Fragment selection at Boca de Chajul.

Worldwide, human-caused fragmentation divides continuous forests into smaller remnants. As forests become smaller, the conditions necessary for maintaining their diversity also change, influencing the structure and dynamics of plant and animal communities. Nonetheless, it is still largely unknown to what extent fragmentation will reduce the capacity of forest remnants to maintain their functions as reservoirs of flora and fauna and providers of important ecosystem services.

Mexico has an extraordinary biodiversity, and its Neotropical palms are a central component. Their flowers, fruits or seeds are present all year round and can form an important food source for all sorts of fauna at times when other resources are scarce. For example, the white-lipped peccary, one of the most threatened Neotropical mammals, highly depends on fruits and roots from palms. By providing food and building materials, palms are also an important resource for humans. Therefore, fragmentation-driven changes in palm communities might have important consequences for animals and human communities dependent on palms. By measuring the responses of entire palm assemblages to fragmentation, my study will provide a more comprehensive picture on the resistance of this important taxon to fragmentation than most previous studies (which have typically focused on single palm species).

I will conduct surveys of palm communities to test the hypothesis that forest fragmentation generates shifts in diversity, species composition and spatial structure of these plants at La Selva Lacandona, Mexico. Most of the work will be conducted in the non-protected landscape of Marquez de Comillas (approx. 93,300 ha), where fragmentation of previously continuous forest started over 40 years ago. Cornfields, cattle ranches and more recently oil palm plantations surround the remaining forest patches. I will conduct comparative studies in the adjacent continuous protected forest of Montes Azules Biosphere Reserve (MABR) (approx. 331,200 ha).

My research on the responses of palm communities to fragmentation will provide information on a) the minimum fragment size and/or distance from edge required to sustain palm populations and communities (which might help in prioritizing sites for conservation efforts), b) which palm species are most sensitive to fragmentation (highlighting species in particular need of conservation, such as the ones listed as threatened) and c) concentrate efforts towards preserving ecological processes in which palms are involved (e.g. pollination, seed dispersal and seed predation) that are crucial for forest maintenance and regeneration.