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Using tree population size structures to assess the impacts of cattle grazing and eucalypts plantations in subtropical South America

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Abstract

To evaluate the effects of distinct management of the matrix in which forest fragments are found upon plant populations thriving in forest remnants in south Brazil, we assessed the conservation status of populations of four woody species (Campomanesia rhombea, Diospyros incontans, Myrciaria cuspidata and Sebastiania commersoniana) through analyses of size structure. Analyzes were carried out at two scales. At a local scale, we consider populations in fragments surrounded by pastures or eucalypts forest plantations, and at a regional scale we also consider larger forest tracts taken as reference areas (Rio Grande do Sul Forest Inventory databank). Population size structures were summarized using the symmetry of height distributions. Small individual size classes prevailed at the local scale in fragments surrounded by eucalypts plantations, whereas in areas exposed to cattle ranching, populations of the same species consistently lack small individuals. At the regional scale, populations in fragments surrounded by pastures presented greater skewness (prevalence of small plants) than populations in reference areas, while populations surrounded by eucalypts plantations presented intermediate skewness. These results reinforce the notion that plantations have a higher conservation value for forest ecosystems than other commercial land uses, like cattle ranching.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support was provided by ARACRUZ Celulose, in which plantations part of the data were collected. We also thank Clóvis Batistela for permission to work in his property, in which we collected data on forests exposed to cattle ranching. Maurem K. L. Alves and Elias from ARACRUZ Celulose kindly provided information about the studied areas as well as logistic support in initial field surveys. We thank Cristiane F. da Silva, Cristina Matzenbacher, Daniele U. de Matos, Mirela Motta, and Tiago C. de Marchi for valuable assistance in the field. Tiago C. de Marchi also did the botanical identification of specimens.

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  1. Gislene Ganade

    Present address: Departamento de Botânica Ecologia e Zoologia, Centro de Biociências, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RS, CEP 59072970, Brazil

  2. Marco Aurélio Pizo

    Present address: Departamento de Zoologia, UNESP—Universidade Estadual Paulista, Rio Claro, SP, CEP 13506-900, Brazil

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia: diversidade e manejo da vida silvestre, Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Av. UNISINOS 950, C.P. 275, Sao Leopoldo, RS, 93022-000, Brazil

    Iliane Freitas de Souza, Alexandre F. Souza, Marco Aurélio Pizo & Gislene Ganade

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  1. Iliane Freitas de Souza
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de Souza, I.F., Souza, A.F., Pizo, M.A. et al. Using tree population size structures to assess the impacts of cattle grazing and eucalypts plantations in subtropical South America. Biodivers Conserv 19, 1683–1698 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9796-y

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