fragments inside regions with extensive primary coverage, the conservation value of ecosystems embedded within intensive farming, i.e., the anthropogenic matrices, has long been ignored, as have the effects of the landscape on such disturbed forest communities. Since the degradation process is predicted to cause the collapse of these fragmented forests, we can choose either to neglect them or to attempt the reversal of the degradation process for biodiversity conservation. Here we investigated the possible influence of landscape predictors on numerous plant species and on the relative proportions of different functional groups. Our results revealed that the richness found in human-modified landscapes had significantly more species than the protected reserves (+90%). The distribution of species suggested that any forest patch is likely to harbour a rare species. Generalised linear models and quantile regressions showed that forest cover and connected area influences the persistence of pioneer species and non-pioneer species of the canopy and zoochorics, with the latter also depending on slope. Rarefaction analysis revealed that natural remnants retain many species, even in sites with less than 20% forest cover. The presence of many zoochoric and non-pioneer canopy species may indicate a qualitative aspect to support conservation-restora tion efforts. These results indicate that the current strategy, which is limited to the preservation of biodiversity in public conservation reserves, should be reconsidered and should include smaller remnants of the natural ecosystem in a regional context and adopt large-scale restoration strategies to preserve the species pool.

Assessment of the nursery species pool for restoring landscapes in southeastern Brazil

“…Previous studies have consistently identified turnover as the larger component of total β ‐diversity in tropical ecosystems (Soininen et al ), a pattern that was registered within the Atlantic Forest Domain in São Paulo state (Bergamin et al ; Farah et al ). Therefore, one possible explanation for the high dissimilarities among plant stocks may be related to plant nurseries' practice of collecting propagules from surrounding forest fragments, which are highly variable in regards to species composition (Bergamin et al , Farah et al ). In this sense, well‐distributed nurseries not only maximize the chances of representing species and local populations adapted for regional restoration projects (White et al ), but may also enhance the taxonomic representation of regional floras.…”

Seed dispersal effectiveness by a large‐bodied invasive species in defaunated landscapes

“…We choose these species because of (a) their ecological relevance to the study system we are investigating, both in terms of their importance (the case of animal‐dispersed plants) and concern (the case of non‐native and invasive plants), and (b) the availability of fruits and seeds to conduct the experimental feeding trials. All native plants used here are widespread in fragmented Atlantic forest (except A. phalerata, which distribution is along central and northern South America, Durigan et al., ; Farah et al., ). Syzygium cumini is native to Southeast Asia and is common in orchards, L. leucocephala is native to Central America but invasive in Brazil and grasses of the genus Urochloa are native to Paleotropical regions (Zenni & Ziller, ).…”

Seed‐dispersal interactions in fragmented landscapes – a metanetwork approach

“…S1). Besides, high interaction turnover is expected due to autocorrelated effects, and to the high beta-diversity of birds and plants seem in the Atlantic Forest (Morante-Filho et al 2016;Sfair et al 2016;Farah et al 2017).…”

“…; Farah et al . ). Specifically, we aim to (1) estimate the potential for connectivity through shared interactions (i.e.…”

“…Here we aim to understand the structure of a metanetwork of bird seed-dispersal (BSD) interactions in a tropical region, identify central interactions persisting across forest fragments, and test whether those interactions are random or distinct subsets of those in pristine areas. We gathered data of BSDinteractions in 16 forest fragments of the Atlantic Forest, a hotspot of biodiversity (Joly et al 2014;Bello et al 2017) that harbours a highly fragmented, matrix-laboured and yet relatively patch-connected landscape (Ribeiro et al 2009) with high species beta-diversity (Morante-Filho et al 2016;Sfair et al 2016;Farah et al 2017). Specifically, we aim to (1) estimate the potential for connectivity through shared interactions (i.e.…”