Live Fences and Landscape Connectivity in a Neotropical Agricultural Landscape

Background

This article describes the role and importance of live fences in the tropical regions of Central America. The study site covered an area of 4483ha and is located in a wet tropical forest zone in the Province of Heredia, Costa Rica. The landscape is dominated by cattle pasture and possesses a small, fragmented and homogenous structure with small patches of forests.

Research Goals & Methods

Five randomly selected blocks of 100ha were inventoried on length, composition, density and the presence of live fences. Within every defined live fence, 5 trees were chosen and DBH and crown radius taken. With this data, the contribution of live fences was measured and different simulations executed and compared. 

Conclusions & Takeaways

Although live fences occupy less than 2 percent of the land area, the play a disproportionately large role on landscape structure and composition. The connectivity and biodiversity of the landscape and remaining habitats can be increased by converting the existing wooden fences to live fences.