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| Author(s): |
Alexandre Uezu
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Doctoral Thesis |
| Press: | São Paulo. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Biociências (IBIOC/SB) |
| Defense date: | 2007-03-02 |
| Examining board members: |
Jean Paul Walter Metzger;
Pedro Ferreira Develey;
Miguel Ângelo Marini;
Paulo Inácio de Knegt López de Prado;
Wesley Rodrigues Silva
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| Advisor: | Jean Paul Walter Metzger |
| Abstract | |
We evaluated the effect of Atlantic Forest fragmentation on bird community, functional groups and populations, in the Pontal do Paranapanema region. Forest bird survey using point counts was conducted during the period of 2002-2004, in 21 patches and seven sites located in a control reserve, the Morro do Diabo State Park (36,000 ha). We identified four degrees of species sensitivity to fragmentation: highly affected, affected, not affected and benefited. Four functional groups revealed to be more vulnerable: Atlantic Forest endemic species; those that are near the edge of their geographical distribution; species that have low flexibility on forest type use and species that are outside of their center of abundance. The intrinsic patch parameters, such as size and quality were the most important, affecting a higher number of species, while the degree of isolation explained little about bird parameters variation. This result must be due to the intense isolation imposed to the remnants in the region, caused by the long distance between patches and the low permeability of the matrix, what make the local variables more relevant. This study shows the need to protect and manage the forest remnants to improve habitat quality. Complementarily, landscape management should be conducted to minimize the isolation of forest remnants. The highest priority should be given to the State Park and the largest patches which aggregate the highest diversity. Keywords: fragmentation, Landscape Ecology, conservation, biodiversity, species Sensitivity. The aim of this study was to assess whether stepping stones (agroforest woodlots) can increase landscape connectivity, influencing bird distribution and diversity at landscape and local levels. We also tested which categories of species can use different types of connection elements, and whether this use is influenced by the distance from these elements to forest patches. We studied two fragmented landscapes, with and without stepping stones linking large fragments, and one forested landscape. Using a point count, a bird survey was undertaken in the fragmented landscapes in five different elements: large remnants (>400 ha), agroforest woodlots (0.4-1.1 ha), small patches (0.5 7 ha), riparian corridor, and pasture areas (the main matrix). The latter three elements were compared with the stepping stones, in regard to their role in bird movements. The continuous forest was surveyed as a control for large remnants in the fragmented landscapes. We observed no effect of the agroforest systems at the landscape scale or for large forest remnants. Generalist and open-area species were commonly observed in the agroforest system or other connection elements, whereas only a few forest species were present in these connections. The matrix was the poorest element of all. The distance between the woodlots and source areas (large patches) was essential to determine forest species richness and abundance in the agroforest system. We suggest that there is an optimal relationship between the permeability of the matrix and the efficiency of stepping stones, which occurs at intermediate degrees of matrix resistance, and is, clearly, species-dependent. The agroforest system appeared to be more advantageous for conservation than the traditional monoculture system in the region, as they hold higher bird diversity; for this reason, they should be considered as a management alternative, particularly when the corridor implantation is not feasible and the matrix permeability requirement is met. Keywords: Fragmentation, Landscape Ecology, Conservation, Biodiversity, Landscape Management. Landscape dynamic is an important factor effecting biodiversity, especially in humandominated landscapes. The aim of this study was to verify how the historical processes of fragmentation in the Pontal do Paranapanema region, inside the Atlantic Forest domain, influence bird diversity pattern. Maps from the region were produced for each decade: 1957, 1965, 1978, 1984, 1993 and 2003; using different types of information such as Satellite images, topographic maps and aerial photographies. For each map we calculated landscape indices which represent patch size and isolation, and related those metrics with bird community parameters. Birds were surveyed using point count methodology in 21 patches plus seven sites in a control reserve (The Morro do Diabo State Park, with 36,000 ha). Patches varied in size: seven large (>400 ha), seven medium (100 - 200 ha) and seven small (30 80 ha). Species richness was calculated for forest and generalist species and for different functional groups. Model selection, based on Akaikes Information Criterion, was performed to distinguish which landscape indices, older or recent ones, explain better species richness. For non sensitive