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- Info
Receding forest edges and vanishing reserves
| Author: |
Gascon, Claude; Williamson, G. Bruce; da Fonseca, Gustavo A. B. |
| Date: |
2000 |
| Periodical: |
Science |
| Link: |
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/288/5470/1356?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&searchid=1060110363771_6349&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&volume=288&firstpage=1356&fdate=10/1/1995&tdate=8/31/2003
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| Abstract: |
Logging and road building carve up otherwise intact expanses of forest into small and isolated islands (forest fragmentation), creating a perimeter of abrupt forest edge where ecological changes take place (1). Edge effects in fragments of tropical forest are widespread and complex (1, 2). They have been treated as static phenomena, that is, as a fixed function of edge distance. This has resulted in simplistic landscape management guidelines such as the creation of buffer zones around parks and reserves (3). However, recent research (4) suggests that many tropical landscapes are increasingly experiencing conditions hostile to forest regeneration, including intrusion by fire into areas with a historically low incidence of burning. Furthermore, natural phenomena such as El Ni�o events act synergistically to magnify the deleterious effects of human disturbance (5). This combination of factors is posing a much more serious threat to forest remnants than previously imagined because forest edges are gradually receding, diminishing the size of fragments and ultimately causing them to collapse inwards. The implications for tropical landscape planning and conservation are far-reaching. |
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