Effects of riparian vegetation restoration and environmental context on ecosystem functioning in tropical streams of southeastern Brazil.

Autor: Bega JMM; Department of Hydraulics and Sanitation, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: joaobega@usp.br., Saltarelli WA; Department of Hydraulics and Sanitation, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil., Gücker B; Department of Geosciences, Federal University of São João del-Rei, MG, Brazil., Boëchat IG; Department of Geosciences, Federal University of São João del-Rei, MG, Brazil., Finkler NR; Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden., Cunha DGF; Department of Hydraulics and Sanitation, São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, São Carlos, SP, Brazil.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: The Science of the total environment [Sci Total Environ] 2024 Oct 20; Vol. 948, pp. 174906. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Jul 20.
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174906
Abstrakt: Tropical stream ecosystems are under increasing human pressure, making the development of effective restoration approaches and expanding knowledge in this field urgent. This study evaluated the impact of riparian vegetation restoration and environmental context on stream ecosystem functioning by measuring key ecosystem functions - gross primary production (GPP), ecosystem respiration (ER), and nutrient uptake of ammonium and soluble reactive phosphorus - across ten tropical streams in southeastern Brazil. The streams represented a gradient from clearcut areas (impacted reaches) to relatively pristine conditions (reference reaches), including intermediate stages of vegetation recovery (restored reaches). In the short-term (~15-20 years after restoration), restoration led to reduced GPP akin to reference reaches. Yet, ER did not show the anticipated increase, suggesting a longer timeframe is necessary for restored streams to emulate the functional characteristics of reference reaches. Additionally, the restored reaches did not achieve the nutrient uptake efficiencies observed in both impacted and reference reaches, pointing to a partial recovery of ecosystem function. This study suggests that while riparian vegetation restoration contributes positively to certain aspects of stream function, environmental variables less related to this type of restoration, such as discharge and hydromorphology, significantly influence stream ecosystem functioning, highlighting the importance of considering environmental context in restoration efforts. A more holistic approach, possibly encompassing broader hydromorphological and habitat enhancements, is needed to fully restore ecological processes in these vital ecosystems. These insights are critical for informing future tropical stream restoration projects, advocating the use of ecosystem function metrics as comprehensive indicators of ecological recovery and restoration success.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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