eprintid: 10102961
rev_number: 18
eprint_status: archive
userid: 608
dir: disk0/10/10/29/61
datestamp: 2020-06-30 07:49:06
lastmod: 2021-10-14 22:49:44
status_changed: 2020-06-30 07:49:06
type: article
metadata_visibility: show
creators_name: Green, EJ
creators_name: McRae, L
creators_name: Freeman, R
creators_name: Harfoot, MBJ
creators_name: Hill, SLL
creators_name: Baldwin-Cantello, W
creators_name: Simonson, WD
title: Below the canopy: global trends in forest vertebrate populations and their drivers
ispublished: pub
divisions: UCL
divisions: B02
divisions: C08
divisions: D09
divisions: F99
keywords: Living Planet Index, defaunation, deforestation, exploitation, forest biodiversity, forest cover change
note: © 2020 The Authors.

Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.
abstract: Global forest assessments use forest area as an indicator of biodiversity status, which may mask below-canopy pressures driving forest biodiversity loss and 'empty forest' syndrome. The status of forest biodiversity is important not only for species conservation but also because species loss can have consequences for forest health and carbon storage. We aimed to develop a global indicator of forest specialist vertebrate populations to improve assessments of forest biodiversity status. Using the Living Planet Index methodology, we developed a weighted composite Forest Specialist Index for the period 1970-2014. We then investigated potential correlates of forest vertebrate population change. We analysed the relationship between the average rate of change of forest vertebrate populations and satellite-derived tree cover trends, as well as other pressures. On average, forest vertebrate populations declined by 53% between 1970 and 2014. We found little evidence of a consistent global effect of tree cover change on forest vertebrate populations, but a significant negative effect of exploitation threat on forest specialists. In conclusion, we found that the forest area is a poor indicator of forest biodiversity status. For forest biodiversity to recover, conservation management needs to be informed by monitoring all threats to vertebrates, including those below the canopy.
date: 2020-06-10
date_type: published
official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0533
oa_status: green
full_text_type: pub
language: eng
primo: open
primo_central: open_green
verified: verified_manual
elements_id: 1793524
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2020.0533
lyricists_name: Freeman, Robin Mark
lyricists_name: McRae, Louise
lyricists_id: RFREE31
lyricists_id: LMCRA42
actors_name: McRae, Louise
actors_id: LMCRA42
actors_role: owner
full_text_status: public
publication: Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
volume: 287
number: 1928
event_location: England
citation:        Green, EJ;    McRae, L;    Freeman, R;    Harfoot, MBJ;    Hill, SLL;    Baldwin-Cantello, W;    Simonson, WD;      (2020)    Below the canopy: global trends in forest vertebrate populations and their drivers.                   Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences , 287  (1928)      10.1098/rspb.2020.0533 <https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0533>.       Green open access   
 
document_url: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10102961/1/rspb.2020.0533-1.pdf