Abstract
The time required to regrowth a forest in degraded areas depends on how the forest is removed and on the type of land use following removal. Natural regeneration was studied in abandoned old fields after intensive agricultural land use in areas originally covered by Brazilian Atlantic Forests of the Anchieta Island, Brazil in order to understand how plant communities reassemble following human disturbances as well as to determine suitable strategies of forest restoration. The fields were classified into three vegetation types according to the dominant plant species in: 1) Miconia albicans (Sw.) Triana (Melastomataceae) fields, 2) Dicranopteris flexuosa (Schrader) Underw. (Gleicheniaceae) thickets, and 3) Gleichenella pectinata (Willd.) Ching. (Gleicheniaceae) thickets. Both composition and structure of natural regeneration were compared among the three dominant vegetation types by establishing randomly three plots of 1 x 3 m in five sites of the island. A gradient in composition and abundance of species in natural regeneration could be observed along vegetation types from Dicranopteris fern thickets to Miconia fields. The gradient did not accurately follow the pattern of spatial distribution of the three dominant vegetation types in the island regarding their proximity of the remnant forests. A complex association of biotic and abiotic factors seems to be affecting the seedling recruitment and establishment in the study plots. The lowest plant regeneration found in Dicranopteris and Gleichenella thickets suggests that the ferns inhibit the recruitment of woody and herbaceous species. Otherwise, we could not distinguish different patterns of tree regeneration among the three vegetation types. Our results showed that forest recovery following severe anthropogenic disturbances is not direct, predictable or even achievable on its own. Appropriated actions and methods such as fern removal, planting ground covers, and enrichment planting with tree species were suggested in order to restore the natural forest regeneration process in the abandoned old fields.
Highlights
Patterns of forest regeneration following anthropogenic disturbances are influenced by the type and the intensity of the disturbance (KENNARD et al, 2002; RODRIGUES; GANDOLFI, 2000; UHL et al, 1982)
Most of the abandoned areas are heavily colonized by Miconia albicans (Sw.) Triana (Melastomataceae) in the core regeneration, forming the so called Miconia field; following the radius from this central Miconia field, we find fern thicket areas dominated by Dicranopteris flexuosa (Schrader) Underw. (Gleicheniaceae); the outer area is a fern thicket, but dominated by Gleichenella pectinata (Willd.) Ching. (Gleicheniaceae) until the forest edge (GUILLAUMON et al, 1989)
Distribution of individuals into growth habit significantly differed between sites Site 3 (S3) and Site 1 (S1) (p=0.009), S3 and Site 5 (S5) (p=0.0001), Site 4 (S4) and S5 (p=0.0025) (Figure 2b)
Summary
Patterns of forest regeneration following anthropogenic disturbances are influenced by the type and the intensity of the disturbance (KENNARD et al, 2002; RODRIGUES; GANDOLFI, 2000; UHL et al, 1982) This is directly related to the effects of human activity on the ecological processes driving forest dynamics, such as seed dispersal, sprouting, seedling recruitment, seedling establishment, and plant growth. Understanding these processes and how they are affected by land use is critical to define strategies for forest restoration in abandoned agricultural areas as well as for forest management, conservation and monitoring (TABANEZ et al, 1997; TORRES et al, 1997; TABARELLI; MANTOVANI, 1999). The over exploitation and harm was more severe after the installation of a prison on the island in 1928, followed by the introduction of fifteen alien species of mammals and two alien species of reptiles in 1983 (BOVENDORP; GALETTI, 2007; GUILLAUMON et al, 1989)
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