Thirty years of clear-cutting maintain diversity and functional composition of woody-encroached Neotropical savannas

Autor: André Luiz Giles, Osmar Cavassan, Bernardo M. Flores, Veridiana de Lara Weiser, Andréia Alves Rezende
Přispěvatelé: Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP), Universidade Estadual Paulista (Unesp), Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC)
Rok vydání: 2021
Předmět:
Zdroj: Scopus
Repositório Institucional da UNESP
Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP)
instacron:UNESP
ISSN: 0378-1127
DOI: 10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119356
Popis: Made available in DSpace on 2021-06-25T11:00:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2021-08-15 Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) Humans have changed vegetation dynamics in Neotropical savannas by suppressing fires, allowing trees and shrubs to expand into ancient savanna landscapes in a process known as woody encroachment. This woody encroachment drives the loss of biodiversity and modifies the functioning of savanna ecosystems. Here we combine satellite data analysis with an experimental approach to test the hypothesis that long-term management by clear-cutting helps restore the diversity and functional composition of open savannas. First, we used Landsat time series of the Normalized Difference Water Index, to assess changes in vegetation structure, comparing experimental areas with open savannas in the same region. We then obtained field experimental evidence comparing areas managed during 30 years versus unmanaged areas, including data on vegetation structure and composition. Our results from satellite image analyses indicate that, before the first clear-cutting, vegetation structure was similar in managed and unmanaged sites, and both differed from open savanna. When clear-cutting manipulation started, NDWI of managed areas became persistently lower than that of unmanaged control areas. In the field, we found that in managed areas, species diversity and richness of typical savanna species had increased, and that species composition had changed to become more similar to open savannas. We also observed the recovery of savanna functional composition, suggesting that ecosystem processes were restored by clear-cutting management. Our findings reveal that the repeated removal of dominant woody species by clear-cutting has contributed to maintain the diversity and functioning of savannas degraded by forest encroachment. Graduate Program in Ecology Institute of Biology P.O. Box: 6109 UNICAMP Graduate Program in Biological Sciences (Botany) Biosciences Institute São Paulo State University-UNESP, P.O. Box 510, Distrito de Rubião Júnior, s/n, 18.618-970 Graduate Program in Ecology Federal University of Santa Catarina Department of Biology and Animal Science School of Engineering São Paulo State University-UNESP, Av. Brasil Sul, 56 Department of Biological Sciences School of Sciences São Paulo State University-UNESP, Av. Eng. Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube, 14-01 Graduate Program in Biological Sciences (Botany) Biosciences Institute São Paulo State University-UNESP, P.O. Box 510, Distrito de Rubião Júnior, s/n, 18.618-970 Department of Biology and Animal Science School of Engineering São Paulo State University-UNESP, Av. Brasil Sul, 56 Department of Biological Sciences School of Sciences São Paulo State University-UNESP, Av. Eng. Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube, 14-01 FAPESP: 2012/01790-2 FAPESP: 2016/25086-3
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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