Losing our palms: The influence of landscape-scale deforestation on Arecaceae diversity in the Atlantic forest

Benchimol, Maíra; Talora, Daniela Custódio; Mariano‐Neto, Eduardo; Oliveira, Tamiris L.S.; Leal, Adrielle; Mielke, Marcelo Schramm; Faria, Deborah

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2016.11.014

Cited by 42 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Many studies have found that deforestation significantly affects species composition and abundance (Benchimol et al, 2017, Brook et al, 2003, Fisher & Wilkinson, 2005. Deforestation has been shown to decrease seed species richness and abundance by removing large trees (Benchimol et al, 2017, Laurance, 1999.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological succession drives the structural change of seed-rodent interaction networks in fragmented forests

Yang

Yan

Zhao

et al. 2018

Forest Ecology and Management

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While deforestation and fragmentation can cause massive species loss in forest ecosystems, forest regeneration can also drive successional changes in species composition. Although studies have sometimes documented the effects of these compositional changes on interspecific interactions, few studies have investigated changes in the structure of plant-animal networks. We investigated how interaction networks of assemblages of rodents and tree seeds changed with forest fragmentation and succession in a subtropical region. We compared seed-rodent interactions between 14 secondary forest patches that ranged in area from 2 to 58 ha, and from 10 to at least 100 years old, representing a successional gradient. We expected that deforestation and fragmentation would reduce seed production and diversify rodent communities, resulting in higher interaction strengths and connectivity, but weak nestedness (i.e., specialists interact with subsets of the species interaction of generalists). We measured the frequency of rodents eating and removing seeds (interaction strength) in each patch during 3 successive years, using seed tagging and infrared camera trapping, and calculated the properties of the seed-rodent networks. We found that the relative abundances of seeds and rodents changed with stand age not patch size, as did seed-rodent interactions: older patches produced more seeds, contained fewer individuals and species of rodents, and had seed-rodent networks with lower connectance and interaction strength, but higher nestedness. Connectance and interaction strength decreased with metabolic per capita seed availability (as measured by seed energy value); nestedness increased with seed richness, but decreased with rodent abundance. At species level, we found stand age and patch size showed significant effects on seed or rodent abundance of a few species. We also found seed coat thickness and starch contents had significant effects on network metrics. Our results suggest that during succession after deforestation, seed-rodent interactions in these subtropical forests change from a state dominated by high seed removal and highly connected seed-rodent networks to a state with more seeds and highly nested networks. From a management perspective of our study region, succession age, not fragment size, and network structure should be paid more attention so as to facilitate the restoration processes of degraded forests. Rodent management should be applied to protect native forest species and exclude incursive ones from farmlands and human residences at early succession stage.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological succession drives the structural change of seed-rodent interaction networks in fragmented forests

Yang

Yan

Zhao

et al. 2018

Forest Ecology and Management

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“…Therefore, it is expected that deforestation, habitat fragmentation and overexploitation of the natural resources associated with palm trees (e.g., Mauritia flexuosa) negatively influence the population size of the palm trees and V. palmarum (Hilário & Toledo 2016;Benchimol et al 2017;Vieira et al 2016).…”

Section: Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

What are the species of phorophytes of Vanilla palmarum (Orchidaceae) in Brazil? An assessment of emblematic specificity with palm tree species

et al. 2019

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Vanilla palmarum is an obligately epiphytic orchid distributed widely throughout South America with emblematic specificity for species of palms. This epiphyte-phorophyte association was examined through the analysis of specimens available via the database of Centro de Referência em Informação Ambiental and from Brazilian herbaria. We recognized nine species as hosts of V. palmarum in Brazil: Acrocomia aculeata, Attalea phalerata, Attalea speciosa, Elaeis guineensis, Mauritia flexuosa, Syagrus cearensis, S. coronata, S. schizophylla, and S. vagans. The most important phorophytes of V. palmarum were found to be A. speciosa (Cerrado), A. phalerata (Pantanal), M. flexuosa (Amazon Forest) and S. coronata (Caatinga). Future management actions must consider the association between V. palmarum and its phorophyte palm species in order to ensure the protection of this ecological interaction.

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“…Accordingly, population persistence depends upon a minimum amount of habitat—the extinction threshold sensu Fahrig (, ) (Figure a,b). In the Brazilian Atlantic forest, the extinction threshold of most endemic or forest‐dependent species of vertebrates (birds, small mammals, and amphibians; Banks‐Leite et al., ), palms (Benchimol et al., ), Sapotaceae (Lima & Mariano‐Neto, ), and Myrtaceae (Rigueira, da Rocha, & Mariano‐Neto, ) is around 30%–45% of remaining forest at the landscape. This extinction threshold matches thresholds of rapid decay of biomass‐related traits of forest structure (e.g., basal area and diameter), observed between 35% and 40% forest cover (Rocha‐Santos et al., ).…”

Section: Landscape‐level Effects On Biomass Loss—a Conceptual Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, population persistence depends upon a minimum amount of habitat-the extinction threshold sensu Fahrig (2002Fahrig ( , 2003 (Figure 2a,b). In the Brazilian Atlantic forest, the extinction threshold of most endemic or forest-dependent species of vertebrates (birds, small mammals, and amphibians; Banks-Leite et al, 2014), palms (Benchimol et al, 2017),…”

Section: Habitat Amount Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%

Landscape‐level effects on aboveground biomass of tropical forests: A conceptual framework

Melito

Metzger

Oliveira

2017

Global Change Biology

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Despite the general recognition that fragmentation can reduce forest biomass through edge effects, a systematic review of the literature does not reveal a clear role of edges in modulating biomass loss. Additionally, the edge effects appear to be constrained by matrix type, suggesting that landscape composition has an influence on biomass stocks. The lack of empirical evidence of pervasive edge-related biomass losses across tropical forests highlights the necessity for a general framework linking landscape structure with aboveground biomass. Here, we propose a conceptual model in which landscape composition and configuration mediate the magnitude of edge effects and seed-flux among forest patches, which ultimately has an influence on biomass. Our model hypothesizes that a rapid reduction of biomass can occur below a threshold of forest cover loss. Just below this threshold, we predict that changes in landscape configuration can strongly influence the patch's isolation, thus enhancing biomass loss. Moreover, we expect a synergism between landscape composition and patch attributes, where matrix type mediates the effects of edges on species decline, particularly for shade-tolerant species. To test our conceptual framework, we propose a sampling protocol where the effects of edges, forest amount, forest isolation, fragment size, and matrix type on biomass stocks can be assessed both collectively and individually. The proposed model unifies the combined effects of landscape and patch structure on biomass into a single framework, providing a new set of main drivers of biomass loss in human-modified landscapes. We argue that carbon trading agendas (e.g., REDD+) and carbon-conservation initiatives must go beyond the effects of forest loss and edges on biomass, considering the whole set of effects on biomass related to changes in landscape composition and configuration.

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Losing our palms: The influence of landscape-scale deforestation on Arecaceae diversity in the Atlantic forest

Cited by 42 publications

References 49 publications

Ecological succession drives the structural change of seed-rodent interaction networks in fragmented forests

Ecological succession drives the structural change of seed-rodent interaction networks in fragmented forests

What are the species of phorophytes of Vanilla palmarum (Orchidaceae) in Brazil? An assessment of emblematic specificity with palm tree species

Landscape‐level effects on aboveground biomass of tropical forests: A conceptual framework

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