Mudanças climáticas e cobertura florestal para primatas endêmicos da Mata Atlântica

• Ano de defesa: 2021
• Autor(a) principal: Vasquez, Vagner Lacerda
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte; Brasil; UFRN; PROGRAMA DE PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO EM ECOLOGIA
• Palavras-chave em Português: Hotspot; MaxEnt; Adequabilidade de habitat; Unidades de conservação
• Link de acesso: https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/32402

The Atlantic Forest covers approximately 130 million hectares and extends over the entire Brazilian coast. This biome is essential for conserving primates, the mammals with the largest proportion of endangered species. The main threats to these species are habitat loss and climate change. Here, we addressed two questions: (i) what is the proportion of forest cover within current and future geographic ranges of Atlantic Forest primates? and (ii) are the currently protected areas efficient in representing climatically suitable areas for Atlantic Forest primates considering current and future climates? To answer the first question, for each species, we calculate their respective forest cover in the exclusive region of the current geographic range, in the intersection region between the current and future geographic ranges, and in the exclusive region of the expected geographical range predicted to the future. For the second question, we compared the current and future climatic suitability for Atlantic Forest primates within currently protected areas. The current network of protected areas represents higher suitability values compared to species geographic ranges. There was a general reduction in the suitability values in future climate scenarios, which is possibly related to the savanization of tropical forests, and there was no difference between the suitability represented by protected areas and that in the geographic ranges. Regions of intersection between current and future geographic ranges and exclusive regions to the future showed a higher proportion of forest cover than exclusive regions to the current geographic range. This result was expected because of the already documented displacement of species from low altitudes areas to high altitudes areas, where there is a bias towards a greater protected areas selection and the location of permanent preservation areas (literal translation). Our results demonstrate that, although the protected areas are efficient in conserving more suitable areas in the present, there will be a reduction in areas climatically suitable for the Atlantic Forest’s primate species in the future. As a result, these species may need to disperse to more climatically suitable areas. Although most of the geographic ranges foreseen for the future for these species will be composed by matrix, which can make dispersion difficult, the areas of intersection between the current and future geographic ranges presented a greater forest coverage. This can make conservation efforts in these regions more efficient for species both at present and in projections of future climate change. To avoid the loss of these species, joint efforts are necessary to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, incorporate the consequences of the climate crisis on biodiversity into conservation strategies, and guarantee public policies that prevent deforestation and restore deforested areas. In addition, it is also necessary to seek the maintenance, expansion, and management of protected areas, especially within the regions of intersection between current and future geographic ranges for the primates of the Atlantic Forest.