The deadly route to collapse and the uncertain fate of Brazilian rupestrian grasslands

Fernandes, Geraldo Wilson; Barbosa, Marcos Pinotti; Alberton, Bruna; Barbieri, Alisson Flávio; Dirzo, Rodolfo; Goulart, Fernando Figueiredo; Guerra, Tadeu J.; Morellato, Leonor Patrícia Cerdeira; Solar, Ricardo

doi:10.1007/s10531-018-1556-4

Cited by 85 publications

(60 citation statements)

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“…In such systems, environmental conditions (e.g., relative humidity, precipitation, geological substrates, air temperature, and some geophysical and climatic trends) change with increasing elevation over short spatial distances, affecting species distributions and allowing evolutionary and ecological studies to be performed (e.g., Fernandes & Price, ; Körner, ; Sundqvist, Sanders & Wardle, ). Ecological studies in mountains around the globe are increasing owing to the great importance of mountains in biodiversity and ecosystem services (e.g., Antonelli et al., ; Price, ; Resende, Fernandes & Coelho, ) but primarily because of the fragility of their ecosystems and because of threats imposed by climate change (e.g., Fernandes et al., ; Loarie et al., ; Sundqvist et al., ). While greater attention has been devoted to tall mountains, short, ancient, and eroded tropical mountains harbor equivalent or even greater biodiversity and high levels of endemism (Fernandes et al., , ; Schaefer et al., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Ecological studies in mountains around the globe are increasing owing to the great importance of mountains in biodiversity and ecosystem services (e.g., Antonelli et al., ; Price, ; Resende, Fernandes & Coelho, ) but primarily because of the fragility of their ecosystems and because of threats imposed by climate change (e.g., Fernandes et al., ; Loarie et al., ; Sundqvist et al., ). While greater attention has been devoted to tall mountains, short, ancient, and eroded tropical mountains harbor equivalent or even greater biodiversity and high levels of endemism (Fernandes et al., , ; Schaefer et al., ). In Southeast Brazil, the Espinhaço mountain chain stretches over 1200 km and 10 degrees of latitude and shelters the springs of many important rivers.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beta diversity of aquatic invertebrates increases along an altitudinal gradient in a Neotropical mountain

et al. 2019

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Mountains harbor rich biodiversity and high levels of endemism, particularly due to changes in environmental conditions over short spatial distances, which affects species distribution and composition. Studies on mountain ecosystems are increasingly needed, as mountains are highly threatened despite providing ecosystem services, such as water supply for half of the human population. We aimed to understand the patterns and drivers of alpha and beta diversities of aquatic invertebrates in headwater streams along an altitudinal gradient in the second largest South American mountain range, the Espinhaço mountains. Headwater streams were selected at each 100 m of elevation along an altitudinal gradient ranging from 800 to 1400 m asl, where three substrate types per stream were sampled: leaf litter, gravel, and cobbles. Environmental variables were sampled to represent local riparian canopy cover, instream physical habitat, water quality, climatic data, and land use. Generalized linear models and mixed models were used to test relationships between altitude and the richness and abundance of invertebrates and to assess the influence of environmental variables on the same metrics. Patterns of spatial variation in aquatic invertebrate assemblages along the altitudinal gradient were assessed using multiplicative beta diversity partitioning.The richness and abundance of aquatic invertebrates decreased with increasing altitude, whereas beta diversity increased with increasing altitude. Significant differences in assemblage composition and in relative abundance of invertebrates were observed for both substrates and altitude. We thus show that the high regional beta diversity in aquatic ecosystems in the studied site is due to the high turnover among areas.Abstract in Portuguese is available with online material. K E Y W O R D Saquatic ecosystems, elevation, macroinvertebrate assemblages, mountain ecology, rupestrian grassland, species distribution

