Efeito da matriz urbana e rural na diversidade de árvores na floresta atlântica brasileira

Abstract

Fragmentation, habitat loss, agricultural production and expansion of urban centers change the structure of landscape and are the main threats to biodiversity. With the trend for these changes to increase in coming years, understanding how these impacts affect biodiversity and ecosystem functioning may allow the development of appropriate means of managing the remaining biodiversity. In the present study, we evaluate the effects of land use changes on the taxonomic and functional diversity of trees in nine fragments in the globally threatened Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Rural landscapes in this study included fragments inserted into a predominantly agricultural matrix (e.g. coffee, sugar cane, forestry). The urban landscapes, in turn, were fragments sampled within an urban center, whose dominant matrix are buildings, houses and streets. Thus, the present study aimed to: (i) evaluate the effect of land use intensification on the richness and abundance of tree species; (ii) analyze the effect of anthropogenic landscapes on three dimensions of functional tree diversity; and (iii) evaluate the impact of different anthropogenic landscapes on functional tree traits, vulnerable to the process of habitat degradation. The results suggest that the fragments present in the rural landscape presented higher taxonomic and functional diversity. On the other hand, urban forests presented a lower taxonomic and functional diversity, as well as a generalized reduction of functional traits related to fauna resource availability and natural forest regeneration. In highly fragmented and expanding agricultural / urban landscapes such as rainforests, management strategies are necessary, since the loss of certain traits results in consequences on goods and services important to humans and the functioning of natural ecosystems.