Tapia Armijos, M.F.; Homeier, J.; Espinosa, C.; Leuschner, C. & de la Cruz, M. (2015): <b>Deforestation and Forest Fragmentation in South Ecuador since the 1970s – Losing a Hotspot of Biodiversity</b>. <i>PLos ONE</i> <b>10</b>(9), e0133701.
Resource Description
Title:
Deforestation and Forest Fragmentation in South Ecuador since the 1970s – Losing a Hotspot of Biodiversity
FOR816dw ID:
1410
Publication Date:
2015-09-02
License and Usage Rights:
PAK 823-825 data user agreement. (www.tropicalmountainforest.org/dataagreementp3.do)
Resource Owner(s):
Individual:
María Fernanda Tapia Armijos
Contact:
email:
mftapia <at> utpl.edu.ec
Instituto de Ecología
Loja
Ecuador
Individual:
Jürgen Homeier
Contact:
email:
jhomeie <at> gwdg.de
Faculty of Resource Management
University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HAWK)
37077 Göttingen
Germany
Deforestation and fragmentation are major components of global change; both are contributing to the rapid loss of tropical forest area with important implications for ecosystem functioning and biodiversity conservation. The forests of South Ecuador are a biological 'hotspot' due to their high diversity and endemism levels. We examined the deforestation and fragmentation patterns in this area of high conservation value using aerial photographs and Aster satellite scenes. The registered annual deforestation rates of 0.75% (1976–1989) and 2.86% (1989–2008) for two consecutive survey periods, the decreasing mean patch size and the increasing isolation of the forest fragments show that the area is under severe threat. Approximately 46% of South Ecuador's original forest cover had been converted by 2008 into pastures and other anthropogenic land cover types. We found that deforestation is more intense at lower elevations (premontane evergreen forest and shrubland) and that the deforestation front currently moves in upslope direction. Improved awareness of the spatial extent, dynamics and patterns of deforestation and forest fragmentation is urgently needed in biologically diverse areas like South Ecuador.
Additional Infos:
Correction:<br/>
A heading is missing from the left-most column in Table 4. The first column should be labeled "Natural vegetation types". Please see the corrected Table 4 here: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0142359#pone-0142359-t001
Keywords:
| South Ecuador | deforestation | fragmentation |
Literature type specific fields:
ARTICLE
Journal:
PLos ONE
Volume:
10
Issue:
9
Page Range:
e0133701
Metadata Provider:
Individual:
Jürgen Homeier
Contact:
email:
jhomeie <at> gwdg.de
Faculty of Resource Management
University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HAWK)
37077 Göttingen
Germany
