A conceptual framework to describe the ecology of fragmented landscapes and implications for conservation and management

Castillo, Rafael F. del

doi:10.1890/14-1964.1

Cited by 35 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…Vegetation disturbances, both anthropogenic and natural (e.g. fire), are irregular in space and time, moulding mosaic landscapes in which the classic split between fragments and matrix is blurred 53 . The ability of species to persist in such dynamic landscapes will ultimately depend on the interaction between their intrinsic traits (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secondary forest regeneration benefits old-growth specialist bats in a fragmented tropical landscape

Rocha

Ovaskainen

López‐Baucells

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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Tropical forest loss and fragmentation are due to increase in coming decades. Understanding how matrix dynamics, especially secondary forest regrowth, can lessen fragmentation impacts is key to understanding species persistence in modified landscapes. Here, we use a whole-ecosystem fragmentation experiment to investigate how bat assemblages are influenced by the regeneration of the secondary forest matrix. We surveyed bats in continuous forest, forest fragments and secondary forest matrix habitats, ~15 and ~30 years after forest clearance, to investigate temporal changes in the occupancy and abundance of old-growth specialist and habitat generalist species. The regeneration of the second growth matrix had overall positive effects on the occupancy and abundance of specialists across all sampled habitats. Conversely, effects on generalist species were negligible for forest fragments and negative for secondary forest. Our results show that the conservation potential of secondary forests for reverting faunal declines in fragmented tropical landscapes increases with secondary forest age and that old-growth specialists, which are often of most conservation concern, are the greatest beneficiaries of secondary forest maturation. Our findings emphasize that the transposition of patterns of biodiversity persistence in island ecosystems to fragmented terrestrial settings can be hampered by the dynamic nature of human-dominated landscapes.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secondary forest regeneration benefits old-growth specialist bats in a fragmented tropical landscape

Rocha

Ovaskainen

López‐Baucells

et al. 2018

Sci Rep

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“…Thus, increasing the number of habitat patches in the landscape through ‘reverse fragmentation’ (i.e. establishment of habitat patches in degraded areas; sensu del Castillo, ) is highly valuable for biodiversity conservation. Third, complementing this with other land‐management strategies to improve overall landscape quality is also of paramount importance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A global assessment of primate responses to landscape structure

et al. 2019

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Land‐use change modifies the spatial structure of terrestrial landscapes, potentially shaping the distribution, abundance and diversity of remaining species assemblages. Non‐human primates can be particularly vulnerable to landscape disturbances, but our understanding of this topic is far from complete. Here we reviewed all available studies on primates' responses to landscape structure. We found 34 studies of 71 primate species (24 genera and 10 families) that used a landscape approach. Most studies (82%) were from Neotropical forests, with howler monkeys being the most frequently studied taxon (56% of studies). All studies but one used a site‐landscape or a patch‐landscape study design, and frequently (34% of studies) measured landscape variables within a given radius from the edge of focal patches. Altogether, the 34 studies reported 188 responses to 17 landscape‐scale metrics. However, the majority of the studies (62%) quantified landscape predictors within a single spatial scale, potentially missing significant primate–landscape responses. To assess such responses accurately, landscape metrics need to be measured at the optimal scale, i.e. the spatial extent at which the primate–landscape relationship is strongest (so‐called ‘scale of effect’). Only 21% of studies calculated the scale of effect through multiscale approaches. Interestingly, the vast majority of studies that do not assess the scale of effect mainly reported null effects of landscape structure on primates, while most of the studies based on optimal scales found significant responses. These significant responses were primarily to landscape composition variables rather than landscape configuration variables. In particular, primates generally show positive responses to increasing forest cover, landscape quality indices and matrix permeability. By contrast, primates show weak responses to landscape configuration. In addition, half of the studies showing significant responses to landscape configuration metrics did not control for the effect of forest cover. As configuration metrics are often correlated with forest cover, this means that documented configuration effects may simply be driven by landscape‐scale forest loss. Our findings suggest that forest loss (not fragmentation) is a major threat to primates, and thus, preventing deforestation (e.g. through creation of reserves) and increasing forest cover through restoration is critically needed to mitigate the impact of land‐use change on our closest relatives. Increasing matrix functionality can also be critical, for instance by promoting anthropogenic land covers that are similar to primates' habitat.

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“…), and the promotion of nonnative species (With ). Furthermore, while forest fragmentation can be reversed through forest regeneration (del Castillo ), its impacts can be long lasting (Ferraz et al. , Vellend et al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Payments for ecosystem services in Mexico reduce forest fragmentation

Ramirez‐Reyes

Sims

Potapov

et al. 2018

Ecological Applications

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Forest fragmentation can lead to habitat reduction, edge increase, and exposure to disturbances. A key emerging policy to protect forests is payments for ecosystem services (PES), which offers compensation to landowners for environmental stewardship. Mexico was one of the first countries to implement a broad-scale PES program, enrolling over 2.3 Mha by 2010. However, Mexico's PES did not completely eliminate deforestation in enrolled parcels and could have increased incentives to hide deforestation in ways that increased fragmentation. We studied whether Mexican forests enrolled in the PES program had less forest fragmentation than those not enrolled, and whether the PES effects varied among forest types, among socioeconomic zones, or compared to the protected areas system. We analyzed forest cover maps from 2000 to 2012 to calculate forest fragmentation. We summarized fragmentation for different forest types and in four socioeconomic zones. We then used matching analysis to investigate the possible causal impacts of the PES on forests across Mexico and compared the effects of the PES program with that of protected areas. We found that the area covered by forest in Mexico decreased by 3.4% from 2000 to 2012, but there was 9.3% less forest core area. Change in forest cover was highest in the southern part of Mexico, and high-stature evergreen tropical forest lost the most core areas (-17%), while oak forest lost the least (-2%). Our matching analysis found that the PES program reduced both forest cover loss and forest fragmentation. Low-PES areas increased twice as much of the number of forest patches, forest edge, forest islets, and largest area of forest lost compared to high-PES areas. Compared to the protected areas system in Mexico, high-PES areas performed similarly in preventing fragmentation, but not as well as biosphere reserve core zones. We conclude that the PES was successful in slowing forest fragmentation at the regional and country level. However, the program could be improved by targeting areas where forest changes are more frequent, especially in southern Mexico. Fragmentation analyses should be implemented in other areas to monitor the outcomes of protection programs such as REDD+ and PES.

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A conceptual framework to describe the ecology of fragmented landscapes and implications for conservation and management

Cited by 35 publications

References 61 publications

Secondary forest regeneration benefits old-growth specialist bats in a fragmented tropical landscape

Secondary forest regeneration benefits old-growth specialist bats in a fragmented tropical landscape

A global assessment of primate responses to landscape structure

Payments for ecosystem services in Mexico reduce forest fragmentation

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