The description and understanding of plant communities is fundamental for the implementation of conservation or restoration programs, especially when these communities are highly threatened and need to be restored.Cam...The description and understanding of plant communities is fundamental for the implementation of conservation or restoration programs, especially when these communities are highly threatened and need to be restored.Campos rupestres, some Neotropical mountain grasslands located in central Brazil and part of the Cerrado biome(covering 2 million km2) host unique plant communities, currently threatened by quarrying and mining.The grassy matrix of campos rupestres, has long been considered a rich mosaic under the control of local topography and the nature of substrate, but this affirmation has not been well studied.We analyzed whether plant communities varied in relation to edaphic factors within the stony substrate and the sandy substrate of this grassy matrix.We selected 5 sites where occur both grasslands on stony substrate and on sandy substrate, and we carried out vegetation surveys and soil analyses.We counted 222 plant species within our communities, among which38.6% are exclusively found on campos rupestres.Our results show that both soil-types are strongly acidic, nutrient poor and exhibit a seasonal variation.Phosphorus increases and p H and organic carbon decrease during the dry season.Stony soils areslightly richer in nutrients than sandy soils and differences in soil granulometry and composition have led to the formation of distinct plant communities.Some species are confined to either one or the other grassland-type, which makes the plant composition of each community unique.Variations in edaphic factors generate heterogeneous grasslands favorable to a high plant diversity.Conservation programs and restoration actions have to maintain or recreate this heterogeneity.The presence of distinct plant communities implies that different strategies might be adopted to improve the restoration of these ecosystems.展开更多
Aims Natural vegetation plays an important role in global carbon cycling and storage.Thus,the Cerrado(Brazilian savannah)is considered a carbon sink because of its intrinsic characteristics.Our aim was to evaluate how...Aims Natural vegetation plays an important role in global carbon cycling and storage.Thus,the Cerrado(Brazilian savannah)is considered a carbon sink because of its intrinsic characteristics.Our aim was to evaluate how the aboveground biomass and biodiversity relationship change between three Cerrado remnants with different protection status:a‘control area’(Legal Reserve area),a protected area(PA)and a non-protected area(Non-PA).Methods All three studied fragments are situated in northern Minas Gerais state,Brazil.We estimated the aboveground carbon stocks based on the forest inventory.We also measured three dimensions of biodiversity metrics for each plot:functional trait dominance,taxonomic diversity and functional diversity.The following functional traits were evaluated for the species:wood density,maximum diameter and seed size.We carried out generalized linear models seeking to evaluate how carbon stocks,community-weighted mean(CWM)trait values,species richness and diversity,and functional diversity indices differ among the remnants.Important Findings The Cerrado areas without protection status had lower carbon stocks,species richness,species diversity,functional richness and functional dispersion,whereas both PA and Non-PA had lower CWM maximum diameter and seed size compared with the Legal Reserve control area.Generalized linear models showed that carbon stocks,species and functional richness metrics were correlated within and across sites,and thus,species richness could serve as a good proxy for functional richness and carbon stocks.The carbon stocks were positively driven by species richness and CWM maximum diameter,while they were negatively driven by functional dispersion.Functional richness,species diversity and CWM seed size appeared in the set of best models,but with no significant direct effect on carbon stocks.Thus,we concluded that absence of protection in the Cerrado areas decreases both species richness and carbon stocks.展开更多
文摘The description and understanding of plant communities is fundamental for the implementation of conservation or restoration programs, especially when these communities are highly threatened and need to be restored.Campos rupestres, some Neotropical mountain grasslands located in central Brazil and part of the Cerrado biome(covering 2 million km2) host unique plant communities, currently threatened by quarrying and mining.The grassy matrix of campos rupestres, has long been considered a rich mosaic under the control of local topography and the nature of substrate, but this affirmation has not been well studied.We analyzed whether plant communities varied in relation to edaphic factors within the stony substrate and the sandy substrate of this grassy matrix.We selected 5 sites where occur both grasslands on stony substrate and on sandy substrate, and we carried out vegetation surveys and soil analyses.We counted 222 plant species within our communities, among which38.6% are exclusively found on campos rupestres.Our results show that both soil-types are strongly acidic, nutrient poor and exhibit a seasonal variation.Phosphorus increases and p H and organic carbon decrease during the dry season.Stony soils areslightly richer in nutrients than sandy soils and differences in soil granulometry and composition have led to the formation of distinct plant communities.Some species are confined to either one or the other grassland-type, which makes the plant composition of each community unique.Variations in edaphic factors generate heterogeneous grasslands favorable to a high plant diversity.Conservation programs and restoration actions have to maintain or recreate this heterogeneity.The presence of distinct plant communities implies that different strategies might be adopted to improve the restoration of these ecosystems.
基金partly financed by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior-Brasil(CAPES)-Finance Code 001.
文摘Aims Natural vegetation plays an important role in global carbon cycling and storage.Thus,the Cerrado(Brazilian savannah)is considered a carbon sink because of its intrinsic characteristics.Our aim was to evaluate how the aboveground biomass and biodiversity relationship change between three Cerrado remnants with different protection status:a‘control area’(Legal Reserve area),a protected area(PA)and a non-protected area(Non-PA).Methods All three studied fragments are situated in northern Minas Gerais state,Brazil.We estimated the aboveground carbon stocks based on the forest inventory.We also measured three dimensions of biodiversity metrics for each plot:functional trait dominance,taxonomic diversity and functional diversity.The following functional traits were evaluated for the species:wood density,maximum diameter and seed size.We carried out generalized linear models seeking to evaluate how carbon stocks,community-weighted mean(CWM)trait values,species richness and diversity,and functional diversity indices differ among the remnants.Important Findings The Cerrado areas without protection status had lower carbon stocks,species richness,species diversity,functional richness and functional dispersion,whereas both PA and Non-PA had lower CWM maximum diameter and seed size compared with the Legal Reserve control area.Generalized linear models showed that carbon stocks,species and functional richness metrics were correlated within and across sites,and thus,species richness could serve as a good proxy for functional richness and carbon stocks.The carbon stocks were positively driven by species richness and CWM maximum diameter,while they were negatively driven by functional dispersion.Functional richness,species diversity and CWM seed size appeared in the set of best models,but with no significant direct effect on carbon stocks.Thus,we concluded that absence of protection in the Cerrado areas decreases both species richness and carbon stocks.
