Below the canopy: global trends in forest vertebrate populations and their drivers.

ABSTRACT: Global forest assessments use forest area as an indicator of biodiversity status, which may mask below-canopy pressures driving forest biodiversity loss and 'empty forest' syndrome. The status of forest biodiversity is important not only for species conservation but also because species loss can have consequences for forest health and carbon storage. We aimed to develop a global indicator of forest specialist vertebrate populations to improve assessments of forest biodiversity status. Using the Living Planet Index methodology, we developed a weighted composite Forest Specialist Index for the period 1970-2014. We then investigated potential correlates of forest vertebrate population change. We analysed the relationship between the average rate of change of forest vertebrate populations and

SUBMITTER: Green EJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7341944 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature