Rainforest fragmentation kills big trees

In tropical forests, large canopy and emergent trees are crucial sources of fruits, flowers and shelter for animal populations. They are also reproductively dominant and strongly influence forest structure, composition, gap dynamics, hydrology and carbon storage. Here we show that forest fragmentati...

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Published inNature (London) Vol. 404; no. 6780; p. 836
Main Authors LAURANCE, W. F, DELAMONICA, P, LAURANCE, S. G, VASCONCELOS, H. L, LOVEJOY, T. E
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing 20.04.2000
Subjects
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Biological and medical sciences
Brazil
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Synecology
Terrestrial ecosystems
Trees
South America
Brazil
America
Carbon cycle
Correlation
Spatial distribution
Mortality
Evapotranspiration
Environmental factor
Tropical forest
Vegetation dynamics
Diameter
Fragmentation
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Summary:In tropical forests, large canopy and emergent trees are crucial sources of fruits, flowers and shelter for animal populations. They are also reproductively dominant and strongly influence forest structure, composition, gap dynamics, hydrology and carbon storage. Here we show that forest fragmentation in central Amazonia is having a disproportionately severe effect on large trees, the loss of which will have major impacts on the rainforest ecosystem.
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ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/35009032