Urbanization influences small mammal composition, but not species richness in forest fragments in Accra, Ghana

2022 ◽  
Vol 194 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Yeboah Ofori ◽  
Eudosia Asomaniwa Obeng ◽  
Daniel Korley Attuquayefio
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Forest Fragments

Random placement models explain species richness and dissimilarity of frog assemblages within Atlantic Forest fragments

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauricio Almeida‐Gomes ◽  
Nicholas J. Gotelli ◽  
Carlos Frederico Duarte Rocha ◽  
Marcus Vinícius Vieira ◽  
Jayme Augusto Prevedello
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Random Placement

scholarly journals Bird communities in three forest types in the Pernambuco Centre of Endemism, Alagoas, Brazil

2013 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 85-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lahert W. Lobo-Araújo ◽  
Mário T. F. Toledo ◽  
Márcio A. Efe ◽  
Ana C. M. Malhado ◽  
Marcos V. C. Vital ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Bird Communities ◽  
Northeastern Brazil ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Forest Types ◽  
Risk Of Extinction ◽  
Bird Fauna ◽  
Richness Patterns ◽  
Ombrophilous Forest

The Pernambuco Center of Endemism (PCE) in northeastern Brazil is highly fragmented and degraded. Despite its potential conservation importance the bird fauna in this area is still relatively unknown and there are many remnant fragments that have not been systematically surveyed. Here, we report the results of bird surveys in five forest fragments (one pioneer, two ombrophilous and two seasonal). In total, 162 taxa were recorded, 12 of which are endemic to the PCE. The frequency of endangered species was lower than what has been reported in studies from the same area and most of the taxa considered to be at risk of extinction were sub-species of uncertain taxonomic validity. The comparatively low number of endemic/threatened species may be due to the small size of the fragments in the present study - a consequence of the high levels of habitat loss in this region. Analysis of species richness patterns indicates that ombrophilous forest fragments are acting as refuges for those bird species that are most sensitive to environmental degradation.

scholarly journals Habitat, food, and small mammal community structure in Namaqualand

Koedoe ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Van Deventer ◽  
J.A.J. Nel
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Food Availability ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Plant Cover ◽  
Plant Litter ◽  
Shrub Cover ◽  
Habitat Features ◽  
Habitat Differences ◽  
Elephant Shrew ◽  
Density And Biomass

The effect of habitat differences and food availability on small mammal (rodent and elephant shrew) species richness, diversity, density and biomass was investigated in Namaqualand, South Africa. Species richness in the three habitats sampled, namely Upland Succulent Karoo, Dry Riverine Shrub and North-western Mountain Renosterveld was low, with only 2–4 species per habitat. Rodents trapped were predominantly Gerbillurus paeba and Aethomys namaquensis, with fewer Mus minutoides and Petromyscus sp. The only non-rodent was the elephant shrew Elephantulus edwardii. Ten habitat features, the percentage of total plant cover, tree cover, shrub cover, grass cover, plant litter, total basal cover, sand, gravel or rock cover, and the dominant plant height were recorded at 30 randomly chosen points on five sampling grids in each habitat. Small mammal density and biomass was significantly correlated with food availability (green foliage cover, seeds, and relative density and biomass of insects). Species richness and diversity of small mammals were significantly correlated with shrub cover. Numbers and biomass of specific species correlated significantly with different habitat features in each case.

scholarly journals The effect of fragmentation on spider richness (Arachnida: Araneae) in montane semideciduous seasonal forest

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Flávio Eduardo Vilas Boas Júnior ◽  
Amanda Da Silva Ferreira ◽  
Marcos Magalhães De Souza
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Minas Gerais ◽  
Fragmentation Process ◽  
Natural Environments ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Spider Species ◽  
Semideciduous Seasonal Forest ◽  
Agricultural Areas ◽  
Environmental Functions

The fragmentation process that has altered natural environments has been widely discussed, as it causes changes in communities and compromises different environmental functions. In this sense, this study was based on the evaluation of fragmentation on araneofauna of semideciduous seasonal forest fragments, phytophysiognomy belonging to the Atlantic Forest. The study was conducted in three fragments in the municipality of Inconfidentes, southern Minas Gerais, from April 2014 to March 2015. The results showed that there is a similarity in the composition of spider species among the sampled fragments and that the size of the fragment is positively correlated with species richness. Our data show that smaller fragments must be preserved and that agricultural areas maintain the integrity of adjacent forest areas to benefit from the predation dynamics that spiders exert on pests that affect plantations.

