Bamboo overabundance alters forest structure and dynamics in the Atlantic Forest hotspot

By Renato A. F. Lima, D. Rother, Ana Elena Muler, Igo F. Lepsch, R. Rodrigues. 2012

140 citations recorded by the source corpus.

With fast growth rates and clonal reproduction, bamboos can rapidly invade forest areas, drastically changing their original structure. In the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, where recent mapping efforts have shown that woody bamboos dominate large areas, the present study assessed the differences in soil and vegetation between plots dominated (>90% of bamboo coverage) and not dominated ( 5 cm) and lower species density. In addition, overall tree diameter distribution was very different between environments, with bamboo plots having greater concentration of small-sized trees. Such differences are probably related to the general tendency of higher mortality, recruitment, and damage rates in bamboo plots. Greater physical (wind and bamboo-induced damages) and physiological stress (heat and light) in bamboo plots are probable causes of bamboo-dominated plots being more dynamic. Finally, we discuss the differences between Atlantic and Amazonian Guadua-dominated forests, causes, and possible consequences of bamboo overabundance to the Atlantic Forest conservation.

Subfields: Global and Planetary Change, Nature and Landscape Conservation, Plant Science

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/7a9142bb3708d32edf5e20989de69c4474df7d5c