Local biodiversity erosion in South Brazilian grasslands under moderate levels of landscape habitat loss

Habitat loss is one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, causing negative effects on the biodiversity of natural vegetation remnants. Brazil’s southern grasslands belong to one of the largest temperate grassland regions in the world and stretch over two biomes. 50% of their natural extent in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil’s southernmost state, has been lost in only 35 years due to agricultural expansion. To date, there is no empirical evidence for the effects of habitat loss on these grasslands' biological diversity, undermining their conservation. Using data from a large-scale biodiversity survey, we asked here if local plant communities respond to levels of habitat loss representative…