Moving to healthier landscapes: Forest restoration decreases the abundance of Hantavirus reservoir rodents in tropical forests.

Hantavirus Cardiopulmonary Syndrome (HCPS) is a disease with high human lethality rates, whose transmission risk is directly related to the abundance of reservoir rodents. In the Brazilian Atlantic forest, the main reservoirs species, Oligoryzomys nigripes and Necromys lasiurus, are thought to increase in abundance with deforestation. Therefore, forest restoration may contribute to decrease HCPS transmission risk, a topic still unexplored, especially in tropical regions. Aiming at filling this research gap, we quantified the potential of forest restoration, as required by the current environmental legislation, to reduce the abundance of Hantavirus reservoir rodents in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Using a dataset on small mammal communities sampled at 104 sites, we modeled how the abundance of these two rodent species change with the percentage of forest cover and forest edge density. From the best model, we extrapolated rodent abundance to the entire Atlantic Forest, considering two scenarios: current and restored forest cover. Comparing the estimated abundance between these two scenarios, we show that forest restoration can reduce the abundance of O. nigripes up to 89.29% in 43.43% of Atlantic forest territory. For N. lasiurus, abundance decreased up to 46% in 44% of the Atlantic forest. To our knowledge, this is the first study linking forest restoration and zoonotic diseases. Our results indicate that forest restoration would decrease the chance of HCPS transmission in ~45% of the Atlantic forest, making the landscape healthier to ~2,8 million people living within this area. This positive effect of restoration on disease regulation should be considered as an additional argument to encourage and promote forest restoration in tropical areas around the world.

From a bat's perspective, protected riparian areas should be wider than defined by Brazilian laws.

Riparian areas around streams are those areas in which biological communites are directly influenced by the stream. The size of protected riparian areas and their conservation has become a controversial topic after changes implemented in the Brazilian Forest Code (BFC): a set of laws that regulates the size of Permanent Protection Areas (PPA). Here, we investigate the influence of distance from water bodies on bat-species and guild composition in a lowland Amazonian rainforest. Our hypotheses were that bat assemblages would change depending on the distance to the water body and that the abundance of herbivorous bats (frugivorous and nectarivorous) would be greater in areas close to water. Bats were captured with mist-nets in 24 riparian and 25 non-riparian plots within a trail grid in an old-growth terra-firme forest, northeast of Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Each plot was sampled three times in a total of 7056 net-hours. We captured 1191 bats, comprising 51 species. We used model selection based on AIC (Akaike Information Criterion) to compare linear and piecewise regressions to estimate the ecological thresholds for different bat assemblages. Piecewise models with one breakpoint were more parsimonious than linear models for abundance data, and the species and guild composition of animalivorous and frugivorous bats. Animalivorous-bat abundance increased from the stream to about 181 m, and frugivorous-bat abundance decreased within 50 m of the stream. The patterns of guild abundance suggest that frugivorous bats may need greater access to streams than animalivorous bats. The most conservative model suggests that most of the variation in bat composition occurs close to the stream and extends to up 114 m from the banks. Therefore, the 30 m wide strip of riparian forest protected by Brazilian law would maintain a relatively small fraction of bat-species assemblages in Ducke Reserve, and is insufficient to represent most of the assemblage-composition variation within the riparian zone. The suggestion to reduce the width of the protected riparian zone from 30 to 15 m for streams smaller than 10 m wide, as is under discussion, would likely be prejudicial for bat assemblages.

Is environmental legislation conserving tropical stream faunas? A large-scale assessment of local, riparian and catchment-scale influences on Amazonian fish.

