Patch‐scale biodiversity retention in fragmented landscapes: Reconciling the habitat amount hypothesis with the island biogeography theory

Bueno, Anderson Saldanha; Peres, Carlos A.

doi:10.1111/jbi.13499

Cited by 47 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Early tests of the HAH have been inconsistent, with some studies supporting the hypothesis (Melo et al 2017), some refuting it (Haddad et al 2017;Saldhana Bueno & Peres 2019), and others providing partial support (Martin 2018;Viera et al 2018). The strongest tests of the HAH will (1) be conducted at the plot rather than patch scale, to control for sampling intensity and (2) if conducted at the patch scale, they will include many patches ranging in size from large to small, to avoid idiosyncrasies of the species-area relationship when patches are small (Lomolino & Weiser 2001), few patches are sampled (Triantis et al 2012), or the range in Figure 1 The habitat amount hypothesis predicts that species richness in equally sized sample plots (species density; black squares) is determined by the total habitat area (all green polygons) in a local landscape (large circles), rather than the size of the local patch in which plots are located (dark green polygons).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Support for the habitat amount hypothesis from a global synthesis of species density studies

et al. 2020

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Decades of research suggest that species richness depends on spatial characteristics of habitat patches, especially their size and isolation. In contrast, the habitat amount hypothesis predicts that (1) species richness in plots of fixed size (species density) is more strongly and positively related to the amount of habitat around the plot than to patch size or isolation; (2) habitat amount better predicts species density than patch size and isolation combined, (3) there is no effect of habitat fragmentation per se on species density and (4) patch size and isolation effects do not become stronger with declining habitat amount. Data on eight taxonomic groups from 35 studies around the world support these predictions. Conserving species density requires minimising habitat loss, irrespective of the configuration of the patches in which that habitat is contained.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Support for the habitat amount hypothesis from a global synthesis of species density studies

et al. 2020

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“…These studies either concluded support for the HAH because of no difference in the SAR slope in that comparison (Rabelo et al, 2017) or rejected the HAH because they found a steeper slope of the SAR for the non-continuous patches (Haddad et al, 2017;Bueno & Peres, 2019). I here show, however, that the HAH predictions lead to species richness patterns that differ considerably between habitat patches and samples areas with the same size in continuous habitat.…”

Section: Compatible With the Habitat Amount Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Therefore, this specific result by Haddad et al (2017) or Bueno and Peres (2019) cannot be used to support IBT against HAH. This specific result does indeed highlight the importance of habitat configuration and fragmentation for species richness, but paradoxically is not in contradiction with the HAH, but is in agreement with a prediction that arises from the HAH itself.…”

Section: Compatible With the Habitat Amount Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 95%

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The Habitat Amount Hypothesis implies negative effects of habitat fragmentation on species richness and occurrence

