Publications
Microclimatic conditions at forest edges have significant impacts on vegetation structure in large Atlantic forest fragments
Magnago LFS, Rocha MF, Meyer L, et al (2015) Microclimatic conditions at forest edges have significant impacts on vegetation structure in large Atlantic forest fragments. Biodivers Conserv 1–14. doi: 10.1007/s10531-015-0961-1
Authors
Joao Augusto Alves Meira Neto, Sebastião Venâncio Martins, Luiz Fernando da Silva Magnago, Mariana Ferreira Rocha
Forest fragmentation creates forest edges, and the effect of those edges
increases as the size of forest fragments decreases. Edge effects include changes to
microclimatic conditions at the forest edge, which affect vegetation structure. No previous
studies have directly tested the relationship between microclimate and vegetation structure
(for instance, basal area, trees mean height, dead trees and damage trees) at the edge of
forest fragments in the Atlantic Forest domain. We tested the following three hypotheses:
(i) the microclimatic conditions differ between the edge and the interior of the forest, (ii)
the forest structure differs between the edge and the interior of the forest and (iii) changes
to microclimatic conditions at the forest edge negatively affect vegetation structure at the
edges. Our results demonstrate that edge habitats are significantly more susceptible to
strong winds, lower humidity and higher air temperatures than forest interiors. The microclimate may be considered the principal factor that explains the difference between
the vegetation structure of the forest edge and the forest interior. Our results suggest that
even large forest fragments in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest may be impacted by negative
edge effects.