By considering richness, abundance and composition of forest specialists and generalists, we investigated the biodiversity value of matrix habitats (comparing them with interiors of large remnants for all groups except tree), and evaluated area (for all groups) and edge effects (for all groups except trees) in mature forest remnants.
In conclusion, although open agricultural land-use types tend to have fewer species in lower numbers, all land-use types contribute to overall biodiversity of the agricultural matrix because of distinct communities in shaded vs. non-shaded land-use types.
As crop rotation between wheat and legume fields is common worldwide, our findings highlight the importance of creating an agricultural mosaic to enhance biodiversity permeability within the agricultural matrix.
Urban landscapes are characterized by an urban matrix often unfavorable for biodiversity, interspersed with remnant corridors such as riparian areas.
As the foundation of these biodiversity patterns, the species-by-site matrix allows the immediate measurement of biodiversity composition and turnover within and across sites so that changes can be traced, assembly processes tentatively inferred, and environmental drivers identified (Dornelas et al. 2014; McGill et al. 2015).
We advocate a pre-cautionary approach when putting biodiversity data from the tropical agricultural matrix into the context of conservation evaluation.
Despite the importance of regenerating secondary forests for tropical biodiversity conservation, studies of temporal effects of matrix regeneration on species responses in fragmented landscapes are scarce.
In a recent quantitative review paper Prevedello and Vieira concluded that matrix type is important for biodiversity conservation, but that patch size and isolation are the major determinants for species diversity, persistence, population dynamics, and interactions in fragmented landscapes.
Preserving biodiversity in forest landscapes will require management of matrix quality.
The conceptual patch-corridor-matrix model views individual conservation areas as connected components of a regional network capable of sustaining metapopulations and biodiversity, and assessment of contextual conditions in the matrix surrounding conservation areas is necessary for planning.