Consequences of Deforestation and Climate Change on Biodiversity

2011 ◽  
pp. 24-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Cochard
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Species Richness ◽  
Economic Valuation ◽  
Keystone Species ◽  
Forest Degradation ◽  
Habitat Destruction ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Extinction Rates ◽  
Earth’S Climate ◽  
Species Extinctions

Ever since their evolution, forests have been interacting with the Earth’s climate. Species diversity is particularly high in forests of stable moist tropical climates, but patterns of diversity differ among various taxa. Species richness typically implies high ecosystem resilience to ecosystem disturbances; many species are present to fill in newly created niches and facilitate regeneration. Species loss, on the other hand, often entails environmental degradation and erosion of essential ecosystem services. Until now species extinction rates have been highest on tropical islands which are characterized by a high degree of species endemism but comparatively low species richness (and therefore high vulnerability to invasive species). Deforestation and forest degradation in many countries has lead to forest fragmentation with similar effects on increasingly insularized and vulnerable forest habitat patches. If forest fragments are becoming too small to support important keystone species, further extinctions may occur in cascading ways, and the vegetation structure and composition may eventually collapse. Until now relatively few reported cases of species extinctions can be directly attributed to climate change. However, climate change in combination with habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation may lead to new waves of species extinctions in the near future as species are set on the move but are unable to reach cooler refuges due to altered, obstructing landscapes. To mitigate the future risks of extinctions as well as climate change, major efforts should be undertaken to protect intact large areas of forests and restore wildlife corridors. Carbon sequestration may be seen as just one of many other environmental services of forest biodiversity that deserve economic valuation as alternatives to conversion to often unsustainable agricultural uses.

scholarly journals First standardized inventory of ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in the natural grasslands of Paraná: New records for Southern Brazil

2018 ◽  
Vol 58 ◽  
pp. 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weslly Franco ◽  
Rodrigo Machado Feitosa
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
New Records ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Pitfall Traps ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Conservation Units ◽  
Natural Grasslands ◽  
Taxonomic Novelties ◽  
First Time ◽  
Ant Diversity

Despite the large number of studies investigating ant diversity in Brazilian biomes, no ant-related studies have been carried out in Campos Gerais, a grassland physiognomy in Paraná state. The present study is the first inventory of the ant fauna in one of the few conservation units protecting the Campos Gerais landscape, the Guartelá State Park (PEG). Sixty samples were collected from different habitats within PEG using pitfall traps. Qualitative samples of leaf litter were collected from forest fragments and submitted to Winkler extractors. In addition, manual qualitative sampling was carried out in the various physiognomies within the PEG. A total of 163 species was collected and sorted into 43 genera and nine subfamilies. Five genera and 28 species were recorded for the first time in the state of Paraná. Out of these, 17 species were also recorded for the first time in the Southern Region of Brazil and two were recorded for the first time to the country. The significant species richness in the PEG and the high number of new records is a strong sign of this ecosystem’s potential to reveal taxonomic novelties. These results suggest that PEG, and the Campos Gerais as a whole, should be the target of greater conservation efforts to preserve native remnants.

scholarly journals Changes in small mammal assemblage structure across a rain forest/open forest ecotone

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
STEPHEN E. WILLIAMS ◽  
HELENE MARSH
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Rain Forest ◽  
Habitat Heterogeneity ◽  
Large Change ◽  
Open Forest ◽  
Live Trapping ◽  
Sclerophyll Forest ◽  
World Heritage Area ◽  
Forest Ecotone

