Anthropogenic disturbance in tropical forests can double biodiversity loss from deforestation

Jos Barlow, Gareth Lennox, Joice Ferreira, Erika Berenguer, Alexander Lees, Ralph MAC NALLY, Silvio Ferra, Julio Lazada, Victor Oliveira, Luke Parry, R de Castro Solar, Ima Vieira, Luiz Aragao, Rodrigo Begotti, Rodrigo Braga, Thiago Cardoso, Raimundo Junior, Carlos Junior, Nargila Moura, Samia NunesRenata Pardini, Juliana Silveira, Fernando Vaz-de-Mello, Ruan Veiga, Adriano Venturieri, Toby Gardner

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

756 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Concerted political attention has focused on reducing deforestation, and this remains the cornerstone of most biodiversity conservation strategies. However, maintaining forest cover may not reduce anthropogenic forest disturbances, which are rarely considered in conservation programmes. These disturbances occur both within forests, including selective logging and wildfires, and at the landscape level, through edge, area and isolation effects. Until now, the combined effect of anthropogenic disturbance on the conservation value of remnant primary forests has remained unknown, making it impossible to assess the relative importance of forest disturbance and forest loss. Here we address these knowledge gaps using a large data set of plants, birds and dung beetles (1,538, 460 and 156 species, respectively) sampled in 36 catchments in the Brazilian state of Pará. Catchments retaining more than 69-80% forest cover lost more conservation value from disturbance than from forest loss. For example, a 20% loss of primary forest, the maximum level of deforestation allowed on Amazonian properties under Brazil's Forest Code, resulted in a 39-54% loss of conservation value: 96-171% more than expected without considering disturbance effects. We extrapolated the disturbance-mediated loss of conservation value throughout Pará, which covers 25% of the Brazilian Amazon. Although disturbed forests retained considerable conservation value compared with deforested areas, the toll of disturbance outside Pará's strictly protected areas is equivalent to the loss of 92,000-139,000 km 2 of primary forest. Even this lowest estimate is greater than the area deforested across the entire Brazilian Amazon between 2006 and 2015 (ref. 10). Species distribution models showed that both landscape and within-forest disturbances contributed to biodiversity loss, with the greatest negative effects on species of high conservation and functional value. These results demonstrate an urgent need for policy interventions that go beyond the maintenance of forest cover to safeguard the hyper-diversity of tropical forest ecosystems.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)144-147
Number of pages4
JournalNature
Volume535
Issue number7610
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

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