EFFECTS OF FOREST FRAGMENTATION AND FUNCTIONAL LOSS ON BIRDS IN THE
BRAZILIAN ATLANTIC FOREST
Abstract
Abstract: Aim: Severe anthropic actions in the landscape are, currently,
the main cause of threat to species conservation. The Brazilian Atlantic
Forest is priority focus for conservation, due to the high degree of
endemism and the pressures suffered since colonization. Despite the
effort employed in studies on the impact of forest fragmentation on the
fauna, understanding its effects on functional diversity is still
limited. Considering that forest fragmentation it affects each organism
in a different way, the relationships between species and with the
environment are affected also, including human communities. So, this
work aimed to identify emerging fragilities of the transformations on
the biological systems through the modifications of the landscapes, on
the avifauna of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Location: Brazilian
Atlantic Forest. Methods: The purpose of the research was achieved
through the analysis of the species data available on the database GBIF,
with the calculation of functional diversity (FD) for the Brazilian
Atlantic Forest and models of species extinction included in global red
list (IUCN). Results: The high values of functional diversity are
concentrated in the Brazilian Southeast region, coinciding with the
location of the largest and most connected Conservation Units and of
lesser intensity of the forest fragmentation process. However, the
functional loss caused by the extinction of vulnerable species is
distributed in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Evidencing that the
functional diversity of birds presents great spatial clustering, while
functional vulnerability is widespread throughout the biome. Main
conclusions: The results demonstrate that forest fragmentation acts as
an ecological filter, directly affecting habitat specialist species and
reducing the functional diversity in forest communities. Key words:
forest birds, functional traits, conservations, landscape analysis,
biological system, forest communities, Conservation Areas, modified
landscape, anthropization, habitat patches.