Everything's not lost: Caatinga areas under chronic disturbances still have well-preserved plant communities

IF 2.6 3区 环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY
Maria Soraya Macêdo , Bruno Sousa Menezes , Marie Pierre Ledru , Jean-François Mas , Fernanda Kelly Gomes Silva , Carlos Eduardo Carvalho , Rafael Carvalho Costa , Roberta Boscaini Zandavalli , Arlete Aparecida Soares , Francisca Soares Araújo
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Abstract

The caatinga, a thorny deciduous shrub-arboreal vegetation predominant in the semiarid Northeast Brazil region, has faced chronic anthropogenic disturbance since the arrival of Europeans. Areas experiencing strong anthropogenic pressure and climatic vulnerability are often overlooked in floristic and phytosociological studies, leading to limited knowledge about their biological potential. Thus, our objective was to assess the current vegetation state in three severely degraded nuclei undergoing desertification in Ceará and determine, based on the analysis of plant diversity (richness) and structure, if there is potential for natural regeneration. We sampled 36 plots (3.24 ha), measuring trees and shrubs with a diameter at ground level (DGL) ≥ 3 cm. The vegetation was stratified into three degradation levels: open, intermediate, and closed. The open level, most impacted by human activities, exhibited reduced plant richness, density, biomass, and height compared to other levels. In contrast, the intermediate and closed covers, prevalent in the study area, showed no significant differences from each other or from caatinga areas outside the desertification nuclei. We concluded that even severely degraded areas should possess high biological potential due to the presence of preserved remnants serving as reservoirs to maintain diversity and vegetation structure in the region.

并非一无所有:长期受干扰的卡廷加区仍有保存完好的植物群落
卡廷加是巴西东北部半干旱地区主要的多刺落叶灌木林植被,自欧洲人到来以来一直面临着长期的人为干扰。在植物学和植物社会学研究中,经历了强大人为压力和气候脆弱性的地区往往被忽视,导致对其生物潜力的了解有限。因此,我们的目标是评估塞阿拉州三个正在经历荒漠化的严重退化核区的植被现状,并根据植物多样性(丰富度)和结构分析,确定是否有自然再生的潜力。我们对 36 个地块(3.24 公顷)进行了采样,测量了地面直径(DGL)≥ 3 厘米的乔木和灌木。植被分为三个退化等级:开放、中间和封闭。开放层受人类活动影响最大,与其他层相比,植物丰富度、密度、生物量和高度都有所降低。与此相反,在研究区域内普遍存在的中间和封闭覆盖层与其他覆盖层以及与荒漠化核心区以外的卡廷加区没有明显差异。我们得出的结论是,即使是严重退化的地区也应该具有很高的生物潜力,因为这些地区存在着保存完好的残余植被,可以作为保持该地区多样性和植被结构的 "蓄水池"。
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来源期刊
Journal of Arid Environments
Journal of Arid Environments 环境科学-环境科学
CiteScore
5.70
自引率
3.70%
发文量
144
审稿时长
55 days
期刊介绍: The Journal of Arid Environments is an international journal publishing original scientific and technical research articles on physical, biological and cultural aspects of arid, semi-arid, and desert environments. As a forum of multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary dialogue it addresses research on all aspects of arid environments and their past, present and future use.
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