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The palm Syagrus coronata proliferates and structures vascular epiphyte assemblages in a human-modified landscape of the Caatinga dry forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 June 2020

Leila J.B. Gonçalves ,
Edgar E. Santo-Silva ,
Maria Fabíola Barros ,
Kátia F. Rito ,
Inara R. Leal  and
Marcelo Tabarelli
Leila J.B. Gonçalves
Affiliation:
Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Vegetal, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rêgo s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50690-901, Recife, PE, Brazil
Edgar E. Santo-Silva*
Affiliation:
Unidade Acadêmica de Serra Talhada, Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Av. Gregório Ferraz Nogueira s/n, José Tomé de Souza Ramos, 56909-535, Serra Talhada, PE, Brazil
Maria Fabíola Barros
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi, Av. Gov Magalhães Barata, 376, São Brás, 66040-170, Belém, PA, Brazil
Kátia F. Rito
Affiliation:
Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, 58190, Michoacán, Mexico
Inara R. Leal
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rêgo s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50690-901, Recife, PE, Brazil
Marcelo Tabarelli
Affiliation:
Departamento de Botânica, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Av. Prof. Moraes Rêgo s/n, Cidade Universitária, 50690-901, Recife, PE, Brazil
*
Author for correspondence: *Edgar E. Santo-Silva, Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

The proliferation of disturbance-adapted species in human-modified landscapes may change the structure of plant communities, but the response of biodiversity to human disturbances remains poorly understood. We examine the proliferation of the palm, Syagrus coronata, in disturbed forest stands and its impacts on the structure of vascular epiphyte assemblages in a human-modified landscape of Brazilian Caatinga dry forest. First, we compared S. coronata density between old-growth and regenerating forest stands. We then surveyed vascular epiphytes on 680 phorophytes (S. coronata and non-palm/control species) across five habitat types with different disturbance levels. There was an eight-fold increase in S. coronata density in regenerating areas compared with in old-growth forest. Syagrus coronota supported richer epiphyte assemblages at local (i.e. per palm) and landscape (i.e. pooling all palms) scale than control phorophytes, supporting more than 11 times the number of species of control phorophytes at both scales. Epiphyte assemblages were more abundant, species-rich and dominated by abiotically dispersed species in forest sites with intermediate disturbance levels (regenerating forest stands). More than simply operating as an exclusive phorophyte for more than 90% of the epiphyte species we recorded here, S. coronata favours epiphyte persistence and structures their assemblages across human-modified landscapes of the Caatinga forest.

Keywords

BiodiversityBrazilian Caatingacommunity assemblyepiphytic communityhuman disturbanceseasonal tropical dry forest
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , May 2020 , pp. 123 - 132
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

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