From Disturbance to Recovery: Unveiling the Role of Goats and Ecological Drivers on Vegetation Dynamics of Trindade Island, South Atlantic, Brazil

IF 2.7 3区环境科学与生态学 Q2 ECOLOGY

Journal of Vegetation Science Pub Date : 2025-05-28 DOI:10.1111/jvs.70039

Felipe Zuñe, Márcia Gonçalves Rogério, Ruy José Válka Alves, Nílber Gonçalves da Silva

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Aims

Islands harbor crucial ecosystems that face expressive threats from invasive species, including goats, which have dramatically altered the vegetation dynamics of Trindade Island since their introduction in the 1700s. This study aimed to assess the effects of goats, as a primary biotic factor, alongside many abiotic factors influencing vegetation dynamics over time.

Location

Trindade Island, South Atlantic Ocean.

Methods

We analyzed vegetation cover changes from 1994 to 2024 using remote sensing data. We also evaluated the relationship between the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and vegetation cover, and compared vegetation data obtained from fieldwork and remote sensing for 1994 and 2010.

Results

A supervised classification approach was applied to identify vegetation types, achieving an overall accuracy of 89% and a Kappa coefficient of 0.8. The NDVI analysis explained 77% of the variation in vegetation cover, revealing increases in forest (65.06 ha) and grassland (325.14 ha) by 2024. No significant differences were found between fieldwork and remote sensing data (p > 0.05) for the earlier years analyzed. Although goats had a notable impact on vegetation (D² ≥ 0.75), their influence was amplified by abiotic factors, producing statistically significant correlations (D² ≥ 0.91) in generalized linear models. Incorporating both biotic and abiotic variables yielded models with higher explanatory power.

Conclusions

Our findings underscore the complex interplay between goats and abiotic factors shaping vegetation dynamics on Trindade Island. The study highlights the necessity of targeted conservation strategies to mitigate the impact of invasive species on island ecosystems.

Abstract Image

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从干扰到恢复：揭示山羊和生态驱动因素在巴西南大西洋Trindade岛植被动态中的作用

Aims群岛拥有重要的生态系统，面临着包括山羊在内的入侵物种的威胁，自18世纪引入以来，山羊极大地改变了Trindade岛的植被动态。本研究旨在评估山羊作为主要生物因素的影响，以及许多非生物因素随着时间的推移影响植被动态。地点：南大西洋特林达德岛。方法利用遥感资料分析1994 ~ 2024年植被覆盖变化。研究了归一化植被指数（NDVI）与植被覆盖度的关系，并比较了1994年和2010年的野外和遥感植被数据。结果采用监督分类方法识别植被类型，总体准确率为89%，Kappa系数为0.8。NDVI分析解释了77%的植被覆盖变化，揭示了到2024年森林（65.06公顷）和草地（325.14公顷）的增加。在较早年份的野外工作数据和遥感数据之间没有发现显著差异（p > 0.05）。虽然山羊对植被的影响显著（D2≥0.75），但其影响被非生物因素放大，在广义线性模型中产生显著的统计学相关性（D2≥0.91）。结合生物和非生物变量产生的模型具有更高的解释力。结论山羊与非生物因子之间存在复杂的相互作用，影响着特林达德岛植被动态。该研究强调了有针对性的保护策略的必要性，以减轻入侵物种对岛屿生态系统的影响。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Vegetation Science 环境科学-林学

CiteScore

6.00

自引率

3.60%

发文量

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： The Journal of Vegetation Science publishes papers on all aspects of plant community ecology, with particular emphasis on papers that develop new concepts or methods, test theory, identify general patterns, or that are otherwise likely to interest a broad international readership. Papers may focus on any aspect of vegetation science, e.g. community structure (including community assembly and plant functional types), biodiversity (including species richness and composition), spatial patterns (including plant geography and landscape ecology), temporal changes (including demography, community dynamics and palaeoecology) and processes (including ecophysiology), provided the focus is on increasing our understanding of plant communities. The Journal publishes papers on the ecology of a single species only if it plays a key role in structuring plant communities. Papers that apply ecological concepts, theories and methods to the vegetation management, conservation and restoration, and papers on vegetation survey should be directed to our associate journal, Applied Vegetation Science journal.