A new locally collected environmental quality indicator for rainforests

Abstract

Measuring environmental degradation with bioindicators, landscape metrics, and remote sensing helps understand impact on biota. However, data on anthropogenic pressures such as plant exploitation, poaching and invasive species are crucial. We created an Anthropogenic Influence Index (AII) for medium and large mammals at the Atlantic Forest based on local environmental quality indicators and tested its correlation with existing indices, such as the Global Human Influence Index (GHII), landscape metrics and social-economic indicators. We found no correlation between the AII and the GHII, indicating that remote sensing-collected data may not reflect local and specific anthropogenic impacts on the environment. In addition, there was a correlation between the AII and the Human Development Index, drawing attention to the direct relationship between income, education and life expectancy and the incidence of environmental impacts. Thus, the AII appears to better capture local nuances of environmental impacts, particularly those significant for medium and large mammals, compared to other indicators such as GHII, human density, and landscape metrics.