0000000000085057
AUTHOR
Rafael S. Bueno
Pine stand density influences the regeneration of Acacia saligna (Labill.) H.L.Wendl. and native woody species in a mediterranean coastal pine plantation
Mediterranean plantations are the most suitable areas to assess vegetation dynamics and competitive interactions between native and exotic woody species. Our research was carried out in a coastal pine plantation (Sicily) where renaturalization by native species (Pistacia lentiscus L. and Olea europaea var. sylvestris) and invasion by Acacia saligna (Labill.) H.L.Wendl. simultaneously occur. The regeneration pattern of woody species in the pine understory was evaluated in six experimental plots along a stand density gradient, from 200 to approximately 700 pines per hectare. Both pine stand density and regeneration by native species had a significant negative relationship with Acacia natural …
Priority areas for the conservation of Atlantic forest large mammals
Large mammal faunas in tropical forest landscapes are widely affected by habitat fragmentation and hunting, yet the environmental determinants of their patterns of abundance remain poorly understood at large spatial scales. We analysed population abundance and biomass of 31 species of medium to large-bodied mammal species at 38 Atlantic forest sites (including three islands, 26 forest fragments and six continuous forest sites) as related to forest type, level of hunting pressure and forest fragment size using ANCOVAs. We also derived a novel measure of mammal conservation importance for each site based on a "Mammalian Conservation Priority index" (MPi) which incorporates information on spec…
Defaunation and biomass collapse of mammals in the largest Atlantic forest remnant
Large continuous rainforests are the main hope for sustaining the population of large-bodied vertebrates that cannot cope with fragmentation or unsustainable hunting. The Brazilian Atlantic forest is considered a biodiversity hotspot and although highly fragmented, it still contains large forest patches that may be important for the conservation of mammals that require large areas. Here, we estimated species richness, density and biomass of medium- and large-sized mammals along the largest remnant of the Atlantic rainforest, Brazil (the Serra do Mar bioregion), an estimated area of 8000 km2. We recorded 44 species based on 4090 km of diurnal line transects and camera traps, animal tracks an…
Limited potential for bird migration to disperse plants to cooler latitudes
Climate change is forcing the redistribution of life on Earth at an unprecedented velocity1,2. Migratory birds are thought to help plants to track climate change through long-distance seed dispersal3,4. However, seeds may be consistently dispersed towards cooler or warmer latitudes depending on whether the fruiting period of a plant species coincides with northward or southward migrations. Here we assess the potential of plant communities to keep pace with climate change through long-distance seed dispersal by migratory birds. To do so, we combine phenological and migration information with data on 949 seed-dispersal interactions between 46 bird and 81 plant species from 13 woodland communi…
Past cover modulates the intense and spatially structured natural regeneration of woody vegetation in a pastureland
Made available in DSpace on 2020-12-12T02:34:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2020-03-01 Università degli Studi di Palermo Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca Vegetation natural regeneration after agricultural abandonment is changing the landscape patterns in many areas worldwide. However, the expansion rate, spatio-temporal dynamics, and the role of past vegetation cover in shaping such patterns are still barely quantified in fine and meso scales. Here, we aim to quantify the expansion rate and assess the spatio-temporal patterns and the effects of past cover on natural woody vegetation cover increase. We sampled woodland and shrubland cover from …