Assessing Connectivity Thresholds Under Habitat Loss Scenarios for Threatened Amphibians and Squamate Reptiles in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon
ABSTRACT The extinction threshold hypothesis proposes a minimum of 30% habitat in a landscape to prevent isolation from affecting populations to local extinction. In this study, we tested scenarios of habitat loss in the landscape to evaluate whether the 30% habitat threshold is a good predictor of...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2025-07-01
|
| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71741 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1839610781960765440 |
|---|---|
| author | Cássia Teixeira Gisele Lopes Nunes Leonardo Carreira Trevelin Daniel Paiva Silva Ana Lúcia da Costa Prudente |
| author_facet | Cássia Teixeira Gisele Lopes Nunes Leonardo Carreira Trevelin Daniel Paiva Silva Ana Lúcia da Costa Prudente |
| author_sort | Cássia Teixeira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT The extinction threshold hypothesis proposes a minimum of 30% habitat in a landscape to prevent isolation from affecting populations to local extinction. In this study, we tested scenarios of habitat loss in the landscape to evaluate whether the 30% habitat threshold is a good predictor of functional connectivity for 14 terrestrial herpetofauna species in eastern Brazilian Amazon landscapes. We evaluated functional connectivity across various habitat loss scenarios, utilizing species distribution models and landscape connectivity indices. We were able to demonstrate that below 32% habitat, overall regional connectivity in Southeastern Amazonia erodes, disturbing the ability of species to track environments within their climatic limits. However, species inhabiting montane savannahs in the region did not respond well to this 30% threshold and required the presence of sufficient areas to assess a possible decline. We also discovered that, when evaluated together, small patches in the landscape contributed to the integral connectivity of the study area and may demonstrate their importance as links between larger patches. Our results provide critical insights into the conservation needs of forest and montane savannah species, highlighting that while forest species adhere closely to a habitat threshold, montane savannah species require a different approach for conservation. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-bb7bc62952b6494c90c2b937c2bc85c1 |
| institution | Matheson Library |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-bb7bc62952b6494c90c2b937c2bc85c12025-07-29T05:23:10ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-07-01157n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71741Assessing Connectivity Thresholds Under Habitat Loss Scenarios for Threatened Amphibians and Squamate Reptiles in the Eastern Brazilian AmazonCássia Teixeira0Gisele Lopes Nunes1Leonardo Carreira Trevelin2Daniel Paiva Silva3Ana Lúcia da Costa Prudente4Programa de Pós‐Graduação em Biodiversidade e Evolução Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi Belém BrazilInstituto Tecnológico Vale—Desenvolvimento Sustentável Belém BrazilPrograma de Pós‐Graduação em Biodiversidade e Evolução Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi Belém BrazilCOBIMA Lab, Departamento de Biologia Instituto Federal Goiano—Campos Urutaí Goiás BrazilPrograma de Pós‐Graduação em Biodiversidade e Evolução Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi Belém BrazilABSTRACT The extinction threshold hypothesis proposes a minimum of 30% habitat in a landscape to prevent isolation from affecting populations to local extinction. In this study, we tested scenarios of habitat loss in the landscape to evaluate whether the 30% habitat threshold is a good predictor of functional connectivity for 14 terrestrial herpetofauna species in eastern Brazilian Amazon landscapes. We evaluated functional connectivity across various habitat loss scenarios, utilizing species distribution models and landscape connectivity indices. We were able to demonstrate that below 32% habitat, overall regional connectivity in Southeastern Amazonia erodes, disturbing the ability of species to track environments within their climatic limits. However, species inhabiting montane savannahs in the region did not respond well to this 30% threshold and required the presence of sufficient areas to assess a possible decline. We also discovered that, when evaluated together, small patches in the landscape contributed to the integral connectivity of the study area and may demonstrate their importance as links between larger patches. Our results provide critical insights into the conservation needs of forest and montane savannah species, highlighting that while forest species adhere closely to a habitat threshold, montane savannah species require a different approach for conservation.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71741ecological corridorsextinction thresholdlandscape changespecies distribution models |
| spellingShingle | Cássia Teixeira Gisele Lopes Nunes Leonardo Carreira Trevelin Daniel Paiva Silva Ana Lúcia da Costa Prudente Assessing Connectivity Thresholds Under Habitat Loss Scenarios for Threatened Amphibians and Squamate Reptiles in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon Ecology and Evolution ecological corridors extinction threshold landscape change species distribution models |
| title | Assessing Connectivity Thresholds Under Habitat Loss Scenarios for Threatened Amphibians and Squamate Reptiles in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon |
| title_full | Assessing Connectivity Thresholds Under Habitat Loss Scenarios for Threatened Amphibians and Squamate Reptiles in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon |
| title_fullStr | Assessing Connectivity Thresholds Under Habitat Loss Scenarios for Threatened Amphibians and Squamate Reptiles in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing Connectivity Thresholds Under Habitat Loss Scenarios for Threatened Amphibians and Squamate Reptiles in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon |
| title_short | Assessing Connectivity Thresholds Under Habitat Loss Scenarios for Threatened Amphibians and Squamate Reptiles in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon |
| title_sort | assessing connectivity thresholds under habitat loss scenarios for threatened amphibians and squamate reptiles in the eastern brazilian amazon |
| topic | ecological corridors extinction threshold landscape change species distribution models |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71741 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT cassiateixeira assessingconnectivitythresholdsunderhabitatlossscenariosforthreatenedamphibiansandsquamatereptilesintheeasternbrazilianamazon AT giselelopesnunes assessingconnectivitythresholdsunderhabitatlossscenariosforthreatenedamphibiansandsquamatereptilesintheeasternbrazilianamazon AT leonardocarreiratrevelin assessingconnectivitythresholdsunderhabitatlossscenariosforthreatenedamphibiansandsquamatereptilesintheeasternbrazilianamazon AT danielpaivasilva assessingconnectivitythresholdsunderhabitatlossscenariosforthreatenedamphibiansandsquamatereptilesintheeasternbrazilianamazon AT analuciadacostaprudente assessingconnectivitythresholdsunderhabitatlossscenariosforthreatenedamphibiansandsquamatereptilesintheeasternbrazilianamazon |