An Amazonian forest and its fragments as a laboratory of global change

Laurance, WF, Camargo, JLC, Fearnside, PM, Lovejoy, TE, Williamson, GB, Mesquita, RCG, Meyer, Christoph FJ ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9958-8913, Bobrowiec, PED, Cohn-Haft, M and Laurance, SGW 2016, An Amazonian forest and its fragments as a laboratory of global change , in: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

We synthesize findings from the world’s largest and longest-running experimental study of habitat fragmentation, in central Amazonia. Over the past 36 years, 11 forest fragments ranging from 1 ha to 100 ha in size have experienced a wide array of ecological changes. Edge effects have been a dominant driver of fragment dynamics, strongly affecting forest microclimate, tree mortality, carbon storage and fauna. The matrix of vegetation surrounding fragments has changed markedly over time (evolving from large cattle pastures to mosaics of abandoned pasture and secondary regrowth forest), and this, in turn, has strongly influenced the dynamics of fragments and faunal communities. Both rare weather events and apparent global-change drivers have significantly influenced forest structure and dynamics across the entire study area, both in forest fragments and in nearby intact forest. Such large-scale drivers are likely to interact synergistically with habitat fragmentation.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Schools:	Schools > School of Environment and Life Sciences > Ecosystems and Environment Research Centre
Journal or Publication Title:	Interactions Between Biosphere, Atmosphere and Human Land Use in the Amazon Basin
Publisher:	Springer
Series Name:	Ecological Studies
ISBN:	9783662499023
ISSN:	0070-8356
Related URLs:	Publication
Funders:	National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA), Smithsonian Institution, US National Science Foundation, Brazilian Science Foundation (CNPq), Amazonian State Science Foundation (FAPEAM), NASA-LBA programme, USAID, Mellon Foundation, Blue Moon Fund, Marisla Foundation
Depositing User:	Dr Christoph Meyer
Date Deposited:	10 May 2016 10:24
Last Modified:	15 Feb 2022 20:45
URI:	https://usir.salford.ac.uk/id/eprint/38915

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