Abstract
Climate change has enhanced the occurrence of rural fires, since changes in the hydrological cycle have led to the occurrence of increasingly long and frequent periods of drought. This recurrence of rural fires in Portugal, in turn, has led to the successive elimination of vast areas traditionally occupied by native species or species of economic interest, which are being successively replaced by new species with invasive behavior. Among these, Acacia dealbata stands out for its dispersion capacity and for the area it has already occupied. In the present work, which reviews the evolution of forest cover over the last 18,000 years in the Serra da Estrela Natural Park, we intend to demonstrate that fire acts as a species selection agent and that it enhances the development of heliophile and pyrophyte species. For this purpose, an area of the municipality of Seia was selected, more specifically Casal do Rei, where the development of Acacia dealbata forests is monitored. In the end, it was concluded that, in fact, by analyzing the ages of the specimens present in these populations, fire acts as a selection agent by freeing up the space previously occupied by other species, opening the way for the growth of heliophiles and pyrophytes invasive species while enhancing their germination.
Highlights
IntroductionEcosystems are currently facing intense pressures related to changes driven by climate change [1,2,3,4]
Ecosystems are currently facing intense pressures related to changes driven by climate change [1,2,3,4].species do not react in the same way to these adaptations, since not all respond to different stimuli, such as the increase in the average temperature of the air, decrease in the levels of humidity of the air, increase of the periods of drought, decrease of the precipitation, and alterations in the cycle of the seasons, among others [5,6,7,8]
Species do not react in the same way to these adaptations, since not all respond to different stimuli, such as the increase in the average temperature of the air, decrease in the levels of humidity of the air, increase of the periods of drought, decrease of the precipitation, and alterations in the cycle of the seasons, among others [5,6,7,8]. This inability to react or difficulty in reacting to new conditions leads to a change in the ecosystem balance over time, and in this way, ecosystems evolve according to the new conditions, which is often the reason why traditional species are replaced by others that are more adapted to these new conditions [9,10,11]
Summary
Ecosystems are currently facing intense pressures related to changes driven by climate change [1,2,3,4]. Again under the influence of changes in the climate, and with the triggering of associated phenomena, such as the occurrence of long periods of drought and a subsequent increase in the recurrence of rural fires, the forest cover is changing [31,32,33] This is causing an artificial selection of species, where pyrophyte species, mostly exotic, such as Acacia dealbata, gain an advantage and take up more and more area at the expense of native species. Some of the methods currently used to control Acacia dealbata are presented
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