Low impact of forest conversion on biodiversity: Evidence from small mammals in contrasting forests of Mt. Liangshan

Abstract

Secondary and plantation forests are the main alternative forests remaining after the deforestation of primary forests. Understanding the conservation value of secondary and plantation forests is important for biological conservation. To explore the impact of forest conversion on biodiversity, we compared multiple diversity metrics (taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity) and community structure of small mammals in the primary, secondary, and plantation forests in Mt. Liangshan, Sichuan Province, China. Three field surveys were conducted in each of the three forest types to characterize local small mammal assemblages from 2017 to 2020. We found that the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of small mammals in the three forest types were similar at the landscape scale, while all diversity metrics were lowest in the plantation forest and highest in the primary forests at the site scale. The community structure analysis showed that habitat filtering was the dominant process driving the assembly of small mammal communities across the three forest types, and there was no statistically significant difference in small mammal community structure among the three forest types. Our results indicated that secondary and plantation forests in the nature reserves, adjacent to the primary forest and exposed to little human disturbance, also can provide important habitats for small mammals.