Experiences from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: ec... - BV FAPESP
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(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

Experiences from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: ecological findings and conservation initiatives

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Author(s):
Joly, Carlos A. [1] ; Metzger, Jean Paul [2] ; Tabarelli, Marcelo [3]
Total Authors: 3
Affiliation:
[1] State Univ Campinas UNICAMP, Dept Plant Biol, Inst Biol, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil
[2] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Biociencias, Dept Ecol, BR-05508900 Sao Paulo - Brazil
[3] Univ Fed Pernambuco, Dept Bot, BR-50670901 Recife, PE - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 3
Document type: Review article
Source: NEW PHYTOLOGIST; v. 204, n. 3, p. 459-473, NOV 2014.
Web of Science Citations: 95
Abstract

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest hosts one of the world's most diverse and threatened tropical forest biota. In many ways, its history of degradation describes the fate experienced by tropical forests around the world. After five centuries of human expansion, most Atlantic Forest landscapes are archipelagos of small forest fragments surrounded by open-habitat matrices. This natural laboratory' has contributed to a better understanding of the evolutionary history and ecology of tropical forests and to determining the extent to which this irreplaceable biota is susceptible to major human disturbances. We share some of the major findings with respect to the responses of tropical forests to human disturbances across multiple biological levels and spatial scales and discuss some of the conservation initiatives adopted in the past decade. First, we provide a short description of the Atlantic Forest biota and its historical degradation. Secondly, we offer conceptual models describing major shifts experienced by tree assemblages at local scales and discuss landscape ecological processes that can help to maintain this biota at larger scales. We also examine potential plant responses to climate change. Finally, we propose a research agenda to improve the conservation value of human-modified landscapes and safeguard the biological heritage of tropical forests. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 03/12595-7 - Floristic composition, structure and functioning of the Dense Rainforest nuclei of Picinguaba and Santa Virgínia of Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, State of São Paulo, Brazil
Grantee:Carlos Alfredo Joly
Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
FAPESP's process: 12/51872-5 - ECOFOR: Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in degraded and recovering Amazonian and Atlantic Forests
Grantee:Carlos Alfredo Joly
Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
FAPESP's process: 10/50811-7 - Atlantic Ombrophylus Dense Forest: floristic composition, structure and functioning within the Serra do Mar State Park, São Paulo, Brazil
Grantee:Carlos Alfredo Joly
Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Regular Research Grants