| Autor: |
de Lima RAF; Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, trav. 14, 321, 05508-090, São Paulo, Brazil. raflima@usp.br.; Tropical Botany, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR, Leiden, The Netherlands. raflima@usp.br., Oliveira AA; Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, trav. 14, 321, 05508-090, São Paulo, Brazil., Pitta GR; Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, trav. 14, 321, 05508-090, São Paulo, Brazil., de Gasper AL; Departamento de Ciências Naturais, Universidade Regional de Blumenau, Rua Antônio da Veiga, 140, 89030-903, Blumenau, Brazil., Vibrans AC; Departamento de Engenharia Florestal, Universidade Regional de Blumenau, Rua São Paulo, 3250, 89030-000, Blumenau, Brazil., Chave J; Laboratoire Evolution et Diversité Biologique, UMR 5174 CNRS, Université Paul Sabatier, IRD. 118, route de Narbonne, 31062, Toulouse, France., Ter Steege H; Tropical Botany, Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 2, 2333 CR, Leiden, The Netherlands.; Systems Ecology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1087, Amsterdam, 1081 HV, Netherlands., Prado PI; Departamento de Ecologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão, trav. 14, 321, 05508-090, São Paulo, Brazil. |
| Abstrakt: |
Tropical forests are being deforested worldwide, and the remaining fragments are suffering from biomass and biodiversity erosion. Quantifying this erosion is challenging because ground data on tropical biodiversity and biomass are often sparse. Here, we use an unprecedented dataset of 1819 field surveys covering the entire Atlantic Forest biodiversity hotspot. We show that 83-85% of the surveys presented losses in forest biomass and tree species richness, functional traits, and conservation value. On average, forest fragments have 25-32% less biomass, 23-31% fewer species, and 33, 36, and 42% fewer individuals of late-successional, large-seeded, and endemic species, respectively. Biodiversity and biomass erosion are lower inside strictly protected conservation units, particularly in large ones. We estimate that biomass erosion across the Atlantic Forest remnants is equivalent to the loss of 55-70 thousand km 2 of forests or US$2.3-2.6 billion in carbon credits. These figures have direct implications on mechanisms of climate change mitigation. |