Agricultural expansion and intensification are major threats to tropical biodiversity. In addition to the direct removal of native vegetation, agricultural expansion often elicits other human-induced disturbances, many of which are poorly addressed by existing environmental legislation and conservation programmes. This is particularly true for tropical freshwater systems, where there is considerable uncertainty about whether a legislative focus on protecting riparian vegetation is sufficient to conserve stream fauna.To assess the extent to which stream fish are being effectively conserved in agricultural landscapes, we examined the spatial distribution of assemblages in river basins to identify the relative importance of human impacts at instream, riparian and catchment scales, in shaping observed patterns. We used an extensive dataset on the ecological condition of 83 low-order streams distributed in three river basins in the eastern Brazilian Amazon.We collected and identified 24,420 individual fish from 134 species. Multiplicative diversity partitioning revealed high levels of compositional dissimilarity (DS) among stream sites (DS = 0.74 to 0.83) and river basins (DS = 0.82), due mainly to turnover (77.8% to 81.8%) rather than nestedness. The highly heterogeneous fish faunas in small Amazonian streams underscore the vital importance of enacting measures to protect forests on private lands outside of public protected areas.Instream habitat features explained more variability in fish assemblages (15%-19%) than riparian (2%-12%), catchment (4%-13%) or natural covariates (4%-11%). Although grouping species into functional guilds allowed us to explain up to 31% of their abundance (i.e. for nektonic herbivores), individual riparian - and catchment - scale predictor variables that are commonly a focus of environmental legislation explained very little of the observed variation (partial R2 values mostly <5%).Policy implications. Current rates of agricultural intensification and mechanization in tropical landscapes are unprecedented, yet the existing legislative frameworks focusing on protecting riparian vegetation seem insufficient to conserve stream environments and their fish assemblages. To safeguard the species-rich freshwater biota of small Amazonian streams, conservation actions must shift towards managing whole basins and drainage networks, as well as agricultural practices in already-cleared land.

The legal reserve: historical basis for the understanding and analysis of this instrument / A evolução da reserva legal: fundamentos para análise e compreensão do instrumento

The revisions made in the Forest Code (FC) in 2012 appear to have promoted the weakening of the legal reserve (LR), which after at least 80 years of development, had become established in the Brazilian legal system as an instrument of environmental conservation. This study investigated the possibility of disruption in the implementation of the LR and was developed using qualitative approaches, including bibliographical and documental analyses, to assess the historical construction and legal format of the instrument over time. It was concluded that the current Forest Code broke the trend of development of the LR as an instrument of environmental conservation that was promoted by previous codes and removed the conditions necessary for its effectiveness and existence. (AU)

Revisões ao Código Florestal feitas em 2012 parecem ter promovido a fragilização da Reserva Legal que, após pelo menos 80 anos de construção, firmou-se no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro como instrumento de conservação ambiental. Este trabalho investigou a hipótese de ruptura do processo de evolução da Reserva Legal. Desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, delineada por métodos bibliográficos e documentais, a qual analisou a construção histórica do instrumento e seu formato jurídico ao longo do tempo. Concluiu-se que o atual Código Florestal Brasileiro rompeu a tendência de construção da Reserva Legal como instrumento de conservação ambiental, promovida pelos códigos anteriores, retirando condições necessárias para sua eficácia e existência. (AU)

The legal reserve: historical basis for the understanding and analysis of this instrument / A evolução da reserva legal: fundamentos para análise e compreensão do instrumento

The revisions made in the Forest Code (FC) in 2012 appear to have promoted the weakening of the legal reserve (LR), which after at least 80 years of development, had become established in the Brazilian legal system as an instrument of environmental conservation. This study investigated the possibility of disruption in the implementation of the LR and was developed using qualitative approaches, including bibliographical and documental analyses, to assess the historical construction and legal format of the instrument over time. It was concluded that the current Forest Code broke the trend of development of the LR as an instrument of environmental conservation that was promoted by previous codes and removed the conditions necessary for its effectiveness and existence.

Revisões ao Código Florestal feitas em 2012 parecem ter promovido a fragilização da Reserva Legal que, após pelo menos 80 anos de construção, firmou-se no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro como instrumento de conservação ambiental. Este trabalho investigou a hipótese de ruptura do processo de evolução da Reserva Legal. Desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, delineada por métodos bibliográficos e documentais, a qual analisou a construção histórica do instrumento e seu formato jurídico ao longo do tempo. Concluiu-se que o atual Código Florestal Brasileiro rompeu a tendência de construção da Reserva Legal como instrumento de conservação ambiental, promovida pelos códigos anteriores, retirando condições necessárias para sua eficácia e existência.

