Land-use change and propagule pressure promote plant invasions in tropical rainforest remnants

AbstractInvasive species are widely recognized as a major threat to global diversity and an important factor associated with global change. Species distribution models (SDMs) have been widely applied to determine the range that invasive species could potentially occupy, but most examples focus on predictive variables at a single spatial scale. In this study, we simultaneously considered a broad range of variables related to climate, topography, land cover, land use, and propagule pressure to predict what areas in the southeastern United States are more susceptible to invasion by 45 invasive terrestrial plant species. Using expert-verified occurrence points from EDDMapS, we modeled invasion susceptibility at 30-m resolution for each species using a maximum entropy (MaxEnt) modeling approach. We then analyzed how environmental predictors affected susceptibility to invasion at different spatial scales. Climatic and land-use variables, especially minimum temperature of coldest month and distance to developed areas, were good predictors of landscape susceptibility to invasion. For most of the species tested, human-disturbed systems such as developed areas and barren lands were more prone to be invaded than areas that experienced minimal human interference. As expected, we found that landscape heterogeneity and the presence of corridors for propagule dispersal significantly increased landscape susceptibility to invasion for most species. However, we also found a number of species for which the susceptibility to invasion increased in landscapes with large core areas and/or less-aggregated patches. These exceptions suggest that even though we found the expected general patterns for susceptibility to invasion among most species, the influence of landscape composition and configuration on invasion risk is species specific.

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Effects of Land-Use Change on Under Storey Species Composition and Distribution in a Tropical Rainforest

Notulae Scientia Biologicae ◽

10.15835/nsb416374 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 150-156 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Anthony Ifechukwude ODIWE ◽

Joshua Oluwole OLOWOYO ◽

Olufemi AJIBOYE

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Species Composition ◽

Tropical Rainforest ◽

Species Composition And Distribution ◽

Effects Of Land Use

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Consistent bacterial responses to land use change across the tropics

10.1101/600924 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ian AB Petersen ◽

Kyle M Meyer ◽

Brendan JM Bohannan

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Bacterial Communities ◽

Tropical Rainforest ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Bacterial Community Composition ◽

Agricultural Practices ◽

Alpha Diversity ◽

Tropical Rainforests ◽

The Tropics

AbstractBacterial communities are a major component of global diversity and are intimately involved in most terrestrial biogeochemical processes. Despite their importance, we know far less about the response of bacteria to human-induced environmental change than we do about other organisms. Understanding the response of organisms to land use change is especially pressing for tropical rainforests, which are being altered at a higher rate than any other ecosystem. Here, we conduct a meta-analysis of studies performed in each of the major tropical rainforest regions to ask whether there are consistent responses of belowground bacterial communities to the conversion of tropical rainforest to agriculture. Remarkably, we find common responses despite wide variation across studies in the types of agriculture practiced and the research methodology used to study land use change. These responses include changes in the relative abundance of phyla, most notably decreases in Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria and increases in Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi and Firmicutes. We also find that alpha diversity (at the scale of single soil cores), consistently increases with ecosystem conversion. These consistent responses suggest that, while there is great diversity in agricultural practices across the tropics, common features such as the use of slash-and-burn tactics have the potential to alter bacterial community composition and diversity belowground.

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Population structure of Laurus nobilis L. in Central Italian forests: evidence for its ongoing expansion

RENDICONTI LINCEI ◽

10.1007/s12210-021-00981-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Nicola Alessi ◽

Camilla Wellstein ◽

Francesco Spada ◽

Stefan Zerbe

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Population Structure ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Forest Cover ◽

Propagule Pressure ◽

Abiotic Factors ◽

Natural Habitat ◽

Central Italy ◽

Laurus Nobilis ◽

Population Type

AbstractDuring the last decades, an ongoing spread of broad-leaved evergreen laurophyllous species has been reported for forests of Southern Europe. Several factors were suggested as the main drivers of the phenomenon, namely global warming, land-use change, evolutionary history, and increase in atmospheric CO2. Among laurophylls, Laurus nobilis L. is considered one of the most prominent from the morphological, evolutionary, and ecological point of view. We studied the population structure of L. nobilis in Central Italy in its natural habitat to investigate its regeneration and potential expansion along with the influence biotic and abiotic factors. To define types of population structures, we collected proportions of six growth classes of L. nobilis in 16 sites. We obtained three types of population structure, i.e., (1) stable, (2) dynamic, and (3) regressive. The first two types are the most frequent, suggesting a potential increase of L. nobilis abundance within forests of Central Italy. The regressive population type occurs mainly in sites with heavy ungulate impact. High propagule pressure along with shaded and moist environmental conditions favor L. nobilis regeneration. Accordingly, we found evidence of a recent L. nobilis spread in Central Italian forests. We suggest the increase of forest cover and age, due to the abandonment of traditional rural practices, as key factors for the regeneration of this apparently late-successional laurophyll. In conclusion, the recent expansion of L. nobilis that we observed in the Italian forest stands can therefore be ascribed to a process of natural recover of a potential niche following land-use change.

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Ecosystems and Land Use Change

10.1029/gm153 ◽

2004 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change

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Assessment of land-use change in coastal areas through geographical information systems

RECUBRIMIENTO COMESTIBLE CON BASE DE PIÑON MEXICANO (Jatropha curcas) SOBRE LA CALIDAD DE CHAYOTE MINIMAMENTE PROCESADO ◽

10.32854/agrop.v13i10.1872 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

Author(s):

Verónica Lango-Reynoso ◽

Karla Teresa González-Figueroa ◽

Fabiola Lango-Reynoso ◽

María del Refugio Castañeda-Chávez ◽

Jesús Montoya-Mendoza

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Land Use Change ◽

Geographical Information Systems ◽

Design Methodology ◽

Scientific Information ◽

Coastal Ecosystems ◽

Coastal Areas ◽

Geographical Information ◽

Coastal Zones ◽

Computer Based

Objective: This article describes and analyzes the main concepts of coastal ecosystems, these as a result of research concerning land-use change assessments in coastal areas. Design/Methodology/Approach: Scientific articles were searched using keywords in English and Spanish. Articles regarding land-use change assessment in coastal areas were selected, discarding those that although being on coastal zones and geographic and soil identification did not use Geographic Information System (GIS). Results: A GIS is a computer-based tool for evaluating the land-use change in coastal areas by quantifying variations. It is analyzed through GIS and its contributions; highlighting its importance and constant monitoring. Limitations of the study/Implications: This research analyzes national and international scientific information, published from 2007 to 2019, regarding the land-use change in coastal areas quantified with the digital GIS tool. Findings/Conclusions: GIS are useful tools in the identification and quantitative evaluation of changes in land-use in coastal ecosystems; which require constant evaluation due to their high dynamism.

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