Advanced search
Start date
Betweenand
Related content
(Reference retrieved automatically from Web of Science through information on FAPESP grant and its corresponding number as mentioned in the publication by the authors.)

hirty years of clear-cutting maintain diversity and functional composition of woody-encroached Neotropical savanna

Full text
Author(s):
Giles, Andre L. [1, 2] ; Flores, Bernardo M. [3] ; Rezende, Andreia Alves [4] ; Weiser, Veridiana de Lara [5] ; Cavassan, Osmar [5]
Total Authors: 5
Affiliation:
[1] Univ Estadual Campinas, Inst Biol, Grad Program Ecol, POB 6109, BR-13083970 Campinas, SP - Brazil
[2] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Biosci Inst, Grad Program Biol Sci Bot, POB 510, Dist Rubiao Jr S-N, BR-18618970 Botucatu, SP - Brazil
[3] Univ Fed Santa Catarina, Grad Program Ecol, Florianopolis, SC - Brazil
[4] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Sch Engn, Dept Biol & Anim Sci, Av Brasil Sul 56, BR-15385000 Ilha Solteira, SP - Brazil
[5] Sao Paulo State Univ UNESP, Sch Sci, Dept Biol Sci, Av Eng Luiz Edmundo Carrijo Coube 14-01, BR-17033360 Bauru, SP - Brazil
Total Affiliations: 5
Document type: Journal article
Source: FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT; v. 494, AUG 15 2021.
Web of Science Citations: 3
Abstract

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 clearcutting management. Our findings reveal that the repeated removal of dominant woody species by clearcutting has contributed to maintain the diversity and functioning of savannas degraded by forest encroachment. (AU)

FAPESP's process: 12/01790-2 - The periodic removal of the tree component of cerradão fragment as an ecological factor that favors the development of species of campo Cerrado
Grantee:Andre Luiz Giles de Oliveira
Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation