Habitat loss and fragmentation reduce population sizes and increase isolation between populations. To better understand how functional connectivity is affected by habitat modification over large scales, we here applied a meta-population framework to the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, a highly degraded and fragmented biodiversity hotspot. Other studies have used mainly hypothetical or estimated dispersal values for connectivity calculation which may not be reflective of species requirements. Here, we collated dispersal values for 45 species of birds, 5 mammals and 4 insects and found that 50% of the Atlantic Forest species can cross only up to 150 m of open gaps between forest patches. Because of the high levels of fragmentation, the median size of a functionally connected network of fragments in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest only decreased from 15 ha to 14 ha when the crossable distance considered was reduced from 150 m to 0 m. We show that for species solely reliant on native forest habitat, a large proportion of the remaining Atlantic Forest fragments represent many small and isolated populations with few large connected areas. Our results support further evidence that for future management and restoration to be successful, existing connectivity must be vastly improved to provide forest areas large enough to support viable populations.

栖息地的丧失和分裂减少了人口规模，增加了人口之间的隔离。为了更好地了解栖息地大规模改造对功能连通性的影响，我们在此对巴西大西洋森林（一个高度退化和零散的生物多样性热点地区）应用了超种群框架。其他研究主要将假设或估计的分散值用于连接性计算，这可能无法反映物种需求。在这里，我们整理了45种鸟类，5种哺乳动物和4种昆虫的扩散值，发现50％的大西洋森林物种只能穿越森林斑块之间最大150 m的开放间隙。由于碎片化程度很高，当考虑的可穿越距离从150 m减小到0 m时，巴西大西洋森林中功能连接的碎片网络的中值大小仅从15公顷减小到14公顷。我们表明，对于仅依赖于本地森林栖息地的物种，大部分剩余的大西洋森林碎片代表着许多小而孤立的种群，几乎没有大的连通区域。我们的结果支持进一步的证据表明，要想成功地进行未来的管理和恢复，必须大大改善现有的连通性，以提供足够大的森林面积来支持可行的种群。大部分剩余的大西洋森林碎片代表许多小而孤立的种群，几乎没有大的连通区域。我们的结果支持进一步的证据表明，要想成功地进行未来的管理和恢复，必须大大改善现有的连通性，以提供足够大的森林面积来支持可行的种群。大部分剩余的大西洋森林碎片代表许多小而孤立的种群，几乎没有大的连通区域。我们的结果支持进一步的证据表明，要想成功地进行未来的管理和恢复，必须大大改善现有的连通性，以提供足够大的森林面积来支持可行的种群。