Forest legislative changes and their impacts on mammal ecology and diversity in Brazil

Abstract

Forest ecosystems within Brazil host one of the highest levels of mammalian diversity on Earth, much of which within legally required forest set-asides in private landholdings. The Legal Reserves (RLs) and Permanent Protected Areas (APPs) of the Brazilian Forest Code provide an important strategy to maintain this diversity. Yet a proposed amendment to Brazil's 1965 forestry code would reduce protection of Brazil's forests, including the Amazon and the Atlantic forest, and bring irreversible detrimental effects to mammal diversity. Mammals are key components of forest ecosystem, providing important environmental services as pollinators, seed dispersers and ecosystem engineers. The local extinction of some species will negatively affect forest ecosystem service provisioning throughout the country. Another important effect of forest conversion within private properties, should the proposed changes happen, will be the emergence of new diseases, bringing serious public health problems in Brazil.