Ecosystem Decay of Amazonian Forest Fragments: a 22‐Year Investigation

Abstract: We synthesized key findings from the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, the world's largest and longest‐running experimental study of habitat fragmentation. Although initially designed to assess the influence of fragment area on Amazonian biotas, the project has yielded insights that go far beyond the original scope of the study. Results suggest that edge effects play a key role in fragment dynamics, that the matrix has a major influence on fragment connectivity and functioning, and that many Amazonian species avoid even small (<100‐m–wide) clearings. The effects of fragmentation are highly eclectic, altering species richness and abundances, species invasions, forest dynamics, the…

• SI
  Smithsonian Institution
• NA
  National Aeronautics and Space Administration
• US
  United States Agency for International Development
• JD
  John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
• AW
  Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
• WW
  World Wildlife Fund
• IN
  Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia
• ST
  Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute