Tropical forest fragmentation and isolation: Is community decay a random process?
Habitat destruction and degradation are the leading causes of species declines and extinctions in the world. Human altered landscapes often leave fragments of previously continuous habitat, which may be of significant conservation value. We assessed the effects of habitat fragmentation on the taxono...
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doaj-430f3fe0b38d4332941e4caadcf0b3e92020-11-25T02:59:48ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942020-09-0123e01168Tropical forest fragmentation and isolation: Is community decay a random process?David A. Luther0W. Justin Cooper1Jared D. Wolfe2Richard O. Bierregaard, Jr.3Andrew Gonzalez4Thomas E. Lovejoy5Biology Department, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr. Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA; Smithsonian Mason School of Conservation, 1500 Remount Road, Front Royal, VA, 22630, USA; Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, 69011, Brazil; Corresponding author. Biology Department, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr. Fairfax, VA, 22030, USA.Biology Department, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr. Fairfax, VA, 22030, USACollege of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA; Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, 69011, BrazilBiological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, 69011, Brazil; Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, 19103, USADepartment of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, CanadaBiological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, 69011, Brazil; Environmental Science and Policy Department, George Mason University, 4400 University Dr. Fairfax, VA, 22030, USAHabitat destruction and degradation are the leading causes of species declines and extinctions in the world. Human altered landscapes often leave fragments of previously continuous habitat, which may be of significant conservation value. We assessed the effects of habitat fragmentation on the taxonomic diversity, community composition, and nestedness of avian communities before and after fragment isolation at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project research site in the Amazon rainforest. Species loss in 10ha and 100ha fragments was significantly different from random taxonomic loss. In addition, after fragment isolation, but not prior to fragmentation, the species in the 10ha fragments were a nested subset of the species in the 100ha fragments. Finally, within the fragments two distinct communities formed, those on the edge of the fragments and those at the interior of the fragments, indicating that edge species did not penetrate the interior portion of the fragments. The controlled isolation of fragments from continuous forest resulted in rapid changes in the taxonomic diversity and species composition where fragment size served as a driver of species assemblages across the landscape. We suggest that future research continue to assess community level adjustments to habitat fragmentation and investigate the drivers behind the non-random loss of taxonomic groups and the nested structure of species composition of smaller fragments into larger ones after habitat fragmentation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989420307095Tropical forestBiodiversityBirdFragmentation |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
David A. Luther W. Justin Cooper Jared D. Wolfe Richard O. Bierregaard, Jr. Andrew Gonzalez Thomas E. Lovejoy |
spellingShingle |
David A. Luther W. Justin Cooper Jared D. Wolfe Richard O. Bierregaard, Jr. Andrew Gonzalez Thomas E. Lovejoy Tropical forest fragmentation and isolation: Is community decay a random process? Global Ecology and Conservation Tropical forest Biodiversity Bird Fragmentation |
author_facet |
David A. Luther W. Justin Cooper Jared D. Wolfe Richard O. Bierregaard, Jr. Andrew Gonzalez Thomas E. Lovejoy |
author_sort |
David A. Luther |
title |
Tropical forest fragmentation and isolation: Is community decay a random process? |
title_short |
Tropical forest fragmentation and isolation: Is community decay a random process? |
title_full |
Tropical forest fragmentation and isolation: Is community decay a random process? |
title_fullStr |
Tropical forest fragmentation and isolation: Is community decay a random process? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tropical forest fragmentation and isolation: Is community decay a random process? |
title_sort |
tropical forest fragmentation and isolation: is community decay a random process? |
publisher |
Elsevier |
series |
Global Ecology and Conservation |
issn |
2351-9894 |
publishDate |
2020-09-01 |
description |
Habitat destruction and degradation are the leading causes of species declines and extinctions in the world. Human altered landscapes often leave fragments of previously continuous habitat, which may be of significant conservation value. We assessed the effects of habitat fragmentation on the taxonomic diversity, community composition, and nestedness of avian communities before and after fragment isolation at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project research site in the Amazon rainforest. Species loss in 10ha and 100ha fragments was significantly different from random taxonomic loss. In addition, after fragment isolation, but not prior to fragmentation, the species in the 10ha fragments were a nested subset of the species in the 100ha fragments. Finally, within the fragments two distinct communities formed, those on the edge of the fragments and those at the interior of the fragments, indicating that edge species did not penetrate the interior portion of the fragments. The controlled isolation of fragments from continuous forest resulted in rapid changes in the taxonomic diversity and species composition where fragment size served as a driver of species assemblages across the landscape. We suggest that future research continue to assess community level adjustments to habitat fragmentation and investigate the drivers behind the non-random loss of taxonomic groups and the nested structure of species composition of smaller fragments into larger ones after habitat fragmentation. |
topic |
Tropical forest Biodiversity Bird Fragmentation |
url |
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989420307095 |
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