Low Level of Anthropization Linked to Harsh Vertebrate Biodiversity Declines in Amazonia

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2022 Jun 7

PMID 35672313

Authors

Isabel Cantera

Opale Coutant

Celine Jezequel

Jean-Baptiste Decotte

Tony Dejean

Amaia Iribar

Regis Vigouroux

Alice Valentini

Jerome Murienne

Sebastien Brosse

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Assessing the impact of human activity on ecosystems often links local biodiversity to disturbances measured within the same locality. However, remote disturbances may also affect local biodiversity. Here, we used environmental DNA metabarcoding to evaluate the relationships between vertebrate biodiversity (fish and mammals) and disturbance intensity in two Amazonian rivers. Measurements of anthropic disturbance -here forest cover losses- were made from the immediate vicinity of the biodiversity sampling sites to up to 90 km upstream. The findings suggest that anthropization had a spatially extended impact on biodiversity. Forest cover losses of <11% in areas up to 30 km upstream from the biodiversity sampling sites were linked to reductions of >22% in taxonomic and functional richness of both terrestrial and aquatic fauna. This underscores the vulnerability of Amazonian biodiversity even to low anthropization levels. The similar responses of aquatic and terrestrial fauna to remote disturbances indicate the need for cross-ecosystem conservation plans that consider the spatially extended effects of anthropization.

Citing Articles

The socioeconomic and environmental niche of protected areas reveals global conservation gaps and opportunities.

Mouillot D, Velez L, Albouy C, Casajus N, Claudet J, Delbar V Nat Commun. 2024; 15(1):9007.

PMID: 39424792 PMC: 11489723. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-53241-1.

Deforestation strengthens environmental filtering and competitive exclusion in Neotropical streams and rivers.

Cantera I, Jezequel C, Dejean T, Murienne J, Vigouroux R, Valentini A Proc Biol Sci. 2023; 290(2006):20231130.

PMID: 37700645 PMC: 10498049. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.1130.

Species invasiveness and community invasibility of North American freshwater fish fauna revealed via trait-based analysis.

Su G, Mertel A, Brosse S, Calabrese J Nat Commun. 2023; 14(1):2332.

PMID: 37087448 PMC: 10122662. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-38107-2.

References

Harvey E, Gounand I, Fronhofer E, Altermatt F . Disturbance reverses classic biodiversity predictions in river-like landscapes. Proc Biol Sci. 2019; 285(1893):20182441. PMC: 6304061. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.2441. View

Su G, Logez M, Xu J, Tao S, Villeger S, Brosse S . Human impacts on global freshwater fish biodiversity. Science. 2021; 371(6531):835-838. DOI: 10.1126/science.abd3369. View

Dinerstein E, Vynne C, Sala E, Joshi A, Fernando S, Lovejoy T . A Global Deal For Nature: Guiding principles, milestones, and targets. Sci Adv. 2019; 5(4):eaaw2869. PMC: 6474764. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw2869. View

Hansen M, Potapov P, MOORE R, Hancher M, Turubanova S, Tyukavina A . High-resolution global maps of 21st-century forest cover change. Science. 2013; 342(6160):850-3. DOI: 10.1126/science.1244693. View

Estes J, Terborgh J, Brashares J, Power M, Berger J, Bond W . Trophic downgrading of planet Earth. Science. 2011; 333(6040):301-6. DOI: 10.1126/science.1205106. View

Gorczynski D, Hsieh C, Luciano J, Ahumada J, Espinosa S, Johnson S . Tropical mammal functional diversity increases with productivity but decreases with anthropogenic disturbance. Proc Biol Sci. 2021; 288(1945):20202098. PMC: 7934904. DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2098. View

Valentini A, Taberlet P, Miaud C, Civade R, Herder J, Thomsen P . Next-generation monitoring of aquatic biodiversity using environmental DNA metabarcoding. Mol Ecol. 2015; 25(4):929-42. DOI: 10.1111/mec.13428. View

Leal C, Lennox G, Ferraz S, Ferreira J, Gardner T, Thomson J . Integrated terrestrial-freshwater planning doubles conservation of tropical aquatic species. Science. 2020; 370(6512):117-121. DOI: 10.1126/science.aba7580. View

Ficetola G, Miaud C, Pompanon F, Taberlet P . Species detection using environmental DNA from water samples. Biol Lett. 2008; 4(4):423-5. PMC: 2610135. DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2008.0118. View

10.

Taylor B, Flecker A, Hall Jr R . Loss of a harvested fish species disrupts carbon flow in a diverse tropical river. Science. 2006; 313(5788):833-6. DOI: 10.1126/science.1128223. View

11.

Coutant O, Richard-Hansen C, De Thoisy B, Decotte J, Valentini A, Dejean T . Amazonian mammal monitoring using aquatic environmental DNA. Mol Ecol Resour. 2021; 21(6):1875-1888. DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13393. View

12.

Ripple W, Wolf C, Newsome T, Hoffmann M, Wirsing A, McCauley D . Extinction risk is most acute for the world's largest and smallest vertebrates. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017; 114(40):10678-10683. PMC: 5635868. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1702078114. View

13.

Tewksbury J, Levey D, Haddad N, Sargent S, Orrock J, Weldon A . Corridors affect plants, animals, and their interactions in fragmented landscapes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002; 99(20):12923-6. PMC: 130561. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.202242699. View

14.

McManamay R, Nair S, DeRolph C, Ruddell B, Morton A, Stewart R . US cities can manage national hydrology and biodiversity using local infrastructure policy. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017; 114(36):9581-9586. PMC: 5594670. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1706201114. View

15.

Eichmiller J, Best S, Sorensen P . Effects of Temperature and Trophic State on Degradation of Environmental DNA in Lake Water. Environ Sci Technol. 2016; 50(4):1859-67. DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.5b05672. View

16.

Cantera I, Decotte J, Dejean T, Murienne J, Vigouroux R, Valentini A . Characterizing the spatial signal of environmental DNA in river systems using a community ecology approach. Mol Ecol Resour. 2021; 22(4):1274-1283. DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13544. View

17.

Pimm S, Jenkins C, Li B . How to protect half of Earth to ensure it protects sufficient biodiversity. Sci Adv. 2018; 4(8):eaat2616. PMC: 6114985. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat2616. View

18.

Villeger S, Mason N, Mouillot D . New multidimensional functional diversity indices for a multifaceted framework in functional ecology. Ecology. 2008; 89(8):2290-301. DOI: 10.1890/07-1206.1. View

19.

Ficetola G, Coissac E, Zundel S, Riaz T, Shehzad W, Bessiere J . An in silico approach for the evaluation of DNA barcodes. BMC Genomics. 2010; 11:434. PMC: 3091633. DOI: 10.1186/1471-2164-11-434. View

20.

Watson J, Evans T, Venter O, Williams B, Tulloch A, Stewart C . The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems. Nat Ecol Evol. 2018; 2(4):599-610. DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0490-x. View