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Diversity and dominance patterns in Amazon coast dune forest island tree communities

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Abstract

Aiming to better understand richness, dominance, diversity and community changes of coastal vegetation, we studied woody plant communities and soil parameters of equatorial dune forest islands. We investigated four sites isolated by mangroves (Buraco Beach, Bonifácio, Camarauaçu, Apeu-Salvador) and compared data to a paleodune forest with higher floristic and structural complexity (Salinas do Roque) for assessment of the regional species pool. We determined grain size distribution and organic matter content at Buraco Beach, Camarauaçu and Apeu-Salvador. Grain size distribution was similar among sites but upper soil layers at Camarauaçu showed low organic matter contents. We recorded trees and shrubs along several transect plots crossing forested dune ridges and surveyed areas outside of plots for additional species. Richness was lower at Camarauaçu (18 species vs. 25, 26 and 28 at Bonifácio, Apeu-Salvador and Buraco Beach, respectively). Fisher’s α ranged between 3.2 and 4.7, Pielou’s J’ between 0.70 and 0.80. Rényi profiles confirmed lower diversity for Camarauaçu, dominated by a small group of species with high importance values. Within-site beta diversity was lowest at Buraco Beach. Species were mainly wide-spread generalists. We found low richness compared to the Salinas do Roque reference site; null model tests indicated that the species pool of the dune sites was partly shaped by environmental filtering. We attribute differences in species composition and diversity/dominance patterns among the four dune sites to distance to the mainland and stochastic events with effects on non-standard long distance dispersal.

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Acknowledgements

Part of the expenses of the field surveys was financed by the project Fluxos (Água, Sedimentos, Nutrientes e Plâncton) Amazônicos ao longo do Continuum Rio-Estuário-Costa e Implicações para a Biodiversidade Vegetal Costeira Amazônica financed by the Brazilian Agency for Coordination of Capacitating Advanced-degree Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, CAPES) under the code 3290/2013. The authors are grateful to Nils E. Asp Neto for helpful comments on the interpretation of soil analyses. Luciana O. Santos and Leiliane O. Santos Rocha granted access to Salinas do Roque forest structure data. We further wish to thank Colin R. Beasley and two anonymous reviewers for comments on a previous version of the manuscript. Marlana C. Q. da Silva, Vando Gomes, Débora P. O. Lima, Vitor A. N. Bragança, Marcelo V. S. Pereira and Amanda R. Silva provided valuable support during field and laboratory work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciências Exatas e Naturais, Universidade Federal do Pará, Campus de Belém, Rua Augusto Corrêa 01, Guamá, Belém, Pará, 66075-110, Brazil

    Rachel Macedo da Silva

  2. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Ambiental, Universidade Federal do Pará, Campus Bragança, Alameda Leandro Ribeiro s/n, Bragança, Pará, 68600-000, Brazil

    Rachel Macedo da Silva

  3. Instituto de Estudos Costeiros, Universidade Federal do Pará, Campus Bragança, Alameda Leandro Ribeiro s/n, Bragança, Pará, 68600-000, Brazil

    Ângela Cristina Alves Reis & Ulf Mehlig

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  1. Rachel Macedo da Silva
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  2. Ângela Cristina Alves Reis
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  3. Ulf Mehlig
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Correspondence to Rachel Macedo da Silva.

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Communicated by James D A Millington.

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da Silva, R.M., Reis, Â.C.A. & Mehlig, U. Diversity and dominance patterns in Amazon coast dune forest island tree communities. Plant Ecol 219, 343–357 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-018-0799-1

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