Data from: Matrix type and landscape attributes modulate avian taxonomic and functional spillover across habitat boundaries in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Land use intensification drives biodiversity loss worldwide. In
heterogeneous landscape mosaics, both overall forest area and
anthropogenic matrix structure induce changes in biological communities in
primary habitat remnants. However, community changes via cross-habitat
spillover processes along forest-matrix interfaces remain poorly
understood. Moreover, information on how landscape attributes affect
spillover processes across habitat boundaries are embryonic. Here, we
quantify avian  and β-diversity (as proxies of spillover rates) across
two dominant types of forest-matrix interfaces (forest-pasture and
forest-eucalyptus plantation) within the Atlantic Forest biodiversity
hotspot in southeast Brazil. We also assess the effects of anthropogenic
matrix type and landscape attributes (forest cover, edge density and
land-use diversity) on bird taxonomic and functional β-diversity across
forest-matrix boundaries. Alpha taxonomic richness was higher in forest
edges than within both matrix types, but between matrix types, it was
higher in pastures than in eucalyptus plantations. Although significantly
higher in forests edges than in the adjacent eucalyptus, bird functional
richness did not differ between forest edges and adjacent pastures.
Community changes (β-diversity) related to species and functional
replacements (turnover component) were higher across forest-pasture
boundaries, whereas changes related to species and functional loss (nested
component) were higher across forest-eucalyptus boundaries. Forest edges
adjacent to eucalyptus had significant higher species and functional
replacements than forest edges adjacent to pastures. Forest cover
negatively influenced functional β-diversity across both forest-pasture
and forest-eucalyptus interfaces. We show the importance of matrix type
and the structure of surrounding landscapes (mainly forest cover) on rates
of bird assemblage spillover across forest-matrix boundaries, which has
profound implications to biological fluxes, ecosystem functioning and
land-use management in human-modified landscapes.