Journal Information
Issue
Vol. 22. Issue 2.
Pages 101-204 (April - June 2024)
White paper
How to enhance Atlantic Forest protection? Dealing with the shortcomings of successional stages classification
Angélica F. Resende, Felipe Rosafa Gavioli, Rafael B. Chaves, Jean Paul Metzger, Luís Fernando Guedes Pinto, Pedro R. Piffer, Pedro M. Krainovic, Matheus S. Fuza, ... Pedro H.S. Brancalion
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:101-11
Highlights

  • Since 1990, the intense threat faced by the Atlantic Forest pushed the enactment of dedicated laws safeguarding its native vegetation.

  • Current successional stages’ parameters are subjective and imprecise, hindering environmental permitting and related offset policies.

  • We highlight the current classification’s main limitations, propose specific improvements, and suggest creating a new inclusive framework.

  • It is urgent to review, clarify, simplify, and increase the scientific reliability of the classification of successional stages.

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Policy forums
Brazil’s Belo Monte license renewal and the need to recognize the immense impacts of dams in Amazonia
Juarez C.B. Pezzuti, Jansen Zuanon, Priscila F.M. Lopes, Cristiane C. Carneiro, André Oliveira Sawakuchi, Thais R. Montovanelli, Alberto Akama, Camila C. Ribas, ... Philip M. Fearnside
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:112-7
Highlights

  • Brazil’s Amazonian hydroelectric dams are a concern regarding Lula’s presidency.

  • Lula initiated and still defends the Belo Monte Dam, which has catastrophic impacts.

  • The Volta Grande, a 130-km river stretch, has lost over 80% of its natural flow.

  • Traditional people, including three indigenous groups, have lost food security.

  • Renewal of Belo Monte’s operating license tests Lula’s socioenvironmental commitment.

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The underestimated global importance of plant belowground coarse organs in open biomes for ecosystem functioning and conservation
Gianluigi Ottaviani, Jitka Klimešová, Tristan Charles-Dominique, Mathieu Millan, Timothy Harris, Fernando A.O. Silveira
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:118-21
Highlights

  • Open biomes cover ∼60% of land worldwide, and are associated with many biodiversity hotspots.

  • There, plants typically allocate most biomass belowground, yet functional roles of belowground coarse organs are overlooked.

  • Perenniality and decomposability of belowground coarse organs can differ greatly from that of fine roots.

  • We call for the inclusion of belowground coarse organs and their functions, especially in carbon cycling research.

  • Such inclusive approach can refine mitigation policies and our view on the functioning and conservation of open biomes.

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Essays and perspectives
Making the most of existing data in conservation research
Allison D. Binley, Jaimie G. Vincent, Trina Rytwinski, Peter Soroye, Joseph R. Bennett
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:122-8
Highlights

  • Data collection can deplete conservation resources.

  • This can be circumvented by making better use of readily available data.

  • We provide a roadmap for how researchers can make better use of existing data.

  • Doing so will make conservation research more efficient and effective.

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Connectivity and policy confluences: a multi-scalar conservation approach for protecting Amazon riverine ecosystems
Stephannie Fernandes, Simone Athayde, Ian Harrison, Denielle Perry
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:129-36
Highlights

  • The Amazon basin is approaching a tipping point, and is therefore of paramount concern for biodiversity conservation.

  • While attention is paid to the protection of terrestrial ecosystems, freshwater efforts lag behind, despite rising threats.

  • Basin-wide conservation policy development, implementation, and enforcement requires commitments across all scales.

  • Stakeholder's participation in the system could be facilitated by supporting cross-border and cross-scalar capacity-building.

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Microevolutionary Perspectives for Conserving Plant Diversity in South Brazilian Grasslands (Campos Sulinos)
Ana Lúcia A. Segatto, Isadora V. Quintana, Marcelo Reginato, Mabel R. Baez-Lizarazo, Gerhard Ernst Overbeck, Caroline Turchetto
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:137-45
Highlights

  • Campos Sulinos are neglected in terms of conservation and biodiversity studies.

  • We recovered 58 works about population genetics and phylogeography in Campos Sulinos.

  • High genetic variability and population structure were found in plants from Campos Sulinos.

  • There is a gap in genetics and genomics data availability in Campos Sulinos to apply in biodiversity conservation.

