Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-fscjk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T13:30:09.322Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Forest loss and fragmentation in the Amazon: implications for wildlife conservation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2009

William F. Laurance ,
Heraldo L. Vasconcelos  and
Thomas E. Lovejoy
Heraldo L. Vasconcelos
Affiliation:
Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA), CP 478, Manaus, AM 69011-970, Brazil.
Thomas E. Lovejoy
Affiliation:
Counsellor to the Secretary for Biodiversity and Conservation, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA.
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Amazonian forests are experiencing rapid, unprecedented changes that are having major impacts on wildlife, regional hydrology and the global climate. Rates of deforestation and logging have accelerated in recent years and patterns of forest loss are changing, with extensive new highways providing conduits for settlers and loggers into the heart of the Amazon basin. These myriad changes are causing widespread fragmentation of forests. Fragmented landscapes in the Amazon experience diverse changes in forest dynamics, structure, composition and microclimate, and are highly vulnerable to droughts and fires—alterations that negatively affect a wide variety of animal species. In human-dominated lands intensive hunting may interact synergistically with fragmentation to further threaten wildlife populations.

Keywords

Amazon forestBrazildeforestationedge effectshabitat fragmentationhuntingloggingtropical rain forestwildlife.
Type
Research Article
Information
Oryx , Volume 34 , Issue 1 , January 2000 , pp. 39 - 45
Copyright
Copyright © Fauna and Flora International 2000

