Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project

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The Project is located near Manaus
The Project is located near Manaus

The Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project is a large-scale ecological experiment looking at the effects of habitat fragmentation on tropical rainforest. The experiment, which was established in 1979 is located near Manaus, in the Brazilian Amazon. The project is jointly managed by the Smithsonian Institution and INPA, the Brazilian Institute for Research in the Amazon.

The project was initiated in 1979 by Thomas Lovejoy to investigate the SLOSS Debate. Initially named the Minimum Critical Size of Ecosystems Project. The project created replicated forest fragments of specified sizes (1 ha, 10 ha and 100 ha). Data were collected prior to the creation of the fragments and studies of the effects of fragmentation now exceed 25 years.

As of 2004 450 peer-reviewed publications, several books and almost 100 graduate dissertations and theses had emerged from the project.

[edit] References

  • Laurance,William, Rita Mesquita, Regina Luizão, and Flavia Pinto. 2004. The Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project: 25 Years of Research in the Brazilian Amazon. Tropinet 15 (2/3): 1-3. (available online at [1])

[edit] External links


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