Combining mechanical control and tree planting to restore montane Atlantic forests dominated by the Neotropical bracken (Pteridium arachnoideum)

Xavier, Rafael O.; Melo, Ualas Marques; Pivello, Vânia Regina; Marrs, R. H.; Castro, Pedro Garcia Abilleira de; Nascimento, Jorge; Matos, Dalva Maria da Silva

doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2022.120657

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 64 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Considering that controlling P. arachnoideum to promote forest Rodriguésia 74: e00432023. 2023 recovery tends to be expensive and may favour the spread of invasive non-native species (Xavier et al 2023), our study shows that relying on tree regeneration and a natural decline of clonal patches may be the most appropriate strategy to manage this species in tropical forest sites protected from fire.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

“…Pteridium arachnoideum (Kaulf.) Maxon is considered a threat to the local biodiversity of certain disturbed Neotropical ecosystems, where its longterm persistence and expansion has been especially associated with fire occurrence (Hartig & Beck 2003;Silva & Silva Matos 2006;Portela et al 2009;Roos et al 2010;Menezes et al 2019;Xavier et al 2023). A better knowledge of its patch dynamics in the absence of disturbances, for example whether patches dominated by it tend to expand or to decrease in size, may aid decision making regarding the control of this species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Temporal dynamics of the superdominant bracken fern Pteridium arachnoideum in Neotropical savanna-riparian forest transitions

Dodonov,

Xavier,

Matos

2023

Rodriguésia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Clonal growth can be especially advantageous in spatially heterogeneous environments and some clonal plants are highly invasive or superdominant, especially in disturbed environments. However, their temporal dynamics in the absence of large disturbances are not well known. We assessed whether patches dominated by the native bracken fern Pteridium arachnoideum expanded or retracted in area over six years. We mapped the contour of eight patches occupied by P. arachnoideum in a savanna-forest transition every two years from 2009 to 2015. The area occupied by most patches was overall stable, indicating that forested patch boundaries may be unsuitable for an effective vegetative spread of P. arachnoideum. One patch fully retracted during the study period, possibly due to extensive herbivory by leafcutter ants. Thus, although clonal foraging may enable the spread of the species to more suitable sites from these patches, these results indicate that P. arachnoideum does not represent a threat to the biodiversity of savanna-riparian forest transitions in the absence of extensive disturbances, as the area of the largest patches remained stable or decreased during our study. These findings highlight that specific characteristics of the local disturbance regime may be key to the cost-effective management of some superdominant native species.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal dynamics of the superdominant bracken fern Pteridium arachnoideum in Neotropical savanna-riparian forest transitions

Dodonov,

Xavier,

Matos

2023

Rodriguésia

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…By contrast, the Southern Hemisphere has received much less attention. In the case of the South American diploid P. esculentum ( P. e. arachnoideum ), most of the research has focused on its ecology (e.g., Alonso‐Amelot and Rodulfo‐Baechler, 1996; Hartig and Beck, 2003; Portela et al, 2009; Silva Matos et al, 2012), phytochemicals, and phytotoxins (e.g., Rosero Negrete, 2013; Furlan et al, 2014) or is related to the behavior of the species as a weed (e.g., Dorantes, 2014; Guerin and Durigan, 2015; Xavier et al, 2023). The taxon is characterized by petiole bases with adventive roots, large fronds usually ~2 m long (sometimes reaching 4.5 m long), free lobes between the distal segments (or only decurrent lobes), simple distal segments <5 cm long, and a complex laminar indument composed of two or three kinds of hairs, abaxially on the segments: catenate hairs on costae and costules, arachnoid or acicular hairs on veins, and gnarled hairs on the laminar tissue between the veins, giving it a farinaceous appearance (Thomson and Martin, 1996; Thomson and Alonso‐Amelot, 2002; Schwartsburd et al, 2018).…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Striking genetic homogeneity in the widespread South American bracken

Yañez,

Kinosian,

Ponce

et al. 2024

American J of Botany

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

PremiseBracken (Pteridium, Dennstaedtiaceae) is a cosmopolitan genus of aggressive disturbance colonizers that are toxic to agricultural livestock. The taxonomy of Pteridium has been treated in multiple schemes, ranging from one to six species worldwide, with numerous subspecies and varieties. Recent work has focused on the worldwide distribution and systematics of the bracken fern, but South America has been poorly represented. We present the first continent‐wide sampling and analysis of Pteridium esculentum, a Southern Hemisphere diploid species.MethodsWithin South America, P. esculentum has several morphotypes, distinguished into subspecies by variation in indument and lamina architecture. We used double digest restriction site‐associated DNA sequencing (ddRADSeq) to assess the phylogenetic relationships of P. esculentum subspecies.ResultsWe found a striking genetic homogeneity in the species, being able to support only two morphotypes from molecular data: P. e. arachnoideum and P. e. campestre. We had high confidence for shallow and deep phylogenetic relationships, but less support for relationships among crown groups.ConclusionsWe describe an east‐west geographic pattern that would explain the relationships between populations; and, in contrast to previous studies, we detected differences with P. esculentum from Australia. These results will lay the foundations for studying variations in this species' behavior as a weed, as well as its impact on the production of agricultural livestock in South America.

show abstract

Disentangling the roles of bracken fronds and litter on natural seedling recruitment in fire-disturbed tropical montane habitats

López,

Mayta,

Fuentes

et al. 2024

Forest Ecology and Management

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Combining mechanical control and tree planting to restore montane Atlantic forests dominated by the Neotropical bracken (Pteridium arachnoideum)

Cited by 6 publications

References 64 publications

Temporal dynamics of the superdominant bracken fern Pteridium arachnoideum in Neotropical savanna-riparian forest transitions

Temporal dynamics of the superdominant bracken fern Pteridium arachnoideum in Neotropical savanna-riparian forest transitions

Striking genetic homogeneity in the widespread South American bracken

Disentangling the roles of bracken fronds and litter on natural seedling recruitment in fire-disturbed tropical montane habitats

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About