What is it about?
The Brazilian Atlantic forest is considered a biodiversity hotspot and although highly fragmented, it still contains large forest patches that may be important for the conservation of mammals that require large areas. We estimated species richness, density and biomass of medium- and large-sized mammals along the largest remnant of the Atlantic rainforest, Brazil.
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Why is it important?
The ongoing defaunation scenario in the largest Atlantic forest remnant may be exacerbating due to the recent economical crisis in Brazil. For instance, about 30% of all forest guards (rangers) were dismissed from the protected parks in Sao Paulo State in the last 4 years. Therefore, the future of the mammalian diversity in the largest Atlantic forest remnant may soon mirror the impoverished rainforests world-wide.
Perspectives
Although this large forest remnant is able to maintain a high diversity of medium- and large-bodied mammal species, their low density and biomass may affect the long-term persistence of mammal populations and the ecosystem services they provide.
Dr Ricardo S Bovendorp
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz - UESC
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Defaunation and biomass collapse of mammals in the largest Atlantic forest remnant, Animal Conservation, October 2016, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/acv.12311.
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