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Clonal propagation, scale dependent assembly, and nucleation drives natural regeneration in a restinga sandy coastal plain

Lidiane Matias,Guilherme Ramos Demetrio,Milena Dutra da Silva,Flávia Moura

Published 2024 in Land Degradation & Development

ABSTRACT

On the sandy coastal plains, environmental filters that limit seedling establishment and survival create a naturally heterogeneous landscape, formed by vegetation patches inserted in a matrix of bare sandy soil. The succession processes in these ecosystems depend on some pioneer species that facilitate the recruitment and survival of other species. Here, we evaluated the spatial pattern and changes of vegetation patches of restinga (i.e., coastal sandy plain vegetation) over one decade (2011–2021). The research was carried out in Alagoas State, Northeast of Brazil. We considered as patches the vegetation islands inserted in a matrix of bare sandy soil and applied methodologies of photointerpretation. Landscape metrics included patch area, edge, shape, and core area. To test the effect of landscape metrics on species occurrence and species richness per patch, we applied generalized linear models (GLM) with binomial and quasi‐Poisson distributions, respectively. We used the “betapart” package to evaluate the importance of turnover and nestedness as drivers of beta diversity among patches. Our data indicate that a key plant (Myrciaria floribunda), which can propagate by root suckers, initiates a succession process, creating regeneration nuclei, which seem to follow a deterministic succession pattern until the patch reaches 10 m2 in area. In the successional sequence, the patches grow and coalesce with neighboring patches. Species richness of patches presented an unimodal response to patch size. Overall, there is a greater contribution of species turnover to among‐patch beta diversity. However, for patches smaller than 10 m2, beta diversity was mostly driven by nestedness, reflecting a process of species addition to the growing patches. The succession pattern found in the study area should be considered for the formulation of nature‐based restoration models, expected to be more efficient and effective for ecosystems with similar environmental filters.

PUBLICATION RECORD

  • Publication year

    2024

  • Venue

    Land Degradation & Development

  • Publication date

    2024-02-20

  • Fields of study

    Not labeled

  • Identifiers
    DOI 10.1002/ldr.5057
  • External record

    Open on Semantic Scholar

  • Source metadata

    Semantic Scholar

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