Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201

The Theory of Island Biogeography

Delimitation of ecological corridors between conservation units in the Brazilian Cerrado using a GIS and AHP approach

Ecologically relevant restoration of secondary Atlantic forest on abandoned land offers a potential means to recover biodiversity and improve crucial ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration. Early secondary successional trajectories are determined by a range of environmental factors that influence plant community development. Context-specific understanding of forest vegetation communities, their dynamics, and underlying drivers is needed for future restoration strategies. In this study we examined relationships between soil (chemical and physical) and environmental (landscape and topographical) characteristics, plant community attributes, and carbon stocks during early secondary succession. Data were collected at two sites undergoing early secondary succession in seasonally-dry Atlantic Forest (Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil). Both sites were previously used for pasture and abandoned at similar times, but showed differing vegetation communities. We found tree biomass and diversity and ecosystem carbon storage to be strongly positively related to the amount of surrounding forest, less steep slopes and clay soils, and negatively to the abundance of the shrub Leandra aurea. Soil carbon pools significantly increased with aboveground tree biomass. The only factor significantly affecting the metric of overall successional development (combining tree biomass and diversity) was total surrounding forest cover. Our findings suggest recovery of secondary forest and below- and aboveground carbon storage is limited by the amount of adjacent forest, some soil properties and dense shrub establishment down-regulating the succession process. Overall we offer evidence of potential to improve recovery of Atlantic forest with ecologically relevant seeding/planting programmes and selective shrub removal that could benefit ecosystem carbon storage.

/pdf/factors-influencing-early-secondary-succession-and-ecosystem-dbkmb1ypae.pdf

Factors influencing early secondary succession and ecosystem carbon stocks in Brazilian Atlantic Forest

The number of reforestation projects worldwide is increasing. In many cases funding is obtained through the claimed carbon capture of the trees, presented as immediate and durable, whereas reforested plots need time and maintenance to realise their carbon capture potential. Further, claims usually overlook the environmental costs of natural or anthropogenic disturbances during the forest's lifetime, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with the reforestation are not allowed for. This study uses life cycle assessment to quantify the carbon footprint of setting up a reforestation plot in the Peruvian Amazon. In parallel, we combine a soil carbon model with an above- and below-ground plant carbon model to predict the increase in carbon stocks after planting. We compare our results with the carbon capture claims made by a reforestation platform. Our results show major errors in carbon accounting in reforestation projects if they (1) ignore the time needed for trees to reach their carbon capture potential; (2) ignore the GHG emissions involved in setting up a plot; (3) report the carbon capture potential per tree planted, thereby ignoring limitations at the forest ecosystem level; or (4) under-estimate tree losses due to inevitable human and climatic disturbances. Further, we show that applications of biochar during reforestation can partially compensate for project emissions.

/pdf/assessing-the-carbon-capture-potential-of-a-reforestation-1uvxeqggsx.pdf

Assessing the carbon capture potential of a reforestation project.

https://repositorio.inpa.gov.br/bitstream/1/38168/1/Logging.pdf

Logging Amazon forest increased the severity and spread of fires during the 2015–2016 El Niño

Long-term studies of community and population dynamics indicate that abrupt disturbances often catalyse changes in vegetation and carbon stocks. These disturbances include the opening of clearings, rainfall seasonality, and drought, as well as fire and direct human disturbance. Such events may be super-imposed on longer-term trends in disturbance, such as those associated with climate change (heating, drying), as well as resources. Intact neotropical forests have recently experienced increased drought frequency and fire occurrence, on top of pervasive increases in atmospheric CO2 concentrations, but we lack long-term records of responses to such changes especially in the critical transitional areas at the interface of forest and savanna biomes. Here, we present results from 20 years monitoring a valley forest (moist tropical forest outlier) in central Brazil. The forest has experienced multiple drought events and includes plots which have and which have not experienced fire. We focus on how forest structure (stem density and aboveground biomass carbon) and dynamics (stem and biomass mortality and recruitment) have responded to these disturbance regimes. Overall, the biomass carbon stock increased due to the growth of the trees already present in the forest, without any increase in the overall number of tree stems. Over time, both recruitment and especially mortality of trees tended to increase, and periods of prolonged drought in particular resulted in increased mortality rates of larger trees. This increased mortality was in turn responsible for a decline in aboveground carbon toward the end of the monitoring period. Prolonged droughts influence the mortality of large trees, leading to a decline in aboveground carbon stocks. Here, and in other neotropical forests, recent droughts are capable of shutting down and reversing biomass carbon sinks. These new results add to evidence that anthropogenic climate changes are already adversely impacting tropical forests.

