Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1893/28527
Full metadata record
DC FieldValueLanguage
dc.contributor.authorJones, Isabelen_UK
dc.contributor.authorPeres, Carlosen_UK
dc.contributor.authorBenchimol, Mairaen_UK
dc.contributor.authorBunnefeld, Lynseyen_UK
dc.contributor.authorDent, Daisyen_UK
dc.date.accessioned2019-01-16T17:07:06Z-
dc.date.available2019-01-16T17:07:06Z-
dc.date.issued2019-03-01en_UK
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1893/28527-
dc.description.abstractMega‐dams create highly fragmented archipelagos, affecting biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in remnant forest isolates. This study assessed the long‐term impact of dam‐induced fragmentation on insular tropical tree communities, with the aim of generating robust recommendations to mitigate some of the detrimental biodiversity impacts associated with future dam development. We inventoried adult and sapling trees across 89 permanent plots, located on 36 islands and in three mainland continuous forest sites in the Balbina Dam, Brazilian Amazon. We examined differences in recruitment, structure, and composition of sapling and adult tree communities, in relation to plot‐, patch‐ and landscape‐scale attributes including area, isolation, and fire severity. Islands harboured significantly lower sapling (mean ± 95% CI 48.6 ± 3.8) and adult (5 ± 0.2) tree densities per 0.01 ha, than nearby mainland continuous forest (saplings, 65.7 ± 7.5; adults, 5.6 ± 0.3). Insular sapling and adult tree communities were more dissimilar than in mainland sites, and species compositions showed a directional shift away from mainland forests, induced by fire severity, island area, and isolation. Insular sapling recruitment declined with increasing fire severity; tree communities with higher community‐weighted mean wood density showed the greatest recruitment declines. Our results suggest that insular tree communities are unstable, with rare species becoming extinction‐prone due to reduced tree recruitment and density on islands, potentially leading to future losses in biodiversity and ecosystem functioning across Balbina's >3,500 reservoir islands. Policy implications. In Balbina, fire and reduced habitat area and connectivity were drivers of tree community decay after only 28 years of insularization, despite strict protection provided by the ~940,000 ha Uatumã Biological Reserve. Given that many dams are planned for lowland, moderately undulating Amazonia, we recommend that dam development strategy explicitly considers (a) dam location, aiming to minimize creation of small (< 10 ha) and isolated islands, (b) maintaining reservoir water levels during droughts to reduce fire risk, and (c) including aggregate island area in environmental impact and offset calculations. Ideally, we recommend that alternatives to hydropower be sought in lowland tropical regions, due to the far‐reaching biodiversity losses and ecosystem disruption caused by river impoundment.en_UK
dc.language.isoenen_UK
dc.publisherWileyen_UK
dc.relationJones I, Peres C, Benchimol M, Bunnefeld L & Dent D (2019) Instability of insular tree communities in an Amazonian mega-dam is driven by impaired recruitment and altered species composition. Journal of Applied Ecology, 56 (3), pp. 779-791. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13313en_UK
dc.relation.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11667/124en_UK
dc.rights© 2019 The Authors. Journal of Applied Ecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.en_UK
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en_UK
dc.subjectenvironmental impact assessmenten_UK
dc.subjectfireen_UK
dc.subjectfloristic changeen_UK
dc.subjectfragmentationen_UK
dc.subjecthabitat connectivityen_UK
dc.subjecthydropoweren_UK
dc.subjectmega‐damen_UK
dc.subjecttropical foresten_UK
dc.titleInstability of insular tree communities in an Amazonian mega-dam is driven by impaired recruitment and altered species compositionen_UK
dc.typeJournal Articleen_UK
dc.identifier.doi10.1111/1365-2664.13313en_UK
dc.citation.jtitleJournal of Applied Ecologyen_UK
dc.citation.issn1365-2664en_UK
dc.citation.issn0021-8901en_UK
dc.citation.volume56en_UK
dc.citation.issue3en_UK
dc.citation.spage779en_UK
dc.citation.epage791en_UK
dc.citation.publicationstatusPublisheden_UK
dc.citation.peerreviewedRefereeden_UK
dc.type.statusVoR - Version of Recorden_UK
dc.contributor.funderThe Carnegie Trusten_UK
dc.contributor.funderNatural Environment Research Councilen_UK
dc.citation.date07/01/2019en_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationBiological and Environmental Sciencesen_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationBiological and Environmental Sciencesen_UK
dc.contributor.affiliationBiological and Environmental Sciencesen_UK
dc.identifier.isiWOS:000459941400027en_UK
dc.identifier.scopusid2-s2.0-85059609684en_UK
dc.identifier.wtid1083674en_UK
dc.contributor.orcid0000-0002-8361-1370en_UK
dc.contributor.orcid0000-0002-9226-7153en_UK
dc.contributor.orcid0000-0002-1219-7344en_UK
dc.date.accepted2018-10-25en_UK
dcterms.dateAccepted2018-10-25en_UK
dc.date.filedepositdate2019-01-08en_UK
rioxxterms.apcpaiden_UK
rioxxterms.typeJournal Article/Reviewen_UK
rioxxterms.versionVoRen_UK
local.rioxx.authorJones, Isabel|0000-0002-8361-1370en_UK
local.rioxx.authorPeres, Carlos|en_UK
local.rioxx.authorBenchimol, Maira|en_UK
local.rioxx.authorBunnefeld, Lynsey|0000-0002-9226-7153en_UK
local.rioxx.authorDent, Daisy|0000-0002-1219-7344en_UK
local.rioxx.projectProject ID unknown|Natural Environment Research Council|http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000270en_UK
local.rioxx.projectProject ID unknown|The Carnegie Trust|en_UK
local.rioxx.freetoreaddate2019-01-08en_UK
local.rioxx.licencehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/|2019-01-08|en_UK
local.rioxx.filenameJones_et_al-2019-Journal_of_Applied_Ecology.pdfen_UK
local.rioxx.filecount1en_UK
local.rioxx.source0021-8901en_UK
Appears in Collections:Biological and Environmental Sciences Journal Articles

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Jones_et_al-2019-Journal_of_Applied_Ecology.pdfFulltext - Published Version1.53 MBAdobe PDFView/Open


This item is protected by original copyright



A file in this item is licensed under a Creative Commons License Creative Commons

Items in the Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

The metadata of the records in the Repository are available under the CC0 public domain dedication: No Rights Reserved https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

If you believe that any material held in STORRE infringes copyright, please contact library@stir.ac.uk providing details and we will remove the Work from public display in STORRE and investigate your claim.