Conceptual model depicting the response of tree species to plot-level (local) and landscape forest canopy cover.

The colored trees represent individuals of the target species, and the grey circumferences represent the borders of the sampling units (i.e. circular plots) that are placed across the landscape. (A) The species responds negatively to forest loss at either local (plot-level) and landscape scales (the entire area within the top-left panel), and thus it only occurs in extensively forested areas. (B) The species responds positively to forest loss at both scales, and therefore it tends to grow in extensively deforested areas. (C) The species responds negatively to forest loss at the local scale, but positively at the landscape scale. As such, it tends to occur in isolated forest fragments. (D) The target species responds positively to forest loss at the local scale, but negatively at the landscape scale, meaning that it is an early successional species that regenerates mainly within forest gaps.