Landscape structure shapes the diversity of plant reproductive traits in agricultural landscapes in the Brazilian Cerrado

Martello, Felipe; Santos, Juliana Silveira dos; Silva-Neto, Carlos de Melo e; Cássia‐Silva, Cibele; Siqueira, Karoline Nascimento; Ataíde, Marcos Vinicius Rezende de; Ribeiro, Milton Cézar; Collevatti, Rosane Garcia

doi:10.1016/j.agee.2022.108216

Cited by 10 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…The COFA LTER landscape is predominantly occupied by areas of intensive farming, and few and small areas of natural vegetation that are usually kept in the landscapes to attempt the environmental law requirements(Santos et al 2021). The loss of natural vegetation and landscape heterogeneity in COFA LTER landscapes, and increased patch shape irregularity, led to a decrease in plant community diversity) and functional diversity(Martello et al 2023). These changes can have high impacts on specialist species diversity, which depend on different habitat types to survive in different life stages(Băncilă et al.…”

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confidence: 99%

Agriculture cover and local vegetation structure shape Squamata’s diversity in agricultural landscapes in Brazilian Cerrado

Mesquita,

Silveira,

Ramalho

et al. 2023

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Context . Changes in landscapes due to conversion of natural vegetation into agroecosystems are causing an alarming and rapid loss of biodiversity on a global scale. Objectives . We assess how local environmental factors and landscape structure influence Squamata reptiles' abundance, alpha and beta diversities in agricultural landscapes in the Brazilian Cerrado. Methods . We sampled 20 sites using active visual search and pitfall traps to record Squamata reptiles' abundance and richness. For each sampling site, we measured seven variables of vegetation structure at local scale and calculated four landscape metrics at five spatial scales. Results . We recorded 145 individuals of 30 Squamata species being 15 lizards, 12 snakes and three amphisbaenians. Agriculture cover had a negative effect on lizards' abundance and richness. No effect was found on the abundance and richness of snakes. Species turnover was the major process responsible for Squamata reptile dissimilarity among sites. Reptile total beta diversity and species turnover were explained by variation in the number of trees at local scale. Conclusions. Our results highlight the negative effects of agriculture expansion at both species abundance and richness in lizard communities. Moreover, vegetation structure may act as an environmental filter and predict the variation in Squamata reptiles’ species turnover between sites. Our findings show that the maintenance of well-preserved patches of natural vegetation in agricultural landscapes are of utmost importance for Squamata reptiles’ conservation and should be considered in landscape conservation and management design.

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confidence: 99%