Effects of anthropogenic disturbances on biodiversity and biomass stock of Cerrado, the Brazilian savanna
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Effects of anthropogenic disturbances on biodiversity and biomass stock of Cerrado, the Brazilian savanna Alex Jose´lio Pires Coelho1 • Luiz Fernando Silva Magnago1,2 • Fa´bio Antoˆnio Ribeiro Matos1,3 • Nayara Mesquita Mota1 • E´cio Souza Diniz1 Joa˜o Augusto Alves Meira-Neto1
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Received: 23 August 2019 / Revised: 22 June 2020 / Accepted: 2 July 2020 Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Maintaining plant biodiversity and important ecosystem services depend on the species’ ability to survive and disperse after anthropogenic disturbance, loss of natural habitat, and fragmentation. The Cerrado, one of the main biodiversity conservation hotspots in the world, loses natural habitat at a very high rate and suffers from disturbances generated by land use and advancement of the agricultural frontier. Given the need to generate knowledge about land use in Cerrado biome, this study aimed to evaluate if the anthropogenic disturbance alters biodiversity indexes and the capacity to store biomass of these savanna. We installed a permanent plot (20 m 9 50 m) inside each study fragment and assessed the intensity of local disturbances such as cattle grazing, earthworm extraction, Caryocar fruit harvesting, and fire. To measure habitat loss and fragmentation, we used configuration and composition metrics in local and landscapes scales. Cattle grazing caused a loss of taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity, while fragment size and Cerrado cover in landscape increased phylogenetic diversity. The patch density, shape complexity and edge density in the landscapes also had a negative influence on phylogenetic diversity. Landscapes with more Eucalyptus sp. plantation area had lower phylogenetic diversity. In addition, the percentage of Cerrado in the landscape had a negative influence on biomass while the number of patches had a positive influence. Thus, we conclude that anthropogenic disturbances in the Cerrado generates loss of taxonomic, phylogenetic diversity and alters biomass stock patterns. Keywords Cerrado fragmentation Land use Ecosystem services Biodiversity loss Ecosystem functioning
Communicated by Danna J. Leaman. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-02002013-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. & Joa˜o Augusto Alves Meira-Neto [email protected] Extended author information available on the last page of the article
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Biodiversity and Conservation
Introduction Anthropogenic disturbances such as habitat loss and overexploitation of natural resources (Nazareno et al. 2012; Melo et al. 2013) are the main causes of biodiversity losses and ecosystem services reductions (Myers et al. 2000; Sala et al. 2000). In addition, to constraining biodiversity and ecosystem services, habitat loss is responsible for the fragmentation of natural areas (Fahrig 2003; Laurance et al. 2011; Schmidt and Ticktin 2012; Giroldo and Scariot 2015). Therefore, the maintenance of dive
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