RESEARCH ARTICLE Are Protected Areas Required to Maintain Functional Diversity in Human-Modified Landscapes? H. Eden W. Cottee-Jones1*, Thomas J. Matthews1,2, Tom P. Bregman3, Maan Barua1, Jatin Tamuly4, Robert J. Whittaker1,5 1 Conservation Biogeography and Macroecology Group, School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 2 Azorean Biodiversity Group (ABG, CITA-A) and Portuguese Platform for Enhancing Ecological Research and Sustainability (PEERS), Depto de Ciências Agrárias, Univ. of the Azores, Rua CapitãoJoão d´Ávila, Pico da Urze, PT- 9700-042, Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal, 3 Edward Grey Institute, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, 4 Wild Grass EcoLodge, Kaziranga, Assam, India, 5 Centre for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark *
[email protected] OPEN ACCESS Abstract Citation: Cottee-Jones HEW, Matthews TJ, Bregman TP, Barua M, Tamuly J, Whittaker RJ (2015) Are The conversion of forest to agriculture across the world’s tropics, and the limited space for Protected Areas Required to Maintain Functional protected areas, has increased the need to identify effective conservation strategies in Diversity in Human-Modified Landscapes? PLoS ONE 10(5): e0123952. doi:10.1371/journal. human-modified landscapes. Isolated trees are believed to conserve elements of ecological pone.0123952 structure, providing micro-sites for conservation in matrix landscapes, and facilitating seed Academic Editor: Runguo Zang, Chinese Academy dispersal and forest restoration. Here we investigate the role of isolated Ficus trees, which of Forestry, CHINA are of critical importance to tropical forest ecosystems, in conserving frugivore composition Received: October 4, 2014 and function in a human-modified landscape in Assam, India.