scholarly journals Multi-scale mammal responses to agroforestry landscapes in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: the conservation value of forest and traditional shade plantations

2020 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 2331-2341
Author(s):  
Aluane Silva Ferreira ◽  
Carlos A. Peres ◽  
Pavel Dodonov ◽  
Camila Righetto Cassano
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Conservation Value ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Human Population Density ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Forest Remnants

AbstractThe future of tropical forest biodiversity will largely depend on human-modified landscapes. We investigated how medium- to large-bodied mammals respond to factors at local (habitat type), intermediate (land use heterogeneity, forest cover and human population density) and large spatial scales (overall forest cover) in agroforestry landscapes. We surveyed mammals using camera traps in traditional cacao agroforests (cabrucas), intensified cacao agroforests, and forest remnants within two large Atlantic Forest landscapes of southern Bahia, Brazil, representing both high and low forest cover. At the local scale, habitat types differed in their potential to harbour mammal species, with forest remnants and cabrucas showing high conservation value, mainly under contexts of high forest cover, whereas intensified cacao agroforests contained less diversified species assemblages in both landscapes. At intermediate scales, species richness increased with increasing forest cover around forest remnants and intensified cacao agroforests, but the opposite was observed in cabrucas. The effects of human population density were ubiquitous but species-dependent. At the largest scale, species richness was higher in the most forested landscape, highlighting the imperative of maintaining forest remnants to retain forest-dwelling mammals in human-dominated landscapes. We claim that mammal conservation strategies require a multi-scale approach and that no single strategy is likely to maximize persistence of all species. Some species can routinely use traditional agroforests, and a large fraction of mammal diversity can be maintained even if high canopy-cover agroforestry dominates the landscape. Nevertheless, forest patches and highly forested landscapes are essential to ensure the persistence of forest-dwelling and game species.

scholarly journals Mountain definitions and their consequences

Alpine Botany ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Körner ◽  
Davnah Urbach ◽  
Jens Paulsen
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Climatic Change ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Short Communication ◽  
Plant Species Richness ◽  
Mountainous Terrain ◽  
Human Population Density

AbstractMountains are rugged structures in the landscape that are difficult to delineate. Given that they host an overproportional fraction of biodiversity of high ecological and conservational value, conventions on what is mountainous and what not are in need. This short communication aims at explaining the differences among various popular mountain definitions. Defining mountainous terrain is key for global assessments of plant species richness in mountains and their likely responses to climatic change, as well as for assessing the human population density in and around mountainous terrain.

Human population density explains alien species richness in protected areas

2013 ◽  
Vol 159 ◽  
pp. 137-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dian Spear ◽  
Llewellyn C. Foxcroft ◽  
Hugo Bezuidenhout ◽  
Melodie A. McGeoch
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Protected Areas ◽  
Alien Species ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Human Population Density

scholarly journals Human population density and tenebrionid richness covary in Mediterranean islands

Web Ecology ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-65
Author(s):  
Simone Fattorini ◽  
Giovanni Strona
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis ◽  
Mediterranean Islands ◽  
Environmental Diversity ◽  
Human Population Density ◽  
Species Area ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Human Density

Abstract. Human population growth is expected to drive several species to local extinction. Yet, an unexpected high biodiversity can be found even in densely populated areas. Although a positive correlation between human density and biodiversity can be explained by the intermediate disturbance hypothesis, an alternative possible explanation may come from the tendency of human settlements to be located in sites whose environmental conditions are particularly favourable also for many other animal species. To investigate this hypothesis, we studied the relationships between human population density and species richness of native tenebrionid beetles in small Italian islands. We used partial regression analysis to assess the individual contribution of island area (to account for the species–area relationship), elevation (used as a proxy of environmental diversity), and human density to species richness. We found that tenebrionid diversity increased with human population density even after controlling for area and elevation. This may suggest that islands that were (and are) more hospitable to humans are also those which can be more favourable for tenebrionids.

scholarly journals Mammals of a restinga forest in Mataraca, Paraíba, northeastern Brazil, and its affinities to restinga areas in Brazil

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Augusto Torres Parahyba Campos ◽  
Anderson Feijó ◽  
Pamella Gusmão de Goés Brennand ◽  
Alexandre Reis Percequillo
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Field Survey ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Similarity Analysis ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Forest Remnants ◽  
Survey Interviews ◽  
First Time

Abstract The Restinga forests are plant formations associated to the Atlantic Forest which still have not been much studied in terms of their mastofauna. The objective of the present work was to list for the first time the mammal species found in a Restinga on northeastern Brazil and show the similarities on species composition to other areas of the same environment and of Atlantic Forest. Our records were based on several complementary approaches: field survey, interviews, and museum collections. Subsequently, we performed similarity analysis between Restinga areas along Brazil and Atlantic Forest areas. We found a total of 30 species of mammals distributed in 28 genera, 16 families and 7 orders for Restinga of Mataraca. Species richness was similar to other Restinga areas and similarity analyzes pointed out that Restingas are more closely related to adjacent Atlantic Forest areas than to other Restingas in the country. This suggests that Restingas do not exhibit an autochthone fauna, but rather a faunal subsample of neighbor Atlantic Forest. Therefore, conservations policies for the Restinga habitat depends not only on actions focused on this habitat, but on initiatives that encompass nearby Atlantic Forest remnants, allowing the connectivity between these habitats.

