Rights statement: © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.
Accepted author manuscript, 3.88 MB, PDF document
Available under license: CC BY-NC: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Creation of forest edges has a global impact on forest vertebrates
AU - Pfeifer, M.
AU - Lefebvre, V.
AU - Peres, C. A.
AU - Banks-Leite, C.
AU - Wearn, O. R.
AU - Marsh, C. J.
AU - Butchart, S. H. M.
AU - Arroyo-Rodriguez, V.
AU - Barlow, Jos
AU - Cerezo, A.
AU - Cisneros, L.
AU - D'Cruze, N.
AU - Faria, D.
AU - Hadley, A.
AU - Harris, S. M.
AU - Klingbeil, B. T.
AU - Kormann, U.
AU - Lens, L.
AU - Medina-Rangel, G. F.
AU - Morante-Filho, J. C.
AU - Olivier, P.
AU - Peters, S. L.
AU - Pidgeon, A.
AU - Ribeiro, D. B.
AU - Scherber, C.
AU - Schneider-Maunoury, L.
AU - Struebig, M.
AU - Urbina-Cardona, N.
AU - Watling, J. I.
AU - Willig, M. R.
AU - Wood, E. M.
AU - Ewers, R. M.
N1 - © 2017 Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature. All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/11/9
Y1 - 2017/11/9
N2 - Forest edges influence more than half of the world's forests and contribute to worldwide declines in biodiversity and ecosystem functions. However, predicting these declines is challenging in heterogeneous fragmented landscapes. Here we assembled a global dataset on species responses to fragmentation and developed a statistical approach for quantifying edge impacts in heterogeneous landscapes to quantify edge-determined changes in abundance of 1,673 vertebrate species. We show that the abundances of 85% of species are affected, either positively or negatively, by forest edges. Species that live in the centre of the forest (forest core), that were more likely to be listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), reached peak abundances only at sites farther than 200-400 m from sharp high-contrast forest edges. Smaller-bodied amphibians, larger reptiles and medium-sized non-volant mammals experienced a larger reduction in suitable habitat than other forest-core species. Our results highlight the pervasive ability of forest edges to restructure ecological communities on a global scale.
AB - Forest edges influence more than half of the world's forests and contribute to worldwide declines in biodiversity and ecosystem functions. However, predicting these declines is challenging in heterogeneous fragmented landscapes. Here we assembled a global dataset on species responses to fragmentation and developed a statistical approach for quantifying edge impacts in heterogeneous landscapes to quantify edge-determined changes in abundance of 1,673 vertebrate species. We show that the abundances of 85% of species are affected, either positively or negatively, by forest edges. Species that live in the centre of the forest (forest core), that were more likely to be listed as threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), reached peak abundances only at sites farther than 200-400 m from sharp high-contrast forest edges. Smaller-bodied amphibians, larger reptiles and medium-sized non-volant mammals experienced a larger reduction in suitable habitat than other forest-core species. Our results highlight the pervasive ability of forest edges to restructure ecological communities on a global scale.
KW - EUCALYPTUS-MARGINATA FOREST
KW - RAIN-FOREST
KW - EXTINCTION RISK
KW - BODY-SIZE
KW - FRAGMENTED LANDSCAPES
KW - HABITAT FRAGMENTATION
KW - PLANTATION FORESTS
KW - TROPICAL FOREST
KW - TERRESTRIAL MAMMALS
KW - ANOLIS-LIMIFRONS
U2 - 10.1038/nature24457
DO - 10.1038/nature24457
M3 - Journal article
VL - 551
SP - 187
EP - 191
JO - Nature
JF - Nature
SN - 0028-0836
IS - 7679
ER -