  • Genetics and genomics data are critical to address goals for CBD post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework in Campos Sulinos.

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Research letters
Integrating connectivity in marine protected area design: A case study between the Philippines and Taiwan
Monique Mercado-Vicentillo, Pierre-Alexandre Château, Yang-Chi Chang, Nien-Tsu Alfred Hu
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:146-55
Highlights

  • We design a multi-objective Integer Linear Programming model for MPA selection.

  • The model maximizes ecological habitat and connectivity along the Kuroshio current.

  • We simulate larval drift from Batanes, Philippines to settlement areas in Taiwan.

  • We feed estimated travel time to the optimization model.

  • Our framework can inform a potential transboundary MPA network.

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Mapping the way: identifying priority potential corridors for protected areas connectivity in Colombia
Sara Pineda-Zapata, Sergio González-Ávila, Dolors Armenteras, Tania Marisol González-Delgado, Alejandra Morán-Ordoñez
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:156-66
Highlights

  • Large forest patches within PAs aid at maintaining the connectivity for small dispersal mammals.

  • High anthropization in the Andean region limits the connectivity for forest mammals.

  • Deforestation in the Andes Amazon Transition Belt (AATB) threatens identified priority corridors.

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Drivers of phytoplankton diversity in tropical artificial ponds
Fernanda Melo Carneiro, Ana M.C. Santos, Nagore Garcia Medina, Paulo De Marco Júnior, Joaquín Hortal
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:167-76
Highlights

  • Multiple facets of biodiversity should be considered to understand phytoplankton dynamics.

  • Anthropogenic effects operate through the regulation of phytoplankton abundance, which in turn mediates species richness, and through it, functional evenness.

  • Connectivity to water, resource availability, pond size and design are key factors in understanding phytoplankton dynamics in livestock farm ponds.

  • Pond design should be considered for the construction and management of livestock farm ponds in the tropics.

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Indigenous lands and conservation units slow down non-GHG climate change in the Cerrado-Amazon ecotone
Hellen Kezia Almada, Marcia Nunes Macedo, Eddie Lenza, Leandro Maracahipes, Divino Vicente Silvério
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:177-85
Highlights

  • CUs and ILs help regulate energy balance components, with lower LST and albedo and higher ET than multiple-use areas.

  • External pressures (deforestation, burned areas) have led to significant changes in LST and albedo over the past two decades, particularly in MUs.

  • The main predictors of changes in LST, ET, and albedo were the CUs and ILs, burned area, % native vegetation, NDVI, water deficit , and precipitation.

  • Results showed significant differences between biomes, with higher daytime LST and lower ET in the Cerrado compared with the Amazon.

  • The conversion rates of native vegetation were higher in MUs than in protected areas, , particularly in the Amazon region of Mato Grosso state.

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Longitudinal changes on ecological diversity of Neotropical fish along a 1700 km river gradient show declines induced by dams
Anahí López-Rodríguez, Mariana Meerhoff, Alejandro D’Anatro, Sunshine de Ávila-Simas, Ivana Silva, Joaquín Pais, Franco Teixeira de Mello, David Augusto Reynalte-Tataje, ... Iván González-Bergonzoni
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:186-95
Highlights

  • Dams promote ecological changes on rivers tackled by the Serial Discontinuity Concept.

  • Multidimensional diversity of fish was studied along a 1700 km river stretch.

  • Species richness and trophic and isotopic diversity increased towards the river mouth.

  • Dam cascades caused declines in fish species richness and ecological diversity and higher turnover.

  • Long dam-free stretches of rivers were key for the recovery of ecological diversity.

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Conserving biodiversity in coffee agroecosystems: Insights from a herpetofauna study in the Colombian Andes with sustainable management proposal
Juan Camilo Ríos-Orjuela, Nelson Falcón-Espitia, Alejandra Arias-Escobar, Dennys Plazas-Cardona
Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 2024;22:196-204
Highlights

  • Coffee crops have higher herpetofauna diversity than other anthropic cover types.

  • We identified 33 species, including frogs, toads, lizards, and snakes.

  • Fixed band transects for visual encounter were used to sample herpetofauna.

  • Microhabitats (leaf litter, humidity, rocks) influenced herpetofauna richness.

  • Six principles of sustainable management are proposed to coexist with herpetofauna.

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Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation