Ten microsatellite markers were developed using next-generation sequencing data for Alibertia edulis (Rubiaceae), a widely distributed species typical of Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) vegetation. The markers were polymorphic in the two populations analyzed. The numbers of alleles, and observed (H O ) and expected (H E ) heterozygosities per polymorphic locus ranged from 2 to 11, 0.091 to 1.0, and 0.100 to 0.937 respectively. The SSR loci demonstrated moderate to high polymorphism values in both populations analyzed, with PIC values ranging from 0.26 to 0.91, and total allele numbers ranging from three to 16. The inbreeding coefficient values were generally higher in the Piauí population (ranging from − 0.593 to 0.762) than in the Mato Grosso population (ranging from − 1 to 0.575). The differences observed between those disjunct populations suggest they harbor different alleles, which has implications for Cerrado conservation strategies. Those loci will be useful for population studies of A. edulis.
Global food demand is expected to increase in the next decades pushing agricultural expansion and deforestation. However, food production in agricultural lands is just one dimension of food security, to which forest goods and services also contribute. In this paper, we aimed to explore the relationship between forest cover and food security. We hypothesised that food security is improved by both human-made and green infrastructure combined. To test this relationship, we explore the relationships between forest cover and a multidimensional index of food security that included both socioeconomic and natural variables taken from Brazilian official databases for 1,141 municipalities of the Brazilian Caatinga (a seasonally tropical dry forest). The index was formed by 12 principal components axes (12 PCs) and we found that financial poverty (PC 1) and economic inequality (PC 2) were the main determinants of food insecurity in Caatinga. We found that lowest food security values were found in two contrasting contexts: one is represented by poor and unequal municipalities with high forest cover while the other refers to poor and less unequal municipalities but with little forest cover. Municipalities with intermediate levels of forest cover had slightly higher food security, a consistent pattern across time (2006 and 2017). Win-win scenarios where both forest cover and food security increased with time were almost as common as lose-lose situations (25% and 22% respectively). This suggests a sort of balance between forests and human-made land uses and reinforces that natural capital contributes to food security. Zero-hunger is a main issue for sustainable development goals and our results adds to the notion that both sustainable use of forests and socioeconomic improvements must coexist rather than being treated as antagonistic policies.
Invasive species are one of the most important threats to ecosystems. While invasive plants can interact directly with native pollinators, wind-pollinated grasses can also indirectly affect plant-pollinator networks by changing plant and animal community composition and, ultimately, decreasing ecosystem functioning. Here, we investigated the effect of invasive grass on pollinator richness, visitation number, and the structure of plant-pollinator networks. Further, we tested the impact of the non-native honeybee on pollinator richness, visitation number, and network structure in the Caatinga. Invasive grass negatively affected native pollinators and reduced visitation number on native plants. The dominance of the invasive grass increase plant competition, which led to an increased of niche overlap among native pollinators but did not affect the number of visits by non-native honeybees. However, increase in visitation number by honeybees reduced native pollinator richness by 60%. Our findings suggest a negative potentialized effect of invasive grass and non-native honeybee on the native plant-pollinator dynamics. The invasive grasses reduce the number of pollinators visits indirectly through changes in plant community composition that may reduce the attractiveness of patches dominated by invasive grasses. Honeybees were not affected by the invasive grass but reduced the richness of native pollinator species and the number of visits they perform, suggesting an important effect of biological invasion on ecosystem resilience. Our research helps to understand how invasive species, directly and indirectly, impact the plant-pollinator interactions and his influence on ecosystem functioning in abandoned lands in dry semiarid ecosystems.
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