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The impact of logging roads on dung beetle assemblages in a tropical rainforest reserve

The demand for timber products is facilitating the degradation and opening up of large areas of intact habitats rich in biodiversity. Logging creates an extensive network of access roads within the forest, yet these are commonly ignored or excluded when assessing impacts of logging on forest biodive...

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Autores principales: Edwards, Felicity A., Finan, Jessica, Graham, Lucy K., Larsen, Trond H., Wilcove, David S., Hsu, Wayne W., Chey, V.K., Hamer, Keith C.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Applied Science Publishers [etc.] 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5239768/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28133389
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.11.011
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author Edwards, Felicity A.
Finan, Jessica
Graham, Lucy K.
Larsen, Trond H.
Wilcove, David S.
Hsu, Wayne W.
Chey, V.K.
Hamer, Keith C.
author_facet Edwards, Felicity A.
Finan, Jessica
Graham, Lucy K.
Larsen, Trond H.
Wilcove, David S.
Hsu, Wayne W.
Chey, V.K.
Hamer, Keith C.
author_sort Edwards, Felicity A.
collection PubMed
description The demand for timber products is facilitating the degradation and opening up of large areas of intact habitats rich in biodiversity. Logging creates an extensive network of access roads within the forest, yet these are commonly ignored or excluded when assessing impacts of logging on forest biodiversity. Here we determine the impact of these roads on the overall condition of selectively logged forests in Borneo, Southeast Asia. Focusing on dung beetles along > 40 km logging roads we determine: (i) the magnitude and extent of edge effects alongside logging roads; (ii) whether vegetation characteristics can explain patterns in dung beetle communities, and; (iii) how the inclusion of road edge forest impacts dung beetle assemblages within the overall logged landscape. We found that while vegetation structure was significantly affected up to 34 m from the road edge, impacts on dung beetle communities penetrated much further and were discernible up to 170 m into the forest interior. We found larger species and particularly tunnelling species responded more than other functional groups which were also influenced by micro-habitat variation. We provide important new insights into the long-term ecological impacts of tropical logging. We also support calls for improved logging road design both during and after timber extraction to conserve more effectively biodiversity in production forests, for instance, by considering the minimum volume of timber, per unit length of logging road needed to justify road construction. In particular, we suggest that governments and certification bodies need to highlight more clearly the biodiversity and environmental impacts of logging roads.
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spelling pubmed-52397682017-01-25 The impact of logging roads on dung beetle assemblages in a tropical rainforest reserve Edwards, Felicity A. Finan, Jessica Graham, Lucy K. Larsen, Trond H. Wilcove, David S. Hsu, Wayne W. Chey, V.K. Hamer, Keith C. Biol Conserv Article The demand for timber products is facilitating the degradation and opening up of large areas of intact habitats rich in biodiversity. Logging creates an extensive network of access roads within the forest, yet these are commonly ignored or excluded when assessing impacts of logging on forest biodiversity. Here we determine the impact of these roads on the overall condition of selectively logged forests in Borneo, Southeast Asia. Focusing on dung beetles along > 40 km logging roads we determine: (i) the magnitude and extent of edge effects alongside logging roads; (ii) whether vegetation characteristics can explain patterns in dung beetle communities, and; (iii) how the inclusion of road edge forest impacts dung beetle assemblages within the overall logged landscape. We found that while vegetation structure was significantly affected up to 34 m from the road edge, impacts on dung beetle communities penetrated much further and were discernible up to 170 m into the forest interior. We found larger species and particularly tunnelling species responded more than other functional groups which were also influenced by micro-habitat variation. We provide important new insights into the long-term ecological impacts of tropical logging. We also support calls for improved logging road design both during and after timber extraction to conserve more effectively biodiversity in production forests, for instance, by considering the minimum volume of timber, per unit length of logging road needed to justify road construction. In particular, we suggest that governments and certification bodies need to highlight more clearly the biodiversity and environmental impacts of logging roads. Applied Science Publishers [etc.] 2017-01 /pmc/articles/PMC5239768/ /pubmed/28133389 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.11.011 Text en © 2016 The Authors http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Edwards, Felicity A.
Finan, Jessica
Graham, Lucy K.
Larsen, Trond H.
Wilcove, David S.
Hsu, Wayne W.
Chey, V.K.
Hamer, Keith C.
The impact of logging roads on dung beetle assemblages in a tropical rainforest reserve
title The impact of logging roads on dung beetle assemblages in a tropical rainforest reserve
title_full The impact of logging roads on dung beetle assemblages in a tropical rainforest reserve
title_fullStr The impact of logging roads on dung beetle assemblages in a tropical rainforest reserve
title_full_unstemmed The impact of logging roads on dung beetle assemblages in a tropical rainforest reserve
title_short The impact of logging roads on dung beetle assemblages in a tropical rainforest reserve
title_sort impact of logging roads on dung beetle assemblages in a tropical rainforest reserve
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5239768/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28133389
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biocon.2016.11.011
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