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SPecies Abundance REsponse to Forest landscape degradation (SPARE-Forest) dataset

Degradation of intact forest landscapes through the loss and degradation of forest ecosystems is a major threat to global biodiversity, with widespread negative impacts on wild species and their assemblages. Quantifying the nature and severity of such impacts constitutes a critical basis for understanding the fate of the world’s biodiversity and devising conservation interventions. To date, there has yet to be a systematic effort to curate field datasets from around the world that measure how species’ abundances respond to specific forms of forest loss and degradation, for entire species assemblages. To fill this gap, we introduce SPARE-Forest 1.0 (SPecies Abundance REsponse to Forest landscape degradation), the inaugurating version of a growing global database on species abundance responses—for entire assemblages—to various forms of forest loss and degradation. SPARE-Forest 1.0 focuses on birds and two leading forms of forest degradation: the conversion of old-growth forests to secondary forests following deforestation, and the conversion of native forests to tree plantations. Compiled through systematic literature search and with input of primary study authors, it includes 8,956 species-level abundance records from 112 bird assemblages in matched degradation–baseline forest pairs across 24 countries, together with key covariate data and methodological information. In all, SPARE-Forest 1.0 presents data on 2,033 species from 43 primary studies published through 2022, in the most extensive data compilation and curation effort to date for its scope. It can support meta-analyses and other forms of data syntheses related to understanding the ecological impacts of two important forms of forest degradation, including for example the magnitude and variability of species abundance responses, their relationship with functional traits, and broad biogeographical patterns. SPARE-Forest 1.0 will be maintained and expanded through ongoing literature monitoring and data contributions. More importantly, future versions of SPARE-Forest will expand the scope of data curation to include other major taxonomic groups (e.g., other terrestrial vertebrates and certain invertebrates), as well as other forms of forest loss and degradation (e.g., deforestation of native forests to agriculture, and the degradation of old-growth forests by selective logging). The goal is for SPARE-Forest to provide an extensive, robust, and growing empirical evidence base for understanding and bettering the prospect of biodiversity to persist under increasing human modifications of the world’s forest ecosystems and landscapes.