The legal reserve: historical basis for the understanding and analysis of this instrument

ABSTRACT: The revisions made in the Forest Code (FC) in 2012 appear to have promoted the weakening of the legal reserve (LR), which after at least 80 years of development, had become established in the Brazilian legal system as an instrument of environmental conservation. This study investigated the possibility of disruption in the implementation of the LR and was developed using qualitative approaches, including bibliographical and documental analyses, to assess the historical construction and legal format of the instrument over time. It was concluded that the current Forest Code broke the trend of development of the LR as an instrument of environmental conservation that was promoted by previous codes and removed the conditions necessary for its effectiveness and existence.

RESUMO: Revisões ao Código Florestal feitas em 2012 parecem ter promovido a fragilização da Reserva Legal que, após pelo menos 80 anos de construção, firmou-se no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro como instrumento de conservação ambiental. Este trabalho investigou a hipótese de ruptura do processo de evolução da Reserva Legal. Desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, delineada por métodos bibliográficos e documentais, a qual analisou a construção histórica do instrumento e seu formato jurídico ao longo do tempo. Concluiu-se que o atual Código Florestal Brasileiro rompeu a tendência de construção da Reserva Legal como instrumento de conservação ambiental, promovida pelos códigos anteriores, retirando condições necessárias para sua eficácia e existência.

The legal reserve: historical basis for the understanding and analysis of this instrument / A evolução da reserva legal: fundamentos para análise e compreensão do instrumento

ABSTRACT: The revisions made in the Forest Code (FC) in 2012 appear to have promoted the weakening of the legal reserve (LR), which after at least 80 years of development, had become established in the Brazilian legal system as an instrument of environmental conservation. This study investigated the possibility of disruption in the implementation of the LR and was developed using qualitative approaches, including bibliographical and documental analyses, to assess the historical construction and legal format of the instrument over time. It was concluded that the current Forest Code broke the trend of development of the LR as an instrument of environmental conservation that was promoted by previous codes and removed the conditions necessary for its effectiveness and existence.

RESUMO: Revisões ao Código Florestal feitas em 2012 parecem ter promovido a fragilização da Reserva Legal que, após pelo menos 80 anos de construção, firmou-se no ordenamento jurídico brasileiro como instrumento de conservação ambiental. Este trabalho investigou a hipótese de ruptura do processo de evolução da Reserva Legal. Desenvolveu-se uma pesquisa qualitativa, delineada por métodos bibliográficos e documentais, a qual analisou a construção histórica do instrumento e seu formato jurídico ao longo do tempo. Concluiu-se que o atual Código Florestal Brasileiro rompeu a tendência de construção da Reserva Legal como instrumento de conservação ambiental, promovida pelos códigos anteriores, retirando condições necessárias para sua eficácia e existência.

Impactos potenciais das mudanças propostas no Código Florestal Brasileiro sobre os répteis brasileiros / Potential impacts of changes in the Brazilian Forest Code on reptiles

Avaliamos os impactos potenciais sobre a fauna brasileira de répteis (721 espécies descritas até o momento), caso sejam adotadas mudanças propostas por um substitutivo do atual Código Florestal Brasileiro. A possibilidade de compensação ambiental (obrigação legal no caso de degradação de habitats naturais) em bacias ou microbacias distintas daquelas degradadas seria uma das modificações do código vigente que prejudicaria a manutenção da diversidade de répteis. Alguns gêneros de répteis são compostos por espécies que raramente co-ocorrem em uma mesma área. Assim, ações de conservação em escalas reduzidas, em unidades naturais como microbacias, seriam mais adequadas para representar a variação da composição de espécies entre áreas. O substitutivo prevê a exclusão de topos de montanhas como Área de Preservação Permanente (APP), bem como a redução da largura das matas marginais a cursos d´água (que também são APPs). Diversos répteis brasileiros estão restritos a áreas de altitude, ao passo que outros vivem somente ou principalmente em matas de galeria ou áreas ripárias. Assim, a perda de habitat nessas áreas deve tornar alguns répteis vulneráveis a extinção. A proposta também autoriza a recuperação de Reservas Legais (RL) usando espécies de plantas exóticas. Há evidências que muitos répteis brasileiros não conseguem sobreviver em ambientes alterados pelo homem, incluindo as florestas constituídas por espécies exóticas. A proposta também tornará possível compensar RL dentro de unidades de conservação. Entretanto, as unidades de conservação existentes não seriam suficientes para a manutenção da diversidade de répteis no Brasil (principalmente porque muitas espécies têm distribuição restrita). Se adotadas, as mudanças propostas ao Código Florestal Brasileiro terão fortes impactos sobre a fauna de répteis brasileira, um importante componente do patrimônio natural do país. Além disso, moléculas com potencial farmacêutico, presentes nos venenos de muitas espécies, poderão ser perdidas.

