Future
What started out as a five-person initiative slowly gained momentum as funding for the BDFFP grew and became a successful midsize research project operated by a larger staff. This growth has allowed for continuious large-scale inventories of species’ response to fragmentation, which is a main focal point of research concerning future conservation (Bierregaard 2001).
One of the major advantages of this study is that it has been conducted very consistently over a long period of time. Experimentation over several decades allows for the occurrence of natural events, such as El Niño droughts, which are important facilitators of natural disturbance that could affect fragmentation.
Much more needs to be understood about forest fragments, however. As BDFFP data suggests, even small fragments can take centuries to stabilize their floristic composition and carbon storage after experiencing dramatic ecological changes (Laurance 2011).
The fundamental goals drawn from the BDFFP experiment are to preserve larger areas of land to ensure viable populations are maintained and to maintain the forests’ natural ecological processes. Due to the continuing impacts of deforestation on tropical forest composition and processes, it can be said that the ecological future of the Amazonian region is greatly tied to its economic future (Bierregaard 2001). Efforts should continue to be made in order to prevent disastrous edge effects resulting from fires, climate change, and human impact from commercial hunting and logging.
Over 30 years of research and data collection with the BDFFP experiment has led to many discoveries and important lessons for scientists, but has also faced many challenges, such as funding. Since the late 1990s, colonization and hunting have emerged as direct threats to the BDFFP. The paving of the 1100-km-long Manaus-Venezuela highway has increased forest colonization and logging (Laurance 2011). As the influx of humans continues into these lands, the conservation efforts of the BDFFP become increasingly important in order to prevent devastating effects on the surrounding forest ecosystems.
Read more about this topic: Biological Dynamics Of Forest Fragments Project
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