/pdf/the-impact-of-long-dry-periods-on-the-aboveground-biomass-in-2x1csx15md.pdf

The impact of long dry periods on the aboveground biomass in a tropical forest: 20 years of monitoring

/pdf/especies-potenciais-para-recuperacao-de-areas-de-floresta-25gyczxpov.pdf

Espécies potenciais para recuperação de áreas de floresta estacional semidecidual com exploração de minério de ferro na serra do espinhaço

We aimed to evaluate the spatial distribution of Eremanthus incamus in two areas with different degrees of conservation. The study was conducted in the Biribiri State Park, Diamantina municipality, Minas Gerais state, southeastern Brazil. We selected two areas where the species is dominant, the two of them showing different degrees of conservation. In each area, we established one plot of 20 x 20 m, where all E. incanus individuals having height > 0.1 m were sampled. The spatial pattern analysis was performed using the K function proposed by Ripley. In the two study areas, we found a total 269 individuals of E. incanus: 210 in the control area and 59 in the degraded one. In the degraded area, spatial distribution of individuals was aggregated up to 10 m, random between 10 and 13 m and uniform from 13 to 20 m. In the control area, the spatial pattern was aggregated up to 17 m and random from above that value. The spatial pattern of E. incanus in all height classes of the studied populations is different in degraded environments as compared to well-preserved sites.

/pdf/distribuicao-espacial-de-eremanthus-incanus-less-less-2fl6evle14.pdf

Distribuição espacial de Eremanthus incanus (Less.) Less. (Asteraceae) em duas áreas com diferentes níveis de conservação

This study aimed to evaluate the natural post-fire regeneration in dry grassland. We selected three sites: I and II, with occurrence of fire and III with no occurrence. Each site received one transect with 20 plots of 5 × 5m (25m 2). Diameter at ground level (DNS), total height and regrowth of all individuals with height ≥ 0.10 m and DNS ≤ 5.0 cm were measured. Sites I and II, respectively, had 436 and 387 sampled individuals, and 29 and 24 species. Site III had 741 individuals and 29 species sampled. There was a significant difference in the number of tiller, individuals and basal area. In sites I and II, 72% and 88%, respectively, showed signs of regrowth. The fire changed the structure of vegetation, and regrowth was the main strategy used by species in sites with fire occurrence.

https://www.scielo.br/pdf/floram/2016nahead/2179-8087-floram-2179-8087110814.pdf

Impacto do Fogo em Campo Sujo no Parque Estadual do Biribiri, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Objetivou-se verificar como os afloramentos rochosos influenciam os padroes ecologicos das especies lenhosas no cerrado stricto sensu e se existem especies indicadoras de ambientes. Foram amostradas dez parcelas e registrados todos os individuos lenhosos vivos com DAS ≥ 5 cm e tambem as porcentagens de coberturas de afloramentos rochosos. Para avaliar as relacoes floristicas, foi empregada uma Analise de Correspondencia Retificada (DCA), e utilizou-se a Analise de Especies Indicadoras (ISA), na determinacao das preferencias das especies pelos ambientes. Foram calculados os parâmetros fitossociologicos e realizado um teste t de Student para amostras independentes com algumas variaveis estruturais. A DCA confirmou a existencia de dois ambientes e mostrou que a presenca dos afloramentos rochosos modifica a composicao floristica entre eles. A ISA mostrou que existem especies indicadoras de ambientes. A presenca dos afloramentos rochosos alterou o conjunto de especies de maior Valor de Importância (VI) em cada ambiente, porem nao houve diferenca significativa entre os parâmetros estruturais avaliados em cada ambiente.

/pdf/influencia-dos-afloramentos-rochosos-sobre-a-comunidade-g0wp2o6kw5.pdf

Milton Serpa de Meira Junior

Papers

The impact of long dry periods on the aboveground biomass in a tropical forest: 20 years of monitoring

Espécies potenciais para recuperação de áreas de floresta estacional semidecidual com exploração de minério de ferro na serra do espinhaço

Distribuição espacial de Eremanthus incanus (Less.) Less. (Asteraceae) em duas áreas com diferentes níveis de conservação

Impacto do Fogo em Campo Sujo no Parque Estadual do Biribiri, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Influência dos afloramentos rochosos sobre a comunidade lenhosa no cerrado stricto sensu