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beta diversity of aquatic invertebrates increases along an altitudinal gradient in a Neotropical mountain

et al. 2019

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“…The vegetation of campo rupestre in Serra do Cipó is characterized by a high richness of plant species, with about 125 families of phanerogams with more than 2000 species of plants listed [35]. In addition, it presents high levels of endemism and several endangered species [3, 36, 34, 37]. The soil is shallow and often prevents large tree species from being established [38].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…dispersion and speciation, migration and extinction), local physical conditions and interactions among species [1, 2]. On a local scale, abiotic factors have an important influence on the structuring of plant communities, such as the availability of water and soil nutrients [34] in addition to interactions with other organisms, such as microbes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi [5, 6, 7]. In turn, the distribution of plant communities strongly affects the community structure of other organisms that directly depend on them as resources, such as herbivores and parasitic plants [8, 9, 10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among them, the mistletoe Struthanthus flexicaulis is a common generalist hemiparasite in campos rupestres, with more than 60 species recorded as hosts within at least 24 families of woody plants [25, 9]. The campo rupestre ecosystem is subject to significant anthropic pressure such as mining and road construction [3, 34], and in degraded areas the native pioneer shrub, Baccharis dracunculifolia, whose populations form patches, often dominates the plant community [3, 10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The mistletoe Struthanthus flexicaulis reduces dominance and increases diversity of plants in campo rupestre

Monteiro

Barbosa

Antonini

et al. 2020

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24The interaction between hemiparasites and their host plants is an important structuring 25 mechanism for plant communities. The mistletoe Struthanthus flexicaulis (Loranthaceae) is 26 widely distributed in the campo rupestre ecosystem and likely has an important role in 27 structuring the communities of which its hosts are part. The main goals of this study were to 28 investigate the effects of parasitism by S. flexicaulis on host plants in a degraded area of 29 campo rupestre and to determine how parasitism affects characteristics of the structure of this 30 plant community over time. We found that parasitized plants had smaller crowns and branch 31 growth, and suffered lower mortality compared to non-parasitized plants. Parasitism by S. 32 flexicaulis decreased dominance and increased the diversity and evenness of plants in the 33 community over time. Parasitism leads to competition with the host for water and nutrients, 34 which may decrease the performance of the host and, consequently, leading to host death. 35The high mortality of the most abundant plant species led to a restructured woody plant 36 community. These results reinforce the importance of parasitic plants as key species for 37 maintaining species diversity in plant communities. 38 39 Chain 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 3 50 51 52 53 54 Identifying the factors that control the distribution, abundance and diversity of species 55 is important to understand the structuring of ecological communities. Communities are 56 structured according to climatic and historical variations (e.g. dispersion and speciation, 57 migration and extinction), local physical conditions and interactions among species [1, 2]. 58 On a local scale, abiotic factors have an important influence on the structuring of plant 59 communities, such as the availability of water and soil nutrients [34] in addition to 60 interactions with other organisms, such as microbes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi [5, 6, 61 7]. In turn, the distribution of plant communities strongly affects the community structure of 62 other organisms that directly depend on them as resources, such as herbivores and parasitic 63 plants [8, 9, 10]. 64 Among parasitic plants, hemiparasites are those capable of photosynthesis, but 65 depend on their hosts for water and nutrients [11]. The susceptibility to attack by 66 hemiparasitic plants (determined by chemical, physiological and physical processes at the 67 parasite-host interface) varies between plant species, and therefore, local abundance and the 68 degree of susceptibility of plants in a community are key factors for the successful 69 colonization of hemiparasites in the environment [12, 13, 14]. In addition, the seeds of the 70 hemiparasitic plants are mostly dispersed by birds, which can lead to a differential deposition 71 of seeds on the host plants according to the preferences of the birds for certain perches [15, 72 16, 17]. Generally, larger plants with more branched tops are more attractive perches for 4 73birds, leading to a greater abundance...

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Beta diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages associated with leaf patches in neotropical montane streams

Callisto

Linares

Kiffer

et al. 2021

Ecology and Evolution

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The deadly route to collapse and the uncertain fate of Brazilian rupestrian grasslands

Cited by 85 publications

References 57 publications

Beta diversity of aquatic invertebrates increases along an altitudinal gradient in a Neotropical mountain

Beta diversity of aquatic invertebrates increases along an altitudinal gradient in a Neotropical mountain

The mistletoe Struthanthus flexicaulis reduces dominance and increases diversity of plants in campo rupestre

Beta diversity of aquatic macroinvertebrate assemblages associated with leaf patches in neotropical montane streams

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