We evaluate the potential impacts on Brazilian reptiles (721 species already described), if the proposed changes in the Brazilian Forest Code are approved. The possibility of environmental compensation (a legal obligation in case of disturbance of natural habitats) in basins or micro basins different from that in which the disturbance occurred would have harmful effects on reptile diversity. Some reptile genera include species that rarely co-occur in space. Thus, conservation action planning based on naturally smaller scales, such as micro basins, is most suitable to maintain species composition across large regions. The proposed changes also include the removal of mountaintops as Areas of Permanent Preservation (APP, areas which must be permanently protected, despite the fact that they are not part of a park), as well as a reduction in the width of gallery forests and protected riparian habitats (which are APPs). Many Brazilian reptiles are restricted to high elevation areas, whereas others dwell only or mostly in gallery forests and riparian areas. Thus, the habitat loss that would result from these two changes could make some reptiles vulnerable to extinction. The proposed changes also include allowing the restoration of the Legal Reserves (LR, the reserves of natural vegetation which landowners have to keep in private areas) using exotic plant species. There are evidences that many Brazilian reptiles are not able to persist in human-modified environments like forests composed of exotic trees. The proposed changes also allow the compensation of disturbances imposed on LR inside existing protected areas. However, existing protected areas are not sufficient for the maintenance of reptile diversity in Brazil (mainly because many species have restricted distributions). If approved, the proposed changes in the code will impose significant negative effects on the Brazilian reptile fauna, an important component of the country's natural heritage. Furthermore, unknown molecules with potential for pharmaceutical use could also be lost.

Impactos potenciais na avifauna decorrentes das alterações propostas para o Código Florestal Brasileiro / Potential impacts of the changes proposed in the Brazilian Forest Code on birds

As mudanças propostas no atual Código Florestal Brasileiro poderão levar a um aumento de desmatamentos e consequente diminuição de cobertura vegetal nativa (florestas, campos e banhados) que impactarão diretamente muitas espécies de aves. No Brasil, 17 espécies de aves globalmente ameaçadas são dependentes de florestas próximas a corpos d'água, sendo que oito destas só ocorrem em território brasileiro. Considerando os requisitos ecológicos dessas espécies, é possível prever que uma diminuição na largura da faixa que deve ser protegida na forma de Área de Preservação Permanente (APP) levará a perdas populacionais significativas que podem colocar em risco a sobrevivência das populações e, consequentemente, da espécie como um todo. Em paisagens fragmentadas essas APPs também funcionam como corredores, permitindo a dispersão das aves através da matriz. Do mesmo modo, áreas de Reserva Legal devem ser mantidas de forma complementar às APPs, já que a composição da avifauna varia entre as áreas de vegetação nativa situadas próximas e distantes de corpos d'água. A heterogeneidade ambiental é crucial para a manutenção da integridade das comunidades de aves. Mesmo pequenas manchas de floresta são importantes para a avifauna, funcionando como "trampolins ecológicos" que, assim como os corredores, possibilitam que aves florestais se desloquem através da paisagem. As aves são importantes predadoras, dispersoras e polinizadoras em agroecossistemas sendo que em áreas tropicais já foi demonstrado que uma maior riqueza de aves está correlacionada com uma maior taxa de remoção de artrópodes, incluindo pestes. Assim, mudanças propostas ao atual Código Florestal podem representar um impacto negativo não só em relação a biodiversidade, mas também em relação a própria produção agrícola.

