THE EFFECTS OF FOREST FRAGMENTATION ON UNDERSTORY BIRDS IN CENTRAL AMAZONIAN RAINFORESTS

Abstract

During the past 8 years a multidisciplinary study of the effect of habitat fragmentation on Amazonian forest ecosystems has been carried out under the auspices of the World Wildlife Fund and Brazil's National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA). A wide range of organisms as well as abiotic factors have been studied before and after patches of 1, 10, and 100 ha have been isolated by cattle ranchers felling virgin forest to create pasture.