Anjos, Jean Nascimento dos; https://orcid.org/ 0000-0002-8062-6606; http://lattes.cnpq.br/4420063300093941
Resumo:
Habitat loss is the main cause of the continued loss of biodiversity worldwide.
Fundamentally, it is increasingly clear that losses in forest cover at landscape scales result
in substantial changes in a series of ecological processes and ecosystem functions that
ultimately determine the future trajectory of many of the most diverse and threatened
forests in the world. The objective of this study is to evaluate the response of the
taxonomic richness and functional diversity of woody plants to habitat loss at the
landscape scale in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. This study was carried out in eleven
landscapes of 6 x 6 km (36 km2) with different proportions of forest cover (between 5%
and 60%) in the Atlantic Forest of Bahia. Eight plots of 250 m2 were established randomly
chosen in each landscape, and branches of all woody individuals with a circumference
above the chest (CAP) equal to or greater than 8 cm were sampled. The classification of
species by functional characteristic was based on books, dissertations, theses, scientific
articles and virtual ecological database. The reduction of forest cover on the landscape
scale negatively influences taxonomic and functional richness, and these relationships
were non-linear. Functional uniformity was not influenced by the amount of forest in the
landscape. Functional divergence was positively influenced by the reduction of forest
cover in the landscape. The functional characteristics showed different responses to the
amount of forest in the landscape. The functional characteristics associated with climatic
plants were strongly and negatively influenced by the loss of forest cover. In contrast, the
functional characteristics associated with generalist plants stood out in less forested
landscapes. However, we emphasize that even the least forested landscapes still hold a
significant part of the woody flora of the Atlantic Forest and can be important sources of
carbon sequestration and should be considered in the management policies of the
biodiversity of the Atlantic Forest.