| Arthropods are the most diverse and abundant group of animals found in tropical lowland forests, and in light of ongoing global change phenomena, it is essential to better understand their responses to anthropogenic disturbances. Here we present a review of arthropod responses to forest deforestation and fragmentation based on studies conducted at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP), located in central Amazonia. These studies involved a wide range of arthropod groups. All but one of the studies evaluated changes in total species number or species density in relation to fragment size, (i.e. area effects), and one-third also evaluated edge effects. Our review indicates that almost every arthropod group studied showed some kind of... |
