Can secondary forests mitigate the negative effect of old-growth forest loss on biodiversity? A landscape-scale assessment of two endangered primates

Saldívar-Burrola, Laura L.; Martínez-Ruiz, Marisela; Arroyo‐Rodríguez, Víctor; Villalobos, Fabricio; Dias, Pedro Américo D.; López‐Barrera, Fabiola; Arasa‐Gisbert, Ricard

doi:10.1007/s10980-022-01532-7

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 86 publications

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“…Consequently, the conservation of white-headed langurs should prioritize the restoration of vegetation diversity in their fragmented habitats. Additionally, native trees, which serve as natural shelter and enhance the langurs' food supply, are being felled to reclaim farmlands (Liao et al, 2021;Saldívar-Burrola et al, 2022). Hence, protecting native vegetation and mitigating human disturbance remain critical steps in conserving langurs.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diets of white‐headed langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) inhabiting limestone forests: The effects of habitat fragmentation and implication for conservation

Lai,

Chen,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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Information about wildlife diets is crucial for comprehending how species adapt to varying environments in fragmented habitats and for developing effective conservation strategies. White‐headed langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) are exclusively found in fragmented limestone forests in southwestern China. To investigate the effects of habitat fragmentation on langurs' diets, we collected published dietary data and relevant environmental factors spanning from 1996 to 2021 at two regions with different degrees of fragmentation (Banli > Bapen), from 10 studies (three of Banli and seven of Bapen). The results demonstrated that the diets of white‐headed langurs were significantly influenced by environmental factors, including habitat fragmentation, annual rainfall, and mean annual temperature. Food item diversity index was significantly and positively affected by the fragmentation index, the higher fragmentation the langurs suffered, the more diverse food items they consumed. Besides, fruit consumption was negatively influenced by annual rainfall and the consumption of other items was influenced by mean annual temperature. Notably, although there are no significant differences in the feeding proportions of food items or food item diversity indices were observed between the Banli and Bapen groups, the Banli groups extensively consumed ground‐supported kudzu (Pueraria montana var. lobata), a plant rarely recorded in the dietary preferences of the Bapen groups, implying that the large plants likely lacking in the fragmented limestone forests. Our findings provide evidence of the major impact of habitat fragmentation on the dietary composition of white‐headed langurs, highlighting the need of considering the possibility that the habitats of the white‐headed langurs have all undergone extreme fragmentation, inferring the conservation efforts should prioritize protecting native vegetation and reducing human disturbance.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diets of white‐headed langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) inhabiting limestone forests: The effects of habitat fragmentation and implication for conservation

Lai,

Chen,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Ecology and Evolution

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“…Parameter b refers to the steepness of the curve (slope), and c is the inflection point (the point where the curvature tends to change directions; Bolker, 2007), and we considered this the threshold value. Such a logistic model follows a sigmoidal curve that is useful for identifying inflection points (Ficelota & Denoël, 2009), and such models have been used for assessing extinction thresholds in tropical forests (Morante‐Filho et al, 2015; Saldívar‐Burrola et al, 2022). We fixed a Poisson distribution error for both abundance and species richness and tested whether the models showed overdispersion.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, at the patch scale, small patches usually maintain a lower number of species than large ones (Matthews et al, 2016; Watling & Donelly, 2006). Similarly, but at the landscape scale, the number of individuals and species across entire landscapes usually decreases in more deforested landscapes (Brindis‐Badillo et al, 2022; Saldívar‐Burrola et al, 2022; Wies et al, 2021). These two lines of evidence can be simply explained by the sample area effect, as both small patches (patch‐scale studies) and highly deforested landscapes (landscape‐scale studies) represent small sample areas that logically hold few individuals and species (Fahrig, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maintenance of different life stages of old‐growth forest trees in deforested tropical landscapes