Proposed changes in the current Brazilian Forest Code can lead to the reduction of native vegetation (forests, grasslands and wetlands) impacting directly many bird species. In Brazil, 17 globally threatened species are dependent of riverine forests and eight of these are restricted to the Brazilian territory. A decrease in the width of the area that should be protected as Permanent Preservation Areas (Área de Preservação Permanente - APP) can lead to significant population losses that would put at risk the integrity of populations and, in some cases, the survival of species. In fragmented landscapes, the APPs function as corridors, allowing the dispersion of birds through the matrix. Legal Reserve (Reserva Legal) areas should be maintained complementary to APPs, as the avifauna composition varies in areas located near and far from water bodies. Environmental heterogeneity is crucial to the maintenance of the bird community integrity. Even small patches of forest are important to the avifauna, working as stepping stones that, like the corridors, enable forest birds to move across the landscape. Birds are important predators, dispersers, and pollinators in agricultural ecosystems: in the Tropical region, areas with high bird diversity are significantly correlated with the highest rates of arthropods' removal, including those considered pests. Thus, proposed changes in the current Forest Code may represent a negative impact not only in relation to biodiversity, but also in regarding the agricultural production.

As abelhas, os serviços ecossistêmicos e o Código Florestal Brasileiro / Bees, ecosystem services and the Brazilian Forest Code

As abelhas são consideradas os principais polinizadores em ambientes naturais e agrícolas. Esse serviço ecossistêmico é essencial para a manutenção das populações selvagens de plantas e para a produção de alimento nos ambientes agrícolas e está ameaçado em várias regiões do mundo. O desmatamento é uma das causas principais porque ele afeta as populações de abelhas. A conservação das florestas é necessária para a manutenção das populações de abelhas e da polinização nas paisagens agrícolas.

Bees are considered the main pollinators in natural and agricultural environments. This ecosystem service is essential to the maintenance of wild plant populations and to food production on agricultural environments and it's threatened in many regions of the world. Deforestation is pointed out as one of the main causes because it affects bee populations. Conservation of forests is necessary for the maintenance of bee populations and pollination services on agricultural landscapes.

A falsa dicotomia entre a preservação da vegetação natural e a produção agropecuária / The false dichotomy between preservation of the natural vegetation and food production in Brazil

Este artigo mostra através da análise de dados censitários sobre uso da terra no Brasil que a possível dicotomia entre a preservação da vegetação natural e a produção de alimentos na realidade não existe. Demonstramos que o Brasil já tem uma área desprovida de vegetação natural suficientemente grande para acomodar a expansão da produção agrícola. Demonstramos também que a maior expansão se dá nas áreas ocupadas pelas chamadas culturas de exportação - soja e cana-de-açúcar - e não propriamente nas áreas ocupadas por arroz, feijão e mandioca, que são consumidos de forma direta pelo mercado nacional. Pelo contrário, a área colhida de arroz e feijão tem inclusive decrescido nas últimas décadas, enquanto a área colhida de mandioca encontra-se praticamente constante há quatro décadas. Os maiores entraves para a produção de alimentos no Brasil não se devem a restrições supostamente impostas pelo Código Florestal, mas, sim, à enorme desigualdade na distribuição de terras, a restrição de crédito agrícola ao agricultor que produz alimentos de consumo direto, a falta de assistência técnica que o ajude a aumentar a sua produtividade, a falta de investimentos em infraestrutura para armazenamento e escoamento da produção agrícola, a restrições de financiamento e priorização do desenvolvimento e tecnologia que permita um aumento expressivo na lotação de nossas pastagens,.

Through the analysis of census data on land use in Brazil this article shows that the dichotomy between food production and preservation of natural vegetation used as the main driver to change the Forest Code is false. We showed here that Brazil has already cleared an area large enough that support the production of food, fiber and bioenergy to meet the requirements of the country and global markets. We also showed the area of export-oriented crops like soybean and sugar cane have been expanded significantly in the last decades, while staple crops like rice and bean have decreased and the area planted with cassava has been stable for the last four decades. At the same time we show that the productivity of export-oriented crops has increased in a much more significant rate than staple crops or cattle stocking rate, which in average is extremely low in Brazil. We concluded by stating that the real constraint for food production in Brazil does not rely on the Forest Code environmental restrictions but instead in inequalities in land distribution and income, coupled with lack of credit to small producers and investment in research and development in the staples crops of the country.