species the degree of isolation of the most recent landscape (2003) explains better the richness variation, although with a higher uncertainty in model selection. On the contrary, landscape parameters from 1978, especially patch size, were the most important variables to explain the richness of the most sensitive groups of species, what provides an evidence for a time lag of bird response to fragmentation of about 25 years. This time also corresponds to the period of intense fragmentation process in the region, when, the forest cover was reduced to < 30%, the theoretical fragmentation threshold. This time lag is a conservation concern because it indicates that the sensitive species did not get yet into a steady state condition and extinctions might occur in a near future if no landscape management is carried out to revert the negative consequences of fragmentation. This situation must even be more critical for other landscapes in the Atlantic Forest domain where the time since isolation is longer. Keywords: fragmentation, landscape dynamics, conservation, ecological debt. The aim of this study was to estimate the time lag between the fragmentation of an Atlantic forest region and the extinction of sensitive bird species in forest patches and to verify which landscape parameters might be associated with such a delay. We analyzed 21 patches varying in size (30-2,000 ha) and seven sites inside a continuous forest (control, ~36,000 ha). The original, present and future bird richness in each site were estimated using, respectively, data from literature, bird survey using point counts and a species-area relationship. A landscape data set of the historical process of fragmentation in the region was used to estimate patch size and time since isolation and the total forest cover in the landscape before fragmentation had taken place. We estimated a very high bird loss in forest patches, mainly concerning species sensitive to disturbances, endemics for the Atlantic Forest and with low relative abundance. The observed halflife, the time necessary to loose half of the species before the relaxation process, varied, on average, between 20 and 46 years. This period was shorter than those found in another study for birds in an African tropical forest (23 to 80 years), indicating that we have less time to revert this situation than previously predicted. The patch quality and size are both important factors determining the time lag for sensitive species. We have estimated that several species had already gone extinct, particularly in small and low quality patches, and that other ones will disappear in the future, even in the largest patches. Our results allowed us to speculate about other Atlantic Forest landscapes, where longer time since isolation and smaller patches can cause even higher losses. The synchronism of extinctions occurring in many regions probably will increase the list of threatened species in a near future, including many that today seem not likely to be vulnerable. Keywords: Landscape dynamic, conservation, extintion debt, theory of Island Biogeography, species-area relationship. Generally the effect of fragmentation on species focus on the landscape or regional scale, removing the geographic variation effect, nonetheless the addition of this variable might help us understand how species respond to fragmentation in a general form. Based on this idea, we compared the effects of forest fragmentation on bird species sensitive to habitat reduction and segmentation, functional groups and coincident species that occur in three landscapes in two geographically distant regions: the Pontal do Paranapanema region, in the extreme west of the State of São Paulo; and Ibiúna e Caucaia, 700 km to the east of the state. We undertook bird survey, using point count methodology in 37 forest fragment and 11 sites inside two continuous forests. The numbers of sample in each landscape were: Pontal 21 patches and 7 sites in a control area; and Ibiúna and Caucaia 8 patches in each landscape and 4 sites in a same control area. In the landscape of Pontal, bird species suffer the most intense effects of fragmentation, although patches are larger than in the other landscapes. The most sensitive species are: endemic, on the limit of distribution, out of abundance center and with low abundance. Many of them are affected only in the Pontal region, result of its geographical location. The spatial structure of landscape explains much of the species diversity and composition variation in the sampled areas. In Pontal and Ibiúna, patch size is the most important variable and, in Caucaia, the high degree of connectivity is the most relevant, making the species less vulnerable. Furthermore, because of its high connectivity, the patch size threshold that defines species loss, is much smaller in Caucaia than in Pontal (50 ha e 300-400 ha, respectively). The comparison of the effects of fragmentation on birds in distinct landscape shows that species responses varies along its distribution, which are constrained to local landscape parameters and bird features. This results show that there is no general recipes for biodiversity conservation, but different strategies must be used according to the regional condition. Keywords: connectivity, fragmentation, Landscape Ecology, conservation, geographical Variation. (AU) | |