References

Abramovitz, J. (1998) Taking a Stand: Cultivating a New Relationship with the World's Forests. World Watch Institute, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Alvard, M.S., Robinson, J.G., Redford, K.H. & Kaplan, H. (1997) The sustainability of subsistence hunting in the neotropics. Conservation Biology, 11, 977–982.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anon (1997) Controle sobre florestas exige a reforma do IBAMA, 1997. A Critica. Manaus, Brazil, 19 01.Google Scholar
Anon (1999) Pilot Program to Conserve the Brazilian Rain Forest: Annual Report on Progress. World Bank, Brasilia, Brazil.Google Scholar
Barbosa, R.I. (1998) Avaliação Preliminar da Área dos Sistemas Naturais e Agroecossistemas Atingida por Incêndios no Estado de Roraima (10.12.1997 a 30.04.98). Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia e Nucleo de Pesquisas de Roraima, Boa Vista, Roraima, Brazil.Google Scholar
Benitez-Malvido, J. (1998) Impact of forest fragmentation on seedling abundance in a tropical rain forest. Conservation Biology, 12, 380–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennett, E.L. (1996) The inter-relationships of commercial logging, hunting, and wildlife in Sarawak, and recommendations for forest management. In Effects of Logging on Wildlife in the Tropics (proceedings of a conference Society [New York]), p. 16. Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, NY.Google Scholar
Bierregaard, R.O. Jr, Lovejoy, T.E., Kapos, V., dos Santos, A.A. & Hutchings, R.W. (1992) The biological dynamics of tropical rainforest fragments. Bioscience, 42, 859–866.Google Scholar
Bierregaard, R.O. Jr & Stouffer, P. (1997) Understory birds and dynamic habitat mosaics in Amazonian rainforests. In Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, Management, and Conservation of Fragmented Communities (eds Laurance, W. F. and Bierregaard, R. O. Jr), pp. 138–155. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Bodmer, R.E., Fang, T.G., Moya, L. & Gill, R. (1994) Managing wildlife to conserve Amazonian forests: population biology and economic considerations of game hunting. Biological Conservation, 67, 29–35.Google Scholar
Brown, K.S. & Hutchings, R.W. (1997) Disturbance, fragmentation, and the dynamics of diversity in Amazonian forest butterflies. In Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, Management, and Conservation of Fragmented Communities (eds Laurance, W. F. and Bierregaard, R. O. Jr), pp. 91–110. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Brown, P. (1998) Forest fires: setting the world ablaze. The Guardian, London, 20 03.Google Scholar
Camargo, J.L. (1993) Variation in soil moisture and air vapour pressure deficit relative to tropical rain forest edges near Manaus, Brazil. MPhil Thesis, Cambridge University, UK.Google Scholar
Camargo, J.L. & Kapos, V. (1995) Complex edge effects on soil moisture and microclimate in central Amazonian forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 11, 205–211.Google Scholar
Carvalho, K. & Vasconcelos, H.L. (1999) Forest fragmentation in central Amazonia and its effects on litter-dwelling ants. Biological Conservation, 91, 151–157.Google Scholar
de Cassia, R. (1997) BR-174: FHC anuncia abertura de nova frontiera agricola no norte. p. A-4. Amazonas em Tempo, Manaus, Brazil, 25 06.Google Scholar
Chiarello, A.G. (1999) Effects of fragmentation of the Atlantic forest on mammal communities in south-eastern Brazil. Biological Conservation, 89, 71–82.Google Scholar
Cochrane, M.A., Alencar, A., Schulze, M.D., Souza, C.M., Nepstad, D.C., Lefebvre, P. & Davidson, E.A. (1999) Positive feedbacks in the fire dynamics of closed canopy tropical forests. Science, 284, 1832–1835.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cochrane, M.A. & Schulze, M.D. (1998) Forest fires in the Brazilian Amazon. Conservation Biology, 12, 948–950.Google Scholar
Cullen, L. Jr (1997) Hunting and biodiversity in Atlantic forest fragments, São Paulo, Brazil. MA Thesis, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.Google Scholar
Dale, V.H., Pearson, S.M., Offerman, H.L. & O'Neill, R.V. (1994) Relating patterns of land-use change to faunal biodiversity in the central Amazon. Conservation Biology, 8, 1027–1036.Google Scholar
Didham, R.K. (1997a) An overview of invertebrate responses to habitat fragmentation. In Forests and Insects (eds Watt, A., Stork, N. E. and Hunter, M.), pp. 201–218. Chapman and Hall, London, UK.Google Scholar
Didham, R.K. (1997b) The influence of edge effects and forest fragmentation on leaf-litter invertebrates in central Amazonia. In Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, Management, and Conservation of Fragmented Communities (eds Laurance, W. F. and Bierregaard, R. O. Jr), pp. 55–70. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Ferreira, L.V. & Laurance, W.F. (1997) Effects of forest fragmentation on mortality and damage of selected trees in central Amazonia. Conservation Biology, 11, 797–801.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gascon, C, Lovejoy, T.E., Bierregaard, R.O., Malcolm, J.R., Stouffer, P.C., Vasconcelos, H.L. et al. (1999) Matrix habitat and species persistence in tropical forest remnants. Biological Conservation, 91, 223–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johns, A.G. (1997) Timber Production and Biodiversity Conservation in Tropical Rain Forests. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
INPE (1996) Deforestation Estimates in the Brazilian Amazon, 1992–1994. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, San Jose dos Campos, Brazil.Google Scholar
INPE (1998) Deforestation Estimates in the Brazilian Amazon, 1995–1997. Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais, San Jose dos Campos, Brazil.Google Scholar
Kapos, V. (1989) Effects of isolation on the water status of forest patches in the Brazilian Amazon. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 5, 173–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kapos, V., Ganade, G., Matsui, E. & Victoria, R.L. (1993) 13C as an indicator of edge effects in tropical rain forest fragments. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 8, 425–432.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kauffman, J.B. & Uhl, C. (1991) Interactions of anthropogenic activities, fire, and rain forests in the Amazon Basin. In Fire in the Tropical Biota (ed. Goldammer, J. G.), pp. 117–134. Springer-Verlag, New York.Google Scholar
Klein, B.C. (1989) Effects of forest fragmentation on dung and carrion beetle communities in central Amazonia. Ecology, 70, 1715–1725.Google Scholar
Laurance, W.F. (1991a) Edge effects in tropical forest fragments: application of a model for the design of nature reserves. Biological Conservation, 57, 205–219.Google Scholar
