The erosion of biodiversity and biomass in the Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot

Abstract

Tropical forests are being deforested worldwide, and the remaining fragments are suffering from biomass and biodiversity erosion. Quantifying this erosion is challenging because ground data on tropical biodiversity and biomass are often sparse. Here, we use an unprecedented dataset of 1819 field surveys covering the entire Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot. We show that 83−85% of the surveys presented losses in forest biomass and tree species richness, functional traits, and conservation value. On average, forest fragments have 25−32% less biomass, 23−31% fewer species, and 33, 36, and 42% fewer individuals of late-successional, large-seeded, and endemic species, respectively. Biodiversity and biomass erosion are lower inside strictly protected conservation units, particularly in large ones. We estimate that biomass erosion across the Atlantic Forest remnants is equivalent to the loss of 55−70 thousand km2 of forests or US$2.3−2.6 billion in carbon credits. These figures have direct implications on mechanisms of climate change mitigation.

Causes and Reasons of Insect Decline and the Way Forward

“…The estimates of more than 50% of all wild life species were lost due to defaunation in last 40 years of Holocene era [100]. The surprising example is from year 2016 contributed by 68% species defaunation in terms of disappearance and reduced abundance compared to even higher species loss of 70% from South America [101]. Regarding this fast defaunation in current era the global gathering of 15000 scientists during 2017 called for Causes and Reasons of Insect Decline and the Way Forward DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98786 a second warning to humanity for development and implementation of stringent policies to mitigate the Defaunation and exploitation of the natural reservoirs to ensure the safeguarding of remained threatened species.…”

Co-occurrences of tropical trees in eastern South America: disentangling abiotic and biotic forces

“…We retrieved abundance data of 1016 tree species from 574 community surveys (totaling 961,184 individuals) from the Neotropical Tree Community database (TreeCo; http://labtrop.ib.usp.br/doku.php?id= projetos:treeco:start) using the methods described in Lima et al (2015) and de Lima et al (2020). For this specific study, we selected the surveys including trees from the dominant/adult stratum of the vegetation, which were defined to include trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) C 5 cm for closed canopy forests and DBH C 3 cm or DGH (diameter at ground height) C 5 cm for open canopy forests and savannas.…”

“…To study the possible abiotic effects on species cooccurrences patterns, we obtained climate, S1, de Lima et al 2020). Following preliminary analyses, we selected a set of uncorrelated variables to avoid collinearity in the model fitting and excluded those variables that were highly correlated (Pearson'r [|0.5|) with other variables (e.g., altitude).…”

“…In addition, we included the geographic distribution (local/regional endemic, central/southern/northern/western South America, Neotropical, Pantropical, exotic). The details on obtaining species' characteristics can be found in de Lima et al (2020). Based on the assumption that closely related species tend to have similar trait values, we completed the trait matrix with genus level averages in cases of species missing values of seed length, wood density, and dispersal syndrome.…”

Dengue-2 and Guadeloupe Mosquito Virus RNA Detected in Aedes (Stegomyia) spp. Collected in a Vehicle Impound Yard in Santo André, SP, Brazil

“…Arboviral outbreaks periodically occur, causing widespread morbidity and mortality in human populations and other vertebrates [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. Accumulated deforestation is a major driver of arbovirus spillover [ 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Human land-use activities bring humans into close contact with the sylvatic vectors, which may lead to spillover events in both humans and domestic animals [ 10 , 11 ].…”