Long-Term Habitat Restoration and Its Impacts on Predator-Prey Relationships and Species Richness in Tropical Forest Ecosystems

Abstract

Long-term ecological rehabilitation is critical in addressing the devastating effects of anthropogenic degradation and fragmentation on tropical rainforest ecosystems that harbor a great deal of biodiversity. This paper examines the process of recovery of structure and function in degraded tropical forests over a period of twenty years and evaluates its impacts directly on predator-prey interactions at the multi-trophic level and species richness as a whole. Using a robust BACI experimental design, multi-species animal populations have been studied in five separate forest layers using both camera trapping techniques and acoustic recordings, as well as local transect sampling methods. Results from the study clearly show a non-linear pattern in species richness, where the increase was 42% and 34% in birds and mammals, respectively, in rehabilitated areas versus degraded control areas. Most importantly, mathematical modeling of the interactions between trophic levels showed that structural re-vegetation had successfully reinstated prey-predator coupling through predator lagging to achieve equilibrium population density. The findings demonstrate that, in addition to restoring local taxonomic diversity, strategic modifications of the habitat also allow for the restoration of important ecosystem processes such as apex predation and seed predator food chains. The protracted process of restoring specialized keystone interactions demonstrates that achieving true ecological equilibrium takes more than 20 years of protective conservation efforts. This study offers compelling evidence-based insights into forest ecosystem management, showing that effective ecological rehabilitation can be achieved through proactive and long-term management strategies.