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

Autor(es)

Joly, Carlos A. ^[1] ; Metzger, Jean Paul ^[2] ; Tabarelli, Marcelo ^[3]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[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

• Tipo de documento: Artigo de Revisão
• Fonte: NEW PHYTOLOGIST; v. 204, n. 3, p. 459-473, NOV 2014.
• Citações Web of Science: 95

Resumo

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)

• Processo FAPESP: 03/12595-7 - Composição florística, estrutura e funcionamento da Floresta Ombrófila Densa dos Núcleos Picinguaba e Santa Virgínia do Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, estado de São Paulo, Brasil
• Beneficiário: Carlos Alfredo Joly
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Temático
• Processo FAPESP: 12/51872-5 - ECOFOR: Biodiversidade e funcionamento de ecossistemas em áreas alteradas pelo homem nas Florestas Amazônica e Atlântica
• Beneficiário: Carlos Alfredo Joly
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Temático
• Processo FAPESP: 10/50811-7 - Composição florística e estrutura da Floresta Ombrófila Densa Atlântica dos Núcleos Picinguaba e Santa Virgínia do Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, São Paulo, Brasil
• Beneficiário: Carlos Alfredo Joly
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Programa BIOTA - Regular