Strong floristic distinctiveness across Neotropical successional forests

Abstract

Forests that regrow naturally on abandoned fields are important for restoring biodiversity and ecosystem services, but can they also preserve the distinct regional tree floras? Using the floristic composition of 1215 early successional forests (≤20 years) in 75 human-modified landscapes across the Neotropic realm, we identified 14 distinct floristic groups, with a between-group dissimilarity of 0.97. Floristic groups were associated with location, bioregions, soil pH, temperature seasonality, and water availability. Hence, there is large continental-scale variation in the species composition of early successional forests, which is mainly associated with biogeographic and environmental factors but not with human disturbance indicators. This floristic distinctiveness is partially driven by regionally restricted species belonging to widespread genera. Early secondary forests contribute therefore to restoring and conserving the distinctiveness of bioregions across the Neotropical realm, and forest restoration initiatives should use local species to assure that these distinct floras are maintained.

Changes in floristic and vegetation structure in a chronosequence of abandoned gold-mining lands in a tropical Amazon forest

“…O. pyramidale , S. humboldtiana and T. micrantha were found as indicators of poles and mature trees in the 5-year-old stand. This suggests that O. pyramidale , S. humboldtiana and T. micrantha generate favorable conditions for the establishment of early and late secondary species [ 46 , 47 ]. Among saplings, we found other indicator species, including pioneers such as C. laevigata , C. membranacea and T. integrifolia , as well as species from early successional stages, such as S. parahyba , M. lanceolata, and H. acuminata ( Fig.…”

Feedback loops drive ecological succession; towards a unified conceptual framework

“…Variation in the floristic composition of similar-aged successional communities within a landscape has been related to characteristics of and legacies from the prior land use , differences in soil type and fertility (Pinho et al, 2018;van Breugel et al, 2019), patch size (Phillips & Shure, 1990;Shumway & Bertness, 1994), surrounding vegetation cover, and landscape connectivity (Damschen & Brudvig, 2012;Arroyo-Rodríguez et al, 2017). At larger spatial scales (regional to continental), successional trajectories are constrained by natural and anthropogenic factors and processes (Walker & Wardle, 2014), such as climate (e.g., Poorter et al, 2016), soil types (e.g., Sande et al, 2022), biogeography (Jakovac et al, 2022), hunting pressure (Chritz et al, 2016), and landscape transformation (Pérez-Cárdenas et al, 2021).…”

Complementing seedling planting with nucleation techniques increases forest restoration potential in areas around bauxite mining

“…The passive restoration method promotes the spontaneous recovery of vegetation by removing the disturbance source and is considered cost-effective in tropical ecosystems (Crouzeilles et al, 2017;Holl, 2017;Jakovac et al, 2022;Tonetti et al, 2022;Villa et al, 2019). Conversely, the active restoration method consists of direct anthropic intervention through techniques such as seedling planting in rows, green manure, and nucleation, aiming to accelerate the recovery process of forest structure and biodiversity (Campanharo et al, 2021;Fonseca et al, 2023).…”