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Community approach to tropical forest fragmentation gets us closer to understanding mechanisms by revealing strong indirect effects

Community approach to tropical forest fragmentation gets us closer to understanding mechanisms by... Habitat fragmentation is one of the most complex problems threatening biological diversity. Besides the loss of habitat area, fragmentation in general isolates habitat patches and degrades their quality, particularly on their edges. These multiple ecological stressors are difficult to distinguish from the additive, if not interactive effects of additional global change phenomena such as climate destabilization, diverse pollutants, direct human overexploitation of diverse populations, invasive species and altered biogeochemical cycles. Moreover, the stakes of understanding habitat fragmentation are particularly high in the tropics, where species diversity is maximal, 82% of earth's threatened species reside ( Birdlife International, 2000 ), habitat loss and fragmentation are rampant, and where many species may be disproportionately sensitive (e.g. Sodhi, Liow & Bazzaz, 2004; Stratford & Robinson, 2005 ). The challenge of fragmentation is that we barely understand it, particularly in the tropics, which precludes effective management. Conservation biologists have applied diverse tools to this challenge. An early tool was island biogeography, a community approach emphasizing the importance of patch area and isolation, and how extinction and re‐colonization processes determine patch species richness. A variety of additional tools have emphasized population responses: for example, meta‐population theory characterizes the population processes determining patch occupancy. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Animal Conservation Wiley

Community approach to tropical forest fragmentation gets us closer to understanding mechanisms by revealing strong indirect effects

Sherry, T. W.
Animal Conservation , Volume 11 (5) – Oct 1, 2008
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References (31)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
© 2008 The Author. Journal compilation © 2008 The Zoological Society of London
ISSN
1367-9430
eISSN
1469-1795
DOI
10.1111/j.1469-1795.2008.00205.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Habitat fragmentation is one of the most complex problems threatening biological diversity. Besides the loss of habitat area, fragmentation in general isolates habitat patches and degrades their quality, particularly on their edges. These multiple ecological stressors are difficult to distinguish from the additive, if not interactive effects of additional global change phenomena such as climate destabilization, diverse pollutants, direct human overexploitation of diverse populations, invasive species and altered biogeochemical cycles. Moreover, the stakes of understanding habitat fragmentation are particularly high in the tropics, where species diversity is maximal, 82% of earth's threatened species reside ( Birdlife International, 2000 ), habitat loss and fragmentation are rampant, and where many species may be disproportionately sensitive (e.g. Sodhi, Liow & Bazzaz, 2004; Stratford & Robinson, 2005 ). The challenge of fragmentation is that we barely understand it, particularly in the tropics, which precludes effective management. Conservation biologists have applied diverse tools to this challenge. An early tool was island biogeography, a community approach emphasizing the importance of patch area and isolation, and how extinction and re‐colonization processes determine patch species richness. A variety of additional tools have emphasized population responses: for example, meta‐population theory characterizes the population processes determining patch occupancy.

Journal

Animal Conservation – Wiley

Published: Oct 1, 2008

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