The effect of the change in vegetation structure from closed rain forest to tall open forest on the small mammal assemblage was studied by live trapping at three sites where the ecotone was very narrow (> 20 m) near the southern end of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area of Australia. Habitat heterogeneity was significantly higher in the mixed open forest/ecotone area than in the adjacent rain forest. There was a large change in the struture of the small mammal assemblage coincident with the vegetation discontinuity. Although the species richness of small mammals was relatively constant across the gradient, the evenness and diversity of the assemblage declined across the transition from open forest into rain forest and biomass increased, largely due to the high abundance of Rattus fuscipes in the rain forest. The results suggest that the species richness of the small mammal assemblage was not determined by the spatial heterogeneity of the vegetation struture. The species composition of the rain forest is probably related to the historical biogeography of the area whereas the species richness of the wet sclerophyll forest is probably due to a mass-area effect from the adjcant large areas of rain forest and dry sclerophyll forest. However, the evenness, and therefore the diversity of the assemblage, was strongly affected by habitat heterogeneity.

scholarly journals Preliminary Analysis of European Small Mammal Faunas of the Eemian Interglacial: Species Composition and Species Diversity at a Regional Scale

Quaternary ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasia Markova ◽  
Andrey Puzachenko
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Last Interglacial ◽  
Mammal Faunas ◽  
Eemian Interglacial

Small mammal remains obtained from the European localities dated to the Eemian (Mikulino) age have been analyzed for the first time at a regional scale based on the present biogeographical regionalization of Europe. The regional faunas dated to the warm interval in the first part of the Late Pleistocene display notable differences in fauna composition, species richness, and diversity indices. The classification of regional faunal assemblages revealed distinctive features of small mammal faunas in Eastern and Western Europe during the Eemian (=Mikulino, =Ipswichian) Interglacial. Faunas of the Iberian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula, and Sardinia Island appear to deviate from the other regions. In the Eemian Interglacial, the maximum species richness of small mammals (≥40 species) with a relatively high proportion of typical forest species was recorded in Western and Central Europe and in the western part of Eastern Europe. The lowest species richness (5–14 species) was typical of island faunas and of those in the north of Eastern Europe. The data obtained make it possible to reconstruct the distribution of forest biotopes and open habitats (forest-steppe and steppe) in various regions of Europe. Noteworthy is a limited area of forests in the south and in the northeastern part of Europe. In these regions, it seems likely that under conditions of relatively high temperatures characteristic of the Last Interglacial and an insufficient moisture supply there could exist open forest stands or forest-steppe landscapes, as suggested by the presence of species indicative of forest-steppe and steppe north of the forest zone. The results obtained are useful in modeling changes in the mammal faunas as well as environmental changes in entire Europe due to global climatic changes (including the global warming recorded at present).

Distance effect from cloud forest fragments on plant community structure in abandoned pastures in Veracruz, Mexico

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel Angel Muñiz-Castro ◽  
Guadalupe Williams-Linera ◽  
José María Rey Benayas
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Vegetation Structure ◽  
Forest Restoration ◽  
Cloud Forest ◽  
Distance Effect ◽  
Basal Area ◽  
Woody Species ◽  
Primary Forest ◽  
Forest Fragments ◽  
Forest Region

Secondary succession was studied in a Mexican cloud forest region along a chronosequence of 15 abandoned pastures (0.25–80 y). Our objective was to determine the effects of distance from the forest border on successional vegetation structure and woody species richness along the chronosequence. Vegetation structure similar to that of mature forests recovered over 40–50 y, both close to (0–10 m) and away from (40–50 m) the border. Total woody species richness was similar for both distances but species composition differed significantly. When primary forest species were analysed separately, basal area, height, abundance and richness were all significantly higher close to the forest border. Primary species such as Quercus spp. (barochorous-synzoochorous) and Carpinus caroliniana (anemochorous) had lower basal area, density and height away from the border than close to it. Secondary species such as Lippia myriocephala (anemochorous) and Myrsine coriacea (endozoochorous) did not differ in their rate of colonization between distances. The limitation of seed dispersal and establishment for primary woody species away from forest borders suggests that propagules need to be introduced to accelerate forest restoration.

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