Associations of Forest Cover, Fragment Area, and Connectivity with Neotropical Understory Bird Species Richness and Abundance

Theoretical and empirical studies demonstrate that the total amount of forest and the size and connectivity of fragments have nonlinear effects on species survival. We tested how habitat amount and configuration affect understory bird species richness and abundance. We used mist nets (almost 34,000...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Conservation biology 2012-12, Vol.26 (6), p.1100-1111
Main Authors: Martensen, Alexandre Camargo, Ribeiro, Milton Cezar, Banks-Leite, Cristina, Prado, Paulo Inácio, Metzger, Jean Paul
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal populations
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Applied ecology
Atlantic Forest
Biodiversity
Biological and medical sciences
Birds
Birds - physiology
Bosque del Atlántico
Brazil
Connectivity
Conservation biology
Conservation of Natural Resources
Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife
corredores
corridors
Deforestation
Ecosystem
Forest conservation
Forest cover
Forest habitats
Forestry
fragment size
fragmentación
fragmentation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General forest ecology
Generalities. Production, biomass. Quality of wood and forest products. General forest ecology
Habitat conservation
Habitat fragmentation
Habitat loss
Habitats
paisajes tropicales
Parks, reserves, wildlife conservation. Endangered species: population survey and restocking
Species
tamaño del fragmento
thresholds
tropical landscapes
umbrales
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Summary:Theoretical and empirical studies demonstrate that the total amount of forest and the size and connectivity of fragments have nonlinear effects on species survival. We tested how habitat amount and configuration affect understory bird species richness and abundance. We used mist nets (almost 34,000 net hours) to sample birds in 53 Atlantic Forest fragments in southeastern Brazil. Fragments were distributed among 3 10,800-ha landscapes. The remaining forest in these landscapes was below (10% forest cover), similar to (30%), and above (50%) the theoretical fragmentation threshold (approximately 30%) below which the effects of fragmentation should be intensified. Species-richness estimates were significantly higher (F = 3715, p = 0.00) where 50% of the forest remained, which suggests a species occurrence threshold of 30—50% forest, which is higher than usually occurs (
ISSN:0888-8892
1523-1739
DOI:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2012.01940.x