Existing comment:
Robin L. Chazdon (University of Connecticut)
Various slides:
1. Most of tropical biodiversity lives outside of reserves
80% of Mesoamerican forest has been converted to agriculture, with scattered remnants of forest and other forms of tree cover.
2. The most vulnerable forest-requiring species may require intact reserves for survival, but many forest species can persist in modified habitats.
Nearly half of the birds native to Las Cruces area of Costa Rica occur in deforested countryside (Hughes et al 2002).
Where is biodiversity found in human-modified landscapes:
- Remnant forest patches
- Riparian strips
- Secondary forest patches
- Remnant trees
- Agroforests
- Plantations
- Living fences
What species are present in human-modified landscapes?
- Disturbance specialists
- Forest specialists
- Generalists
3. Forest biodiversity with human-modified landscapes generally declines along a broad gradient of structural complexity |