Biodiversity responses to forest cover loss: taxonomy and metrics matter

Abstract

The actions required for biodiversity conservation depend on species responses to habitat loss, which may be either neutral, linear, or non-linear. Here, we tested how taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity of aquatic insects, dragonflies, frogs, and terrestrial mammals, as well as their species composition respond to forest cover loss. We hypothesized that taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity would respond nonlinearly (thresholds) to forest cover loss. Our findings do not support the current idea that a single threshold value of forest cover loss is applicable across tropical regions, or that some biodiversity facets are consistently more sensitive than others across different taxa. Species compositional responses to forest cover loss showed general patterns with thresholds between 30-50%. These results highlight the importance to consider multiple biodiversity facets when assessing the effects of forest cover loss on biological communities.