Abstract
BackgroundFragmentation and deforestation are one of the greatest threats to forests, and these processes are of even more concern in the tropics, where the seasonal dry forest is possibly one of the most threatened ecosystems with the least remaining surface area.MethodsThe deforestation and fragmentation patterns that had occurred in Ecuadorian seasonal dry forests between 1990 and 2018 were verified, while geographic information systems and land cover shapes provided by the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment were employed to classify and evaluate three types of seasonal dry forests: deciduous, semi-deciduous, and transition. The study area was tessellated into 10 km2 hexagons, in which six fragmentation parameters were measured: number of patches, mean patch size, median patch size, total edge, edge density and reticular fragmentation index (RFI). The RFI was also measured both outside and inside protected natural areas (unprotected, national protected areas and protected forest). Moreover, the areas with the best and worst conservation status, connectivity and risk of disappearance values were identified by means of a Getis-Ord Gi* statistical analysis.ResultsThe deforestation of seasonal dry forests affected 27.04% of the original surface area still remaining in 1990, with an annual deforestation rate of − 1.12% between 1990 and 2018. The RFI has increased by 11.61% as a result of the fact that small fragments of forest have tended to disappear, while the large fragments have been fragmented into smaller ones. The semi-deciduous forest had the highest levels of fragmentation in 2018. The three categories of protection had significantly different levels of fragmentation, with lower RFI values in national protected areas and greater values in protected forests.ConclusionsThe seasonal dry forest is fragmenting, deforesting and disappearing in some areas. An increased protection and conservation of the Ecuadorian seasonal dry forest is, therefore, necessary owing to the fact that not all protection measures have been effective.
Highlights
The term ‘forest fragmentation’ refers to the spatial configuration and amount of treed-vegetation (Hermosilla et al 2018), a landscape-level process during which anthropogenic factors progressively subdivide forest tracts into smaller, geometrically more complex and more isolated patches as a result of natural processes and land use activities (McGarigal and Marks 1995; Chakraborty et al 2017)
Intense deforestation is considered to be the main threat to the biodiversity of the tropical seasonal dry forests of the Tumbension region, which are characterised by a high degree of endemism since they harbour 16 endemic mammals (Loaiza 2013) and 39 endemic bird species (Bird Life International 2019)
Evolution of loss and fragmentation of forest Since 1990, 2631.91 km2 has been lost (Table 2), which signifies a loss of 27.04% of the original surface still remaining in 1990, and an annual deforestation rate of 94 km2 (− 1.12%)
Summary
The term ‘forest fragmentation’ refers to the spatial configuration and amount of treed-vegetation (Hermosilla et al 2018), a landscape-level process during which anthropogenic factors progressively subdivide forest tracts into (initially, but not necessarily ) smaller, geometrically more complex and more isolated patches as a result of natural processes and land use activities (McGarigal and Marks 1995; Chakraborty et al 2017) This concept can refer to the entire process of forest loss and isolation or, to changes in the spatial configuration of remnants of forest that are the result of deforestation (Fahrig 2003; Kupfer 2006). Ecuador maintained the highest deforestation rates in South America during the periods 1990–2010, with annual rates of between − 1.5% to − 1.8% (FAO 2011) and with an overall deforestation of 21,340 km between 1990 and 2020 (FAO 2020a) One consequence of this intensive fragmentation is that 47 ecosystems of mainland Ecuador have been classified as very-highly or highly fragmented, i.e. 30% of the natural areas (Ministerio del ambiente de Ecuador 2015). Fragmentation and deforestation are one of the greatest threats to forests, and these processes are of even more concern in the tropics, where the seasonal dry forest is possibly one of the most threatened ecosystems with the least remaining surface area
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