Laurance, W.F. (1991b) Ecological correlates of extinction proneness in Australian tropical rain forest mammals. Conservation Biology, 5, 79–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laurance, W.F. (1998) A crisis in the making: responses of Amazonian forests to land use and climate change. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 13, 411–415.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laurance, W.F. (1999) Reflections on the tropical deforestation crisis. Biological Conservation, 91, 109–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laurance, W.F. (in press) Fragmentation and plant communities: synthesis and implications for landscape management. In Lessons from Amazonia: Ecology and Conservation of a Fragmented Forest (eds Bierregaard, R. O., Gascon, C., Lovejoy, T. and Mesquita, R.). Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.Google Scholar
Laurance, W.F. & Bierregaard, R O. Jr (eds) (1997) Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, Management and Conservation of Fragmented Communities. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Laurance, W.F. & Fearnside, P.M. (1999) Amazon burning. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 14, 457.Google Scholar
Laurance, S.G.W. & Laurance, W.F. (1999) Tropical wildlife corridors: use of linear rainforest remnants by arboreal mammals. Biological Conservation, 91, 231–239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laurance, W.F., Ferreira, L.V., Gascon, C. & Lovejoy, T.E. (1998a) Biomass loss in Amazonian forest fragments. Science, 282, 1611a.Google Scholar
Laurance, W.F., Ferreira, L.V., Rankin-de Merona, J.M. & Laurance, S.G. (1998b) Rain forest fragmentation and the dynamics of Amazonian tree communities. Ecology, 79, 2032–2040.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laurance, W.F., Ferreira, L.V., Rankin-de Merona, J.M., Laurance, S.G., Hutchings, R. & Lovejoy, T.E. (1998c) Effects of forest fragmentation on recruitment patterns in Amazonian tree communities. Conservation Biology, 12, 460–464.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laurance, W.F., Laurance, S.G. & Delamonica, P. (1998d) Tropical forest fragmentation and greenhouse gas emissions. Forest Ecology and Management, 110, 173–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laurance, W.F., Laurance, S.G., Ferreira, L.V., Rankin-de Merona, J.M., Gascon, C. & Lovejoy, T.E. (1997) Biomass collapse in Amazonian forest fragments. Science, 278, 1117–1118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Lima, M.G. & Gascon, C. (1999) The conservation value of linear forest remnants in central Amazonia. Biological Conservation, 91, 241–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lovejoy, T.E., Bierregaard, R.O. Jr, Rylands, A.B., Malcolm, J.R., Quintela, C.E., Harper, L.H. et al. (1986) Edge and other effects of isolation on Amazon forest fragments. In Conservation Biology: The Science of Scarcity and Diversity (ed. Soule, M. E.), pp. 257–285. Sinauer, Sunderland, MA.Google Scholar
Malcolm, J.R. (1991) The small mammals of Amazonian forest fragments: pattern and process. PhD Thesis, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.Google Scholar
Malcolm, J.R. (1994) Edge effects in central Amazonian forest fragments. Ecology, 75, 2438–2445.Google Scholar
Malcolm, J.R. (1997) Biomass and diversity of small mammals in forest fragments. In Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, Management, and Conservation of Fragmented Communities (eds Laurance, W. F. and Bierregaard, R. O. Jr), pp. 207–221. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Myers, N. & Myers, N.J. (1992) The Primary Source: Tropical Forests and Our Future—Updated for the 1990s. W. W. Norton and Company, New York.Google Scholar
Nelson, L. (1999) Efeitos de borda e do crescimento secundário sobre pequenos mamíferos nas florestas de terra firme da Amazônia central. MSc Thesis, National Institute for Research in the Amazon (INPA), Manaus, Brazil.Google Scholar
Nepstad, D.C., Verissimo, A., Alencar, A., Nobre, C, Lima, E., Lefebre, P. et al. (1999) Large-scale impoverishment of Amazonian forests by logging and fire. Nature, 398, 505–508.Google Scholar
Nepstad, D.C., Moreira, A., Verissimo, A., Lefebvre, P., Schlesinger, P., Potter, C. et al. (1998) Forest fire prediction and prevention in the Brazilian Amazon. Conservation Biology, 12, 951–955.Google Scholar
Peres, C.A. (1990) Effects of hunting on western Amazonian primate communities. Conservation Biology, 4, 47–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, A.H. & Powell, G.V.N. (1987) Population dynamics of male euglossine bees in Amazonian forest fragments. Biotropica, 19, 176–179.Google Scholar
Robinson, J.G. & Redford, K.H. (eds) (1991) Neotropical Wildlife Use and Conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Robinson, J.G. & Redford, K.H. (1994) Measuring the sustainability of hunting in tropical forests. Oryx, 28, 249–256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rylands, A.B. & Keuroghlian, A. (1988) Primate populations in continuous forest and forest fragments in central Amazonia. Ada Amazonia, 19, 291–307.Google Scholar
Schomberg, W. (1999) Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon jumps in 1998. Reuters News Service, 11 02.Google Scholar
Schwartzkopf, L. & Rylands, A.B. (1989) Primate species richness in relation to habitat structure in Amazonian rainforest fragments. Biological Conservation, 48, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skole, D. & Tucker, C.J. (1993) Tropical deforestation and habitat fragmentation in the Amazon: satellite data from 1978 to 1988. Science, 260, 1905–1910.Google Scholar
Souza de, O.F.F. & Brown, V.K. (1994) Effects of habitat fragmentation on Amazonian termite communities. Journal of Tropical Ecology, 10, 197–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tocher, M., Gascon, C. & Zimmerman, B. (1997) Fragmentation effects on a central Amazonian frog community: a ten-year study. In Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, Management, and Conservation of Fragmented Communities (eds Laurance, W. F. and Bierregaard, R. O. Jr), pp. 124–137. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Uhl, C. & Vieira, I.C.G. (1989) Ecological impacts of selective logging in the Brazilian Amazon: a case study from the Paragominas region of the state of Pará. Biotropica, 21, 98–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, G. (1996) Kinder cuts. New Scientist, 151(2048), 40–42.Google Scholar
Whitmore, T.C. (1997) Tropical forest disturbance, disappearance, and species loss. In Tropical Forest Remnants: Ecology, Management, and Conservation of Fragmented Communities (eds Laurance, W. F. and Bierregaard, R. O. Jr), pp. 3–12. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.Google Scholar
Woodroffe, R. & Ginsberg, J.R. (1998) Edge effects and the extinction of populations inside protected areas. Science, 280, 2126–2128.Google Scholar
Zimmerman, B.L. & Bierregaard, R.O. Jr (1986) Relevance of the equilibrium theory of island biogeography and species-area relations to conservation, with a case from Amazonia. Journal of Biogeography, 13, 133–143.Google Scholar