scholarly journals Changes in forest cover in Sudety Mountains during the last 250 years: patterns, drivers, and landscape-scale implications for nature conservation

2018 ◽  
Vol 87 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomasz Henryk Szymura ◽  
Sandra Murak ◽  
Magdalena Szymura ◽  
Małgorzata Wiktoria Raduła
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Soil Type ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Forest Area ◽  
Forest Species ◽  
Forest Patch ◽  
Human Population Density ◽  
Ancient Forest

Historical ecology gives a reference point to explain the contemporary state of particular ecosystems as well as entire landscapes. In this study, we examined the quantitative changes in forest cover in the central part of the Sudety Massif (area ca. 1,120 km<sup>2</sup>) during the last 250 years. The information regarding forest patch distribution and its changes was derived by comparison of maps from 1747 and the 1970s drawn at scales of 1:33,000 and 1:25,000, respectively. To examine the effect of environmental variables (topography and soil conditions) and human population density on forest patch distribution and its changes (afforestation, deforestation), a set of 100 circular plots with a diameter of 1 km was established. The influence of explanatory variables was examined using regression tree methods. Changes at the level of the entire landscape were tested using a set of 25 landscape windows (5 × 5 km each). We found that the overall forest cover increased to 36.4% in the twentieth century from 30.4% in the middle of the eighteenth century. The ancient forests constituted 59% of the total forest area existing more recently. The forests in the eighteenth century occurred mostly on steep slopes, deep valley bottoms, and summits. The land relief explains more than half of the total variation in forest distribution (<em>R</em><sup>2</sup> = 0.56). The effects of soil type and human population density were negligible. The contemporary forest pattern results from both land relief and the historical pattern of human population density in the middle of the eighteenth century (<em>R</em><sup>2</sup> = 0.64), while the effect of soil type was negligible. The pattern of deforestation (<em>R</em><sup>2</sup> = 0.53) and afforestation (<em>R</em><sup>2</sup> = 0.36) results from both land relief as well as recent and nineteenth-century human population density. About 83% of the recent forest area is in physical contact with patches of the ancient forest, which provides an optimistic outlook for the migration of ancient forest species into new areas. Furthermore, changes in landscape structure reveal increased connectivity among forest patches, with potential benefits for the migration of forest species with long-range dispersal.

scholarly journals Long-Term Bird Assemblage Trends in Areas of High and Low Human Population Density

2008 ◽  
Vol 2008 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Barrett ◽  
Christina M. Romagosa ◽  
Matthew I. Williams
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
The United States ◽  
Human Population Density ◽  
Bird Assemblages ◽  
Bird Assemblage ◽  
The Impact

Urban areas are expanding globally, and the impact of high human population density (HHPD) on bird species richness remains unresolved. Studies primarily focus on species richness along an urban-to-rural gradient; however, some studies have analyzed larger-scale patterns and found results that contrast with those obtained at smaller scales. To move the discussion beyond static species richness patterns, we analyzed the effect of HHPD on bird assemblage dynamics (year-to-year extinction probability, turnover, changes in species richness) across the United States over a 25-year period. We found that bird assemblages in both high and low human population density areas changed significantly over the period of record. Specifically, bird assemblages increased in species richness on average. Assemblage change in areas of HHPD was not significantly different from assemblage change in areas with LHPD. These results suggest that human population density alone does not alter the persistence of avian assemblage patterns.

scholarly journals Historical records reveal the distinctive associations of human disturbance and extreme climate change with local extinction of mammals

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (38) ◽  
pp. 19001-19008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinru Wan ◽  
Guangshun Jiang ◽  
Chuan Yan ◽  
Fangliang He ◽  
Rongsheng Wen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Human Disturbance ◽  
Human Population ◽  
Local Extinction ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Mammal Species ◽  
Species Extinction ◽  
Human Population Density ◽  
Extreme Climate

Accelerated anthropogenic impacts and climatic changes are widely considered to be responsible for unprecedented species extinction. However, determining their effects on extinction is challenging owing to the lack of long-term data with high spatial and temporal resolution. In this study, using historical occurrence records of 11 medium- to large-sized mammal species or groups of species in China from 905 BC to AD 2006, we quantified the distinctive associations of anthropogenic stressors (represented by cropland coverage and human population density) and climatic stressors (represented by air temperature) with the local extinction of these mammals. We found that both intensified human disturbances and extreme climate change were associated with the increased local extinction of the study mammals. In the cold phase (the premodern period of China), climate cooling was positively associated with increased local extinction, while in the warm phase (the modern period) global warming was associated with increased local extinction. Interactive effects between human disturbance and temperature change with the local extinction of elephants, rhinos, pandas, and water deer were found. Large-sized mammals, such as elephants, rhinos, and pandas, showed earlier and larger population declines than small-sized ones. The local extinction sensitivities of these mammals to the human population density and standardized temperature were estimated during 1700 to 2000. The quantitative evidence for anthropogenic and climatic associations with mammalian extinction provided insights into the driving processes of species extinction, which has important implications for biodiversity conservation under accelerating global changes.

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