Abstract
The role of invasive species in ecosystem functioning represents one of the main challenges in ecology. Pteridium aquilinum is a successful cosmopolitan invasive species with negative effects on the ecological mechanisms that allow secondary succession. In this study, we evaluated the influence of P. aquilinumon secondary succession under different disturbances in a seasonal dry forest of the Yucatán Peninsula. We determined species richness, composition and the relative importance value in four sampling units. Fabaceae followed by Asteraceae, Meliaceae, Rubiaceae, Sapindaceae and Verbenaceae were the most species rich families. A dissimilarity analysis determined significant differences in beta diversity between sampling units. With a generalized linear model we found that species richness was best explained by site conditions, followed by calcium and soil organic matter. Also, the generalized linear model showed that abundance resulted in a strong correlation with site conditions and soil characteristics. Specific soil conditions related to phosphoro and calcium were also detected as beneficiary to the successional processes. Our results suggest that applying fire restriction and periodic cutting of the bracken fern, this can increase a higher diversity of species.
Highlights
Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn is considered one of the most successful global invasive species
Insufficient studies have been developed in seasonally dry tropical forests that provide information on the historical effect and management of areas invaded by P. aquilinum, and its impact on the richness and floristic composition, and their influence on succession
Our results showed that the plots Sampling unit 1 (SU1) and sampling unit 3 (SU3) are the plots with a higher degree of differentiation in the composition of species, and SU1 and Sampling unit 2 (SU2) are those with a lower percentage of differentiation (Table 2)
Summary
Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn is considered one of the most successful global invasive species. Its distribution is related to processes of land use change derived from human activities, e.g., agricultural and livestock activities (Rymer, 1976) This species is successful when light is not a limiting resource (MacDougall & Turkington, 2005; Schneider, 2006). Secondary Succession under invasive species (Pteridium aquilinum) conditions in a seasonal dry tropical forest in southeastern Mexico. It has been observed that the accumulation of biomass from the dry fronds modifies the frequency and intensity of fires, due to the increase of available fuel (Frankland, 1976; Crane, 1990) This exhausts the seed bank and limits the growth of seedlings (Da Silva Matos SR da de, 2006). The aim of this work was to determine the effect of the invasion of P. aquilinum on secondary succession in a seasonally dry tropical forest
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