'Cryptic' interactions drive biodiversity decline near the edge of forest fragments
Thursday, November 1, 2018 - 13:50
in Biology & Nature
The fragmentation of tropical forests weakens the effects of the 'natural enemies' of some tree species, reducing their ability to maintain biodiversity, a new Yale-led study found. In an experiment, researchers found that fragmentation weakens the impact of fungal pathogens and insect herbivores, enabling some tree species to thrive near the forest edges in ways that they could not deeper in the forest, a phenomenon with major implications for tropical biodiversity.