Unprecedented plant species loss after a decade in fragmented subtropical Chaco Serrano forests
Por:
Aguilar R., Calviño A., Ashworth L., Aguirre-Acosta N., Carbone L.M., Albrieu-Llinás G., Nolasco M., Ghilardi A., Cagnolo L.
Publicada:
28 nov 2018
Resumen:
Current biodiversity loss is mostly caused by anthropogenic habitat loss
and fragmentation, climate change, and resource exploitation. Measuring
the balance of species loss and gain in remaining fragmented landscapes
throughout time entails a central research challenge. We resurveyed in
2013 plant species richness in the same plots of a previous sampling
conducted in 2003 across 18 forest fragments of different sizes of the
Chaco Serrano forest in Argentina. While the area of these forest
remnants was kept constant, their surrounding forest cover changed over
this time period. We compared plant species richness of both sampling
years and calculated the proportion of species loss and gain at forest
edges and interiors. As in 2003, we found a positive relationship
between fragment area and plant richness in 2013 and both years showed a
similar slope. However, we detected a net decrease of 24% of species'
richness across all forest fragments, implying an unprecedentedly high
rate and magnitude of species loss driven mainly by non-woody,
short-lived species. There was a higher proportion of lost and gained
species at forest edges than in forest interiors. Importantly, fragment
area interacted with percent change in surrounding forest cover to
explain the proportion of species lost. Small forest fragments showed a
relatively constant proportion of species loss regardless of any changes
in surrounding forest cover, whereas in larger fragments the proportion
of species lost increased when surrounding forest cover decreased. We
show that despite preserving fragment area, habitat quality and
availability in the surroundings is of fundamental importance in shaping
extinction and immigration dynamics of plant species at any given forest
remnant. Because the Chaco Serrano forest has already lost 94% of its
original cover, we argue that plant extinctions will continue through
the coming decades unless active management actions are taken to
increase native forest areas.
Filiaciones:
Aguilar R.:
Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasCórdoba, Argentina
Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica, Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, Unidad Morelia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro, Morelia, Mexico
Calviño A.:
Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasCórdoba, Argentina
Ashworth L.:
Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasCórdoba, Argentina
Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica, Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, Unidad Morelia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro, Morelia, Mexico
Aguirre-Acosta N.:
Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasCórdoba, Argentina
Carbone L.M.:
Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasCórdoba, Argentina
Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Nacional de CórdobaCórdoba, Argentina
Albrieu-Llinás G.:
Laboratorio de Arbovirus, Instituto de Virología "Dr. Vanella", Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, CONICET, Córdoba, Argentina
Nolasco M.:
Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias, Universidad Nacional de CórdobaCórdoba, Argentina
Ghilardi A.:
Laboratorio Nacional de Análisis y Síntesis Ecológica, Escuela Nacional de Estudios Superiores, Unidad Morelia, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Antigua Carretera a Pátzcuaro, Morelia, Mexico
Cagnolo L.:
Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y TécnicasCórdoba, Argentina
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