Factors affecting the genesis of vegetation patches in anthropogenic pastures in the Atlantic forest domain in Brazil

Scervino, Renata Picolo; Torezan, José Marcelo Domingues

doi:10.1080/17550874.2015.1044582

Cited by 8 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Higher plant biodiversity in naturally regenerating forests also supports higher levels of heterogeneity in vegetation structure ( 13 ). In early successional stages, naturally regenerated systems can exhibit a patchy distribution of trees with more variable tree density ( 26 ) and slower rates of biomass accumulation per hectare ( 27 , 28 ) than in active restoration systems. Nonetheless, these differences tend to diminish as ecological succession proceeds ( 15 ), especially because the time elapsed since restoration started is the main driver of forest restoration success for a range of measures of vegetation structure ( 29 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological restoration success is higher for natural regeneration than for active restoration in tropical forests

et al. 2017

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological restoration success is higher for natural regeneration than for active restoration in tropical forests

et al. 2017

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“…For all forest patches, we delimited a one-kilometre buffer area where set-asides could potentially occur; set-asides were restricted to this potential set-aside area (PSA). This distance is a threshold for natural regeneration in the BAF (Scervino and Torezan, 2015).…”

Section: Potential Set-aside Area (Psa Ha)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial conservation planning with ecological and economic feedback effects

Larrosa

Carrasco

Tambosi

et al. 2019

Biological Conservation

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Most spatial conservation prioritisations being implemented across the globe are based on static approaches to conservation planning. These use snapshots of systems to support decision-making. However, ignoring the dynamic nature of systems can result in misleading spatial prioritisations and missed opportunities to encourage participation in conservation programmes. Using a modelling approach, we show that integrating economic and ecological feedbacks into conservation planning improved social and ecological outcomes. We developed an approach that enabled accounting for feedbacks of farmland set-asides using a popular conservation planning tool. We empirically assessed the impact of ignoring feedbacks on plans to restore the Brazilian Atlantic Forest by comparing outcomes of our approach and a widely used static approach. The proposed approach attained better conservation outcomes than a static approach, at about 7% lower cost, while also allowing more farmers to benefit economically from the set-aside scheme through capitalising on the differences between their opportunity costs and the amount paid by the scheme.Accounting for feedbacks led to substantially different areas being prioritised for farmland set-asides, and to more farmers being included in the set-aside scheme.These results show important benefits from understanding, and then working with, feedbacks that inevitably accompany large-scale conservation interventions. Our approach is the first to integrate both environmental and economic feedbacks into spatial conservation planning, and model information rent capture. In doing so, it demonstrates how existing economic incentives can be used to encourage farmers to join a conservation set-aside, while still resulting in a lower overall intervention cost.

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“…However, the maintenance of these services and the conservation role that riparian forests provide may be affected by the regional landscape that surrounds the water course, and by the width and composition of the riparian vegetation associated with them (Campos and Landgraf, 2001;Donadio, Galbiatti and Paula, 2005). Studies in tropical regions points out that agricultural and pastures can play an intense restriction to native forest species maintenance and regeneration (Smit, Den Ouden and Müller-Schãrer, 2006;Sampaio, Holl and Scariot, 2007;Scervino and Torezan, 2015;Cury et al, 2020). Furthermore, to riparian forests, pastures landscapes and discontinuous narrow riparian vegetation along watercourses showed to be more susceptible to biological invasion by grasses and scrubs associated with anthropogenic areas than large continuous vegetation areas (Dislich, Kisser and Pivello, 2002;Feld et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Usually, the grasses that presents this behavior are represented by species with highly competitive capacity and Brazilian Journal of Animal and Environmental Research, Curitiba, v.6, n.1, p. 313-334, jan./mar. 2023 efficient seed dispersal, and in many cases, associated with fire events (Puerta, 2002;Ribeiro et al, 2006;Scervino and Torezan, 2015;Cury et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tree diversity in riparian forests immersed in a pasture with Urochloa decumbens (Stapf) R.D. Webster (Poaceae) grass under domain of the Atlantic Forest, Brazil

Scervino¹,

Canto²,

Queiroga³

2023

Braz. J. Anim. Environ. Res.