Martínez‐Ruiz,

Arroyo‐Rodríguez,

Arasa‐Gisbert

et al. 2024

Ecology

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Tropical tree species are increasingly being pushed to inhabit deforested landscapes. The habitat amount hypothesis posits that, in remaining forest patches, species diversity in equal‐sized samples decreases with decreasing forest cover in the surrounding landscape. We tested this prediction by taking into account three important factors that can affect species responses to forest loss. First, forest loss effects can be linear (proportional) or nonlinear, as there can be threshold values of forest loss beyond which species extirpation may be accelerated. Second, such effects are usually scale dependent and may go unnoticed if assessed at suboptimal scales. Finally, species extirpation may take decades to become evident, so the effects of forest loss can be undetected when assessing long‐lived organisms, like adult old‐growth forest trees. Here, we evaluated the linear and nonlinear effects of landscape forest loss across different spatial scales on site‐scale abundance and diversity of old‐growth forest trees, separately for four plant‐life stages (seeds, saplings, juveniles, and adults) in two rainforest regions with different levels of deforestation. We expected stronger (and negative) forest loss effects on early plant‐life stages, especially in the region with the highest deforestation. Surprisingly, in 13 of 16 study cases (2 responses × 4 life stages × 2 regions), null models showed higher empirical support than linear and nonlinear models at any scale. Therefore, the species richness and abundance of local tree assemblages seem to be weakly affected by landscape‐scale forest loss independently of the spatial scale, life stage, and region. Yet, as expected, the predictive power of forest cover was relatively lower in the least deforested region. Our findings suggest that landscape‐scale forest loss is poorly related to site‐scale processes, such as seed dispersal and seedling recruitment, or, at least, such effects are too small to shape the abundance and diversity of tree assemblages within forest patches. Therefore, our findings do not support the most important prediction of the habitat amount hypothesis but imply that, on a per‐area basis, a unit of habitat (forest) in a highly deforested landscape has a conservation value similar to that of a more forested one, particularly in moderately deforested rainforests.

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“…Urban Blue-Green Spaces. Trough a review of the literature [29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] and consultation with experts, four criterion layers were identifed, including visual psychology, ecological function, aesthetic function, and service efect, encompassing a total of 36 indicators as the preliminary selection of LEH evaluation indicators for urban blue-green spaces.…”

Section: Preliminary Selection Of Leh Evaluation Indicators Formentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Urban Blue-Green Space Landscape Ecological Health Based on the GST-AHP-TOPSIS Composite Model

Cheng,

2024

Health & Social Care in the Community

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The urban blue-green space landscape ecology is an important component that supports the urban landscape ecosystem. In this study, a combination model of the grey system theory (GST), analytic hierarchy process (AHP), and technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) was used to construct criteria layers from the following four aspects: green space vegetation coverage, ecosystem diversity, air and water quality, social participation, and health. The GST method was employed to screen evaluation indicators, the AHP method was used to calculate the weight of each indicator, and finally, TOPSIS was applied for weighted ranking to verify the scientific and rationality of the evaluation system. The results indicated the following: (1) out of 36 indicator factors, 10 were not selected through the GST method; (2) the weight ranking of the criteria layer was as follows, from highest to lowest: D2 ecosystem diversity 0.4816 > D1 green space vegetation coverage 0.2608 > D3 air and water quality 0.1864 > D4 social participation and health 0.0713; and (3) the relative closeness and ranking of different regions in Jinan city were as follows: Da Ming Hu area > Shan Da Lu area > Gu Cheng area > Shang Bu area. This study can help avoid decision-making errors caused by subjective factors and provide new approaches for the assessment of the ecological health of urban blue-green space landscapes.

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Can secondary forests mitigate the negative effect of old-growth forest loss on biodiversity? A landscape-scale assessment of two endangered primates

Cited by 7 publications

References 86 publications

Diets of white‐headed langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) inhabiting limestone forests: The effects of habitat fragmentation and implication for conservation

Diets of white‐headed langurs (Trachypithecus leucocephalus) inhabiting limestone forests: The effects of habitat fragmentation and implication for conservation

Maintenance of different life stages of old‐growth forest trees in deforested tropical landscapes

Assessment of Urban Blue-Green Space Landscape Ecological Health Based on the GST-AHP-TOPSIS Composite Model

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