Loss of Connectivity in a Highly Fragmented Tropical Landscape: Use of Ecological Processes as Functional Indicators of Biodiversity Decline

Landscape modification has been increasing in the past few decades. In particular, the biodiversity of tropical rainforests has been threatened by an intensive loss of habitat and changes in land use policies [1-3]. These processes modify the spatial pattern of the remaining forests increasing for example patch isolation [3,4], potentially affecting wildlife through changes in ecological processes such as pollination, seed dispersal, seed predation and herbivory [5,6]. In addition, the consequences of this habitat modification have driven wildlife toward population decline and, in some cases, local species extirpations [7,8].