Ecological filtering shapes the impacts of agricultural deforestation on biodiversity

Background:

Deforestation for agriculture poses a significant threat to biodiversity. However, the severity of these impacts varies in agricultural landscapes. This study emphasizes the need to understand the factors underlying this variation to predict future biodiversity impacts of agricultural land use. While previous studies focused on landscape features and management regimes, this article introduces the concept of filtering, suggesting that natural and anthropogenic filtering may shape biodiversity responses at large geographical scales

Goals and METHODS:

In this study, the researchers use a combination of meta-analytic, phylogenetic, and multivariate methods to investigate the hypothesis that global variations in the biodiversity impacts of agricultural deforestation can be explained by filtering processes linked to environmental variability and historical deforestation. The study focuses on birds as a representative taxon due to their rich and extensive data availability. The researchers compile a global database of species-specific abundance records, considering matched agricultural and reference native forest sites.

Conclusions and Takeaways:

The variation in deforestation impacts across species assemblages is shaped by "filtering processes" related to the extent of natural environmental variability and the severity of historical anthropogenic deforestation. Assemblages experiencing greater environmental variability along with longer deforestation histories, exhibit attenuated negative impacts of current deforestation. This attenuation is attributed to filtering mechanisms that select for functional traits linked to stronger deforestation tolerance. The findings contribute crucial insights into understanding and managing the biodiversity consequences of agricultural deforestation, filling a significant gap in existing knowledge on this subject.