Nestedness in forest mammals is dependent on area but not on matrix type and sample size: an analysis on different fragmented landscapes

Abstract

Nestedness, the pattern in which the species of a species-poor community are a subset of species-rich communities, can provide information regarding species order of extinction, which is vital knowledge for conservation biology. We tested the hypotheses that the nestedness of mammal communities in forest remnants is influenced by sampling effort, mean remnant area, range of remnant areas, matrix type, and presence or absence of forest corridors, and compared the results with multi-taxa reviews. We used 24 published datasets to test this hypothesis and ran simple regressions for each variable. Our results provide evidence that area was the main determinant of nestedness in mammalian communities. We also found a significant effect on the range of areas as measured through area ratio. However we conclude that nestedness is not affected by sample size.Keywords: nestedness, effort; matrix type, forest fragments, mammals, area. Aninhamento em mamíferos florestais depende da área mas não do tipo da matriz ou do tamanho amostral: uma análise com diferentes paisagens fragmentadas ResumoAninhamento, o padrão no qual espécies de comunidades mais pobres são subconjuntos de comunidades mais ricas, pode fornecer informações sobre a ordem de extinção de espécies, conhecimento vital para a conservação. Testamos a hipótese que o aninhamento das comunidades de mamíferos em fragmentos florestais é influenciado pelo esforço amostral, média e variação de área dos fragmentos, assim como pela presença de corredores florestais e pelo tipo de matriz circundante, e comparamos com revisões multi-taxa. Usamos 24 conjuntos de dados publicados para testar essa hipótese. Nossos resultados forneceram evidencia de que a área foi o principal determinante do aninhamento de comunidades de mamíferos. Nós também concluímos que aninhamento não é afetado por esforço amostral.Palavras-chave: aninhamento, esforço amostral, matriz, fragmentos florestais, mamíferos, área.

Season‐specific and guild‐specific effects of anthropogenic landscape modification on metacommunity structure of tropical bats

“…The effects of forest loss and fragmentation on metacommunity structure have been assessed in terms of nestedness (Cutler 1991;Atmar & Patterson 1993;Fischer & Lindenmayer 2005;Hill et al 2011;Menezes & Fernandez 2013) along gradients of species richness. Although nested structures are commonly detected in human-modified landscapes (Whittaker 1992;Louzada et al 2010;Hill et al 2011), two constraints of common nestedness approaches limit interpretations.…”

Community structure and population dynamics of small mammals in an urban-sylvatic interface area in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

“…There is also the possibility that there may be other species not sampled in the study, mainly in the more preserved and upper areas of PBSP. Menezes and Fernandez (2013) also found low nestedness values in a meta-analysis review of mammal communities in fragmented landscapes in different regions of the world. Surveys together with ecological studies on populations and communities are urgent in those areas, not only because of biodiversity concerns but also to expand understanding of the mechanisms of the ecological patterns in multiple scales of spatial-temporal organization, taking into account the metacommunity scale and the patterns and processes that emerge from it (Leibold et al 2004).…”