Tropical forest loss impoverishes arboreal mammal assemblages by increasing tree canopy openness.

ABSTRACT: Landscape-scale deforestation poses a major threat to global biodiversity, not only because it limits habitat availability, but also because it can drive the degradation of the remaining habitat. However, the multiple pathways by which deforestation directly and indirectly affects wildlife remain poorly understood, especially for elusive forest-dependent species such as arboreal mammals. Using structural equation models, we assessed the direct and indirect effects of landscape forest loss on arboreal mammal assemblages in the Lacandona rainforest, Mexico. We placed camera traps in 100 canopy trees, and assessed the direct effect of forest cover and their indirect effects via changes in tree basal area and canopy openness on the abundance and diversity (i.e., species richness and exponentia

SUBMITTER: Cudney-Valenzuela SJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10078566 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature