Exotic and invasive species compromise the seed bank and seed rain dynamics in forests undergoing restoration at urban regions.
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2017
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The control of exotic and invasive species in
areas undergoing recovery is a challenge for ecological
restoration and this problem may be even greater in
urbanized areas. This study evaluated the seed bank and
seed rain of a 5-year-old riparian forest located at the
metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte in southeast Brazil,
and verified changes over time in the abundance and species
richness and whether planted species already were
providing propagules to the site. At the forest, fifteen
parcels of 100 m2 were distributed randomly and soil
samples were collected thrice (October 2011, March 2012
and July 2012) to evaluate the seed bank. Seed traps were
installed in nine parcels to collect propagules over 1 year.
Propagules were segregated and germinate at greenhouse.
Species richness and abundance were estimated, and variance
and similarity were quantified. In total, 86 species
were recorded in the seed banks, 41.9% natives and 33.7%
exotics, with the predominance of herbs (87.2%) and only
7% of trees. Species classified as weeds amounted to
52.3%. In the seed rain 642 seedlings germinated but they
belonged to only 10 species, half of them were exotics.
Regarding life forms, half of the species were arboreal and
dominated the samples, highlighting the exotic species
Melia azedarach. The species richness of the seed bank did
not differ by season, unlike the seed rain which varied
significantly by month. Seed bank and seed rain species
had a very low floristic similarity with the list of planted
species, suggesting that few planted trees had dispersed or
were stocking propagules. Many non-planted species were
recorded, mostly exotics and/or invasive that were probably
derived from the surrounding urban matrix. These
might interrupt the successional dynamics of the restoration
forest and compromise the restoration process in the
medium and long-terms. Our results highlight: (1) the
importance of monitoring areas undergoing restoration; (2)
that restoration methods and management actions directed
to control exotic and invasive species are particularly
important for sites in urban regions; and (3) the relevance
of conserving forest fragments as sources of propagules for
nearby areas.
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Exotic plants, Monitoring indicators, Restoration ecology, Urban forests
Citação
LONDE, V.; SOUSA, H. C. de.; KOZOVITS, A. R. Exotic and invasive species compromise the seed bank and seed rain dynamics in forests undergoing restoration at urban regions. Journal of Forestry Research, v. 28, p.1019–1026, 2017. Disponível em: <https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11676-017-0370-2>. Acesso em: 25 ago. 2017.