Saura

2020

Preprint

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The Habitat Amount Hypothesis (HAH) predicts that species richness, abundance or occurrence in a habitat site increases with the amount of habitat in the 'local landscape' defined by an appropriate distance around the site, with no distinct effects of the size of the habitat patch in which the site is located. It has been stated that a consequence of the HAH, if supported, would be that it is unnecessary to consider habitat configuration to predict or manage biodiversity patterns, and that conservation strategies should focus on habitat amount regardless of fragmentation. Here, I assume that the HAH holds and apply the HAH predictions to all habitat sites over entire landscapes that have the same amount of habitat but differ in habitat configuration. By doing so, I show that the HAH actually implies clearly negative effects of habitat fragmentation, and of other spatial configuration changes, on species richness, abundance or occurrence in all or many of the habitat sites in the landscape, and that these habitat configuration effects are distinct from those of habitat amount in the landscape. I further show that, contrary to current interpretations, the HAH is compatible with a steeper slope of the species-area relationship for fragmented than for continuous habitat, and with higher species richness or abundance for a single large patch than for several small patches with the same total area (SLOSS). This suggests the need to revise the ways in which the HAH has been interpreted and can be actually tested. The misinterpretation of the HAH has arisen from confounding and overlooking the differences in the spatial scales involved: the individual habitat site at which the HAH gives predictions, the local landscape around an individual site, and the landscapes or regions (with multiple habitat sites and different local landscapes) that need to be analysed and managed. The HAH has been erroneously viewed as negating or diminishing the relevance of fragmentation effects, while it actually supports the importance of habitat configuration for biodiversity. I conclude that, even in the cases where the HAH holds, habitat fragmentation and configuration are important for understanding and managing species distributions in the landscape.Understanding how habitat amount and configuration affect species richness, occurrence or abundance has been one of the major focuses of research in ecology and biogeography, given its central importance for conservation planning and for landscape (or seascape) management. In particular, there is a long-standing and vigorous debate on the relative importance of habitat amount (total area of habitat) and habitat spatial configuration (the spatial arrangement of the habitat) for biodiversity patterns and persistence (Wilcox & Murphy, 1985;Fahrig, 2013;Fahrig, 2015;Haddad et al., 2015;Hanski, 2015; Martin, 2018). The most widely accepted conceptual model, and the predominant consensus among ecologists, has been that both habitat amount and configuration (e.g. fragmentation) matter and need to ...

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“…Yet several studies have clearly emphasized the importance of also considering the spatial arrangement of forest fragments and habitat quality. For instance, the percentage of surrounding habitat within the landscape has been widely considered as a good predictor of species diversity for several vertebrate and floristic groups (Andrén, 1994;Morante-Filho et al, 2015;Benchimol et al, 2017), and the dominant role of habitat amount has been suggested when species richness is measured at sample sites (Fahrig, 2013; but see Bueno & Peres 2019). Thus, combining different patch and landscape metrics are likely to provide a better understanding on the effects of habitat fragmentation on the diversity patterns of harvestmen assemblages.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marked compositional changes in harvestmen assemblages in Amazonian forest islands induced by a mega dam

Tourinho

Benchimol

Porto

et al. 2019

Preprint

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1. Mega hydroelectric dams have become one of the main drivers of habitat loss in tropical forests, converting large tracts of pristine forests into isolated forest islands.Understanding how biodiversity cope with landscape modification in these archipelagic landscapes is of paramount importance to assess the environmental consequences of dam infrastructure and propose mitigation actions for biodiversity conservation. In this context, harvestmen (Opiliones, Arachnida) comprise an excellent indicator taxon of habitat quality, given their high sensitivity to desiccation and microclimatic change.2. We investigate the effects of landscape change induced by a mega hydropower dam on forest harvestmen species richness, abundance and composition within the Balbina Hydroelectric Dam, Central Brazilian Amazon. We sampled 20 islands and five mainland continuous forests, relating our biological response variables to local, patch and landscape scale metrics.3. Although unexpectedly species richness was unaffected by any local, patch and landscape variables, species composition and abundance were differentially affected by a set of predictor variables at different scales. Forest cover and fallen woody stems were significant predictors of patterns of species composition, whereas vegetation density, forest cover, island area, abundance of palm trees, and fallen woody stems best explained harvestmen abundance. 4.Our results indicate that both islands embedded within greater and lower amount of forest cover are important to ensure high diversity of harvestmen. We recommend retaining large forest habitat patches surrounded by a large amount of forest cover to minimize forest disturbance effects and enhance long-term persistence of harvestmen sensitive species in large hydroelectric dams. Neto 41.59 237861 9796638 4 5

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Patch‐scale biodiversity retention in fragmented landscapes: Reconciling the habitat amount hypothesis with the island biogeography theory

Cited by 47 publications

References 65 publications

Support for the habitat amount hypothesis from a global synthesis of species density studies

Support for the habitat amount hypothesis from a global synthesis of species density studies

The Habitat Amount Hypothesis implies negative effects of habitat fragmentation on species richness and occurrence

Marked compositional changes in harvestmen assemblages in Amazonian forest islands induced by a mega dam

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