Light availability influences the invasion of Teline monspessulana (L.) K. Koch in a temperate fragmented forest in Central Chile

iForest: Biogeosciences and Forestry

article

Persy Gómez¹  Sergio Espinoza²  Natalia Cuadros³  Estefany Goncalves³  Ramiro Bustamante³ 

[1] Doña Antonia;Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales, Universidad Católica del Maule;Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile;Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, IEB, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Chile

关键词: Invasibility;    Invasiveness;    French Broom;    Genista monspessulana;    Forest Cover;    Native Species Diversity;   

DOI  :  10.3832/ifor4026-015

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Societa Italiana di Selvicoltura ed Ecologia Forestale (S I S E F)

【 摘 要 】

The Maulino forest is a temperate ecosystem of the Mediterranean zone of Chile classified as one of the 34 biodiversity hot-spots of the world; however, there is still limited information about the ecological factors that make this native forest prone to be invaded. We assess to what extent forest attributes such as light availability and native species diversity control the invasion process of Teline monspessulana (L.) K. Koch, an aggressive weed, into the Maulino forest, an endemic forest ecosystem of Central Chile. We examined whether the seedling density of this exotic plant is related to forest attributes such as cover, incoming photosynthetically active radiation, litter depth, and native species density and richness. We found that a decrease of light availability reduces T. monspessulana invasion. No relationships were observed between native species diversity and the abundance of T. monspessulana plants. Increasing the forest cover will recover forest structure but at the same time, it will prevent the invasion of T. monspessulana and other exotic plants with similar regeneration niche requirements.

【 授权许可】

Unknown