Development of a Flooded Forest Anthropization Index (FFAI) applied to Amazonian areas under pressure from different human activities. (January 2015)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- Development of a Flooded Forest Anthropization Index (FFAI) applied to Amazonian areas under pressure from different human activities. (January 2015)
- Main Title:
- Development of a Flooded Forest Anthropization Index (FFAI) applied to Amazonian areas under pressure from different human activities
- Authors:
- Magalhães, José Leonardo Lima
Lopes, Maria Aparecida
Queiroz, Helder Lima de - Abstract:
- Highlights: FFAI enables assessment of human disturbance at a local scale in floodplain forest. At a local level, FFAI is sensitive to different types of disturbance. At a local level, FFAI assesses the strength of each type of impact. A useful tool for decision makers in choosing priority areas for intervention. Abstract: The floodplain forests in the Amazon basin suffer from the continued exploitation of natural resources and, after being disturbed, show slow and sometimes irreversible recovery. Our goal was to create an index that could be used to assess the relative level of human disturbance in floodplain forests and determine the relative importance of different types of disturbance on a given site and between sites. The index proposed here (Flooded Forest Anthropization Index – FFAI) assesses human disturbance on a local scale and is composed by 15 indicators divided into three groups that represent different levels of impact: (1) simplification of ecosystems and reduction of local diversity; (2) ecosystem replacement/destruction; (3) disturbances with the potential to impact the ecosystem in both ways. The FFAI proved to be robust and revealed a wide range of values in the evaluated landscapes. The sites classified a priori as more anthropogenic showed significantly higher FFAI values than the less anthropogenic ones (0.14 ± 0.05 and 0.08 ± 0.02, respectively, F = 18.9, df = 19, p < 0.0001). The FFAI enabled a comprehensive assessment of human disturbance on aHighlights: FFAI enables assessment of human disturbance at a local scale in floodplain forest. At a local level, FFAI is sensitive to different types of disturbance. At a local level, FFAI assesses the strength of each type of impact. A useful tool for decision makers in choosing priority areas for intervention. Abstract: The floodplain forests in the Amazon basin suffer from the continued exploitation of natural resources and, after being disturbed, show slow and sometimes irreversible recovery. Our goal was to create an index that could be used to assess the relative level of human disturbance in floodplain forests and determine the relative importance of different types of disturbance on a given site and between sites. The index proposed here (Flooded Forest Anthropization Index – FFAI) assesses human disturbance on a local scale and is composed by 15 indicators divided into three groups that represent different levels of impact: (1) simplification of ecosystems and reduction of local diversity; (2) ecosystem replacement/destruction; (3) disturbances with the potential to impact the ecosystem in both ways. The FFAI proved to be robust and revealed a wide range of values in the evaluated landscapes. The sites classified a priori as more anthropogenic showed significantly higher FFAI values than the less anthropogenic ones (0.14 ± 0.05 and 0.08 ± 0.02, respectively, F = 18.9, df = 19, p < 0.0001). The FFAI enabled a comprehensive assessment of human disturbance on a local scale in Amazonian floodplain forests and can be a useful tool for decision makers in choosing priority areas for interventions and for targeting the type of intervention that must be carried out. Although specific to floodplains, the index can be adjusted to be used in other ecosystems. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Ecological indicators. Volume 48(2015)
- Journal:
- Ecological indicators
- Issue:
- Volume 48(2015)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 48, Issue 2015 (2015)
- Year:
- 2015
- Volume:
- 48
- Issue:
- 2015
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2015-0048-2015-0000
- Page Start:
- 440
- Page End:
- 447
- Publication Date:
- 2015-01
- Subjects:
- Environment monitoring -- Disturbance indicators -- Biodiversity loss -- Land use -- Human disturbance
Environmental monitoring -- Periodicals
Environmental management -- Periodicals
Environmental impact analysis -- Periodicals
Environmental risk assessment -- Periodicals
Sustainable development -- Periodicals
333.71405 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/1470160X/ ↗
http://www.elsevier.com/journals ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1016/j.ecolind.2014.09.002 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1470-160X
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 3648.877200
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 8069.xml