Landscape Heterogeneity and tree species diversity in a tropical forest. Development and validation of a methodological proposal

Abstract

Many landscapes exist as unstable spatial-temporal mosaics where changes in patterns of biodiversity are affected by nature processes and the dynamic interaction between social and ecological factors. It is a consequence of the natural dynamics of socio-economic systems that regulate man-made tropical forests. However, a significant proportion of studies have made generalizations about the relative values of biodiversity, without taking into account the high levels of internal heterogeneity in the biophysical properties and land uses of each site. The purpose of this study is to propose and validate a methodology to delimit the heterogeneity of the landscape based on criteria that integrate the coupling of human-ecological systems such as: space-time dynamics of deforestation and fragmentation; complexity of the landscape structure; current and historical land use and biophysical variability. For this, the use of satellite images, landscape metrics, field work, documentary review and multivariate analysis were combined. The proposed methodology is intended to help guide the empirical delimitation of landscape heterogeneity as a prerequisite for the selection of similar landscapes and forest patches in studies of the diversity of tree species, in order to provide an opportunity to control the possible difficulties caused by variability in the proportion of forests, landscape configuration and successional states, in estimating its effects on forest richness and floristic composition.