title: Anthropogenic disturbance in tropical forests can double biodiversity loss from deforestation.
abstract: Concerted political attention has focused on reducing deforestation, and this remains the cornerstone of most biodiversity conservation strategies. However, maintaining forest cover may not reduce anthropogenic forest disturbances, which are rarely considered in conservation programmes. These disturbances occur both within forests, including selective logging and wildfires, and at the landscape level, through edge, area and isolation effects. Until now, the combined effect of anthropogenic disturbance on the conservation value of remnant primary forests has remained unknown, making it impossible to assess the relative importance of forest disturbance and forest loss. Here we address these knowledge gaps using a large data set of plants, birds and dung beetles (1,538, 460 and 156 species, respectively) sampled in 36 catchments in the Brazilian state of Pará. Catchments retaining more than 69–80% forest cover lost more conservation value from disturbance than from forest loss. For example, a 20% loss of primary forest, the maximum level of deforestation allowed on Amazonian properties under Brazil’s Forest Code, resulted in a 39–54% loss of conservation value: 96–171% more than expected without considering disturbance effects. We extrapolated the disturbance-mediated loss of conservation value throughout Pará, which covers 25% of the Brazilian Amazon. Although disturbed forests retained considerable conservation value compared with deforested areas, the toll of disturbance outside Pará’s strictly protected areas is equivalent to the loss of 92,000–139,000 km2 of primary forest. Even this lowest estimate is greater than the area deforested across the entire Brazilian Amazon between 2006 and 2015 (ref. 10). Species distribution models showed that both landscape and within-forest disturbances contributed to biodiversity loss, with the greatest negative effects on species of high conservation and functional value. These results demonstrate an urgent need for policy interventions that go beyond the maintenance of forest cover to safeguard the hyper-diversity of tropical forest ecosystems.
authors.forename: Jos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barlow
authors.forename: Gareth D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Lennox
authors.forename: Joice
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Berenguer
authors.forename: Alexander C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Lees
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mac Nally
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Thomson
authors.forename: Silvio Frosini de Barros
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Ferraz
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Louzada
authors.forename: Victor Hugo Fonseca
authors.initials: VH
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Parry
authors.forename: Ricardo Ribeiro de Castro
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Solar
authors.forename: Ima C G
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Luiz E O C
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Aragão
authors.forename: Rodrigo Anzolin
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Begotti
authors.forename: Rodrigo F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Braga
authors.forename: Thiago Moreira
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: Raimundo Cosme
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: de Oliveira
authors.forename: Carlos M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Nárgila G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Moura
authors.forename: Sâmia Serra
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.forename: João Victor
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Siqueira
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pardini
authors.forename: Juliana M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Silveira
authors.forename: Fernando Z
authors.initials: FZ
authors.lastname: Vaz-de-Mello
authors.forename: Ruan Carlo Stulpen
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Veiga
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Venturieri
authors.forename: Toby A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Gardner
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D001717:Birds / Q000502:physiology; D001938:Brazil; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000502:physiology; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005390:Fires / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016468:Forestry / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D065928:Forests; D006802:Human Activities; D010944:Plants; D014329:Tropical Climate