| Abstract: | Biodiversity decline is occurring at an unprecedented rate, with land-use change as a leading driver. Biodiversity loss reduces ecosystem functioning, which also negatively affects human societies whose livelihoods are dependent on stable ecosystems. This dissertation explores the mechanisms and consequences of land-use change for medium and large mammals, and the interplay between conservation and livelihoods in Monteverde, Costa Rica. The Neotropics is one of the most biodiverse and threatened regions in the world. Medium-large mammals are important study species as they have a disproportionate impact on ecosystem processes. In this study, we investigated the presence of an ecological threshold between forest loss and medium-large mammal species richness. We found that there was no detectable threshold, and species richness was a poor biodiversity indicator to represent the relationship between forest cover and biodiversity response. Average community and species-specific occupancy provided more valuable information on the importance of forest cover for mammal persistence. These findings revealed that: 1) forest cover is important for supporting the mammal community in Monteverde, 2) the use of ecological thresholds, and species richness as a standalone biodiversity metric may not provide the most reliable inferences for conservation action and should be used with caution. We also examined whether habitat loss and fragmentation have independent effects on biodiversity. This study revealed that habitat loss and fragmentation did have divergent effects on biodiversity, which differed in their strength and direction, depending on the amount of habitat in a landscape. Fragmentation effects were particularly strong and negative in landscapes with intermediate levels of remnant habitat. These findings contribute knowledge to the habitat loss vs fragmentation debate, and help guide the most effective conservation strategies across fragmented landscapes. Finally, we examined the perspectives of local people to better understand the conservation context of the Bellbird Biological Corridor (CBPC) and inform more integrative solutions to improve conservation efforts while supporting livelihoods. We found that current practices require improvement to more fully address conservation concerns and support livelihoods. Overall, these findings suggest that greater engagement between local people and conservation institutions would be beneficial to develop collaborative solutions that benefit nature and land-users. The electronic version of this dissertation is accessible from https://hdl.handle.net/1969.1/198043 |
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