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The riparian vegetation along water courses and the health of the river’s basin, regarding the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems associated with them, are widely discussed in literature. However, the maintenance of the services and the conservation role that riparian forests provide to flora and fauna may be affected by the regional matrix that surrounds the water course and by the length and composition of the riparian vegetation associated with them. This study aimed to evaluate the relationships among the grass cover and arboreal species diversity in three watercourses surrounded by a pasture dominated with the alien grass Uroclhoa decumbens (Stapf) R.D. Webster (former Brachiaria decumbens). Two hypotheses were tested: (i) watercourses with larger riparian forest width present higher richness and abundance of native and zoochoric tree species and those associated to late succession stages, and (ii) watercourses with larger riparian forest width present a lower grass cover on their interior. The study was conducted under domain of Semideciduous Seasonal Forest, belonging to the Atlantic Forest biome, municipality of Londrina, Paraná State, south Brazil. The regional climate is Köppen’s Cfa humid subtropical. The soil is classified as a mosaic of eutroferric red nitosols and lithosols. The studied sites mostly comprise pasture with U. decumbens alien grass and small patches of woody vegetation amidst an open pasture dominated by species attributed to the first’s stages of secondary succession. The studied site is immersed in Cambé’s River watershed and contain three watercourses, Cristal River, tributary to São Lourenço River, that, in turn, is tributary to Cambé River. All watercourses are classified as small rivers (Brazilian Forestry Code, federal law: n. 12.651/2012), with length inferior to 10 m between both riversides. The riparian vegetation shares similar characteristics and structure, encompassing woody vegetation with pioneer trees species and high canopy openness. All riparian forests are immersed in pastures with U. decumbens grass. Transects of 200 meters long, measuring one meter wide from the line on both sides of the transect, and one square plot (25 m2) were allocated on the interior of each riparian forest. Transects were evaluated as arboreal species richness and the length of the riparian forest strip. In each plot, the arboreal vegetation was inventoried as species richness, abundance and density, and the U. decumbens cover was measured. The riparian forest width was arranged in two classes, forests with width ≤ 5 m or ≥ 10 m. The studied forests were compared as richness, abundance, density, and grass cover. The correlations among the riparian vegetation with the forest width and grass coverage (%) were evaluated. Species richness, abundance and density did not differ among the watercourses. However, species abundance and density presented positive correlations with the riparian forest width, indicating that the larger is the riparian vegetation, the higher is the species density. Grass cover presents a strong negative correlation with the riparian forest width, indicating that narrow strips of woody vegetation present higher grass cover. A high positive correlation was observed with riparian strip width and native trees, suggesting that native woody species establishment is limited by the riparian strip width and that those rustic trees species are more capable to colonize these environments. Also, the correlation found with species that present abiotic syndromes and pioneer species indicates that trees that can colonize open areas are more suitable to establish on narrow strips of vegetation amidst a pasture. The relationships observed with zoochoric trees suggests that the fauna that visits these forests are tolerant to open areas and visit these areas independently of their vegetation width. The larger riparian forests present lower grass cover and these can be related to shadow micro-sites that reduce the luminosity which can affect the permanence potential of the dominance of U. decumbens. In this way, the data suggests that few plants can establish in these pasture landscape, and those more rustic trees which are able to establish under open areas, high grass cover and canopy openness, and that re-sprout after a fire, became more dominant. For these watercourses, with narrow riparian vegetation strips surrounded by an U. decumbens pasture, the high grass cover can restrict and plant diversity, acting on the course and velocity of secondary succession in these areas.

show abstract

Factors affecting the genesis of vegetation patches in anthropogenic pastures in the Atlantic forest domain in Brazil

Cited by 8 publications

References 37 publications

Ecological restoration success is higher for natural regeneration than for active restoration in tropical forests

Ecological restoration success is higher for natural regeneration than for active restoration in tropical forests

Spatial conservation planning with ecological and economic feedback effects

Tree diversity in riparian forests immersed in a pasture with Urochloa decumbens (Stapf) R.D. Webster (Poaceae) grass under domain of the Atlantic Forest, Brazil

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