Alien plant species on roadsides of the northwestern Patagonian steppe (Argentina)

Registro completo

Título

Alien plant species on roadsides of the northwestern Patagonian steppe (Argentina)

Autor(es)

Chichizola, Giselle Ailin; Gonzalez, Sofía Laura; Rovere, Adriana Edit

Afiliación(es) del/de los autor(es)

Chichizola, Giselle Ailin. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina.
Chichizola, Giselle Ailin. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio Ecotono; Argentina.
Chichizola, Giselle Ailin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina.
Gonzalez, Sofía Laura. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina.
Gonzalez, Sofía Laura. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio Ecotono; Argentina.
Gonzalez, Sofía Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina.
Rovere, Adiana. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina.
Rovere, Adiana. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio Ecotono; Argentina.
Rovere, Adiana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina.

Resumen

The introduction of alien species represents one of the greatest threats to biodiversity worldwide. Highway construction increases the dispersal and invasion of exotic plant species. This study examined the assembly process of the plant communities to determine whether the roadsides of the Patagonian steppe represent a reservoir and dispersal source of invasive exotic species. We analyzed the composition of exotic and native species and functional groups present in the established vegetation and seed banks of roadsides and reference areas nearby. The type of dispersal of exotic and native species at the roadsides was also evaluated. Total cover and that of exotic and native species was lower at the roadsides than in the reference areas; however, at the roadsides the cover and seed abundance of exotic species was higher than that of native species. In the roadsides vegetation, native shrubs such as Acaena splendens predominated, along with exotic perennial herbs and grasses which were mainly represented by Rumex acetosella. In the seed bank the predominant species were exotic perennial herbs, also represented by R. acetosella, annual exotic species such as Epilobium brachycarpum and Verbascum thapsus, and annual native species such as Heliotropium paronychioides. No exotic shrubs were found either at the roadsides or in the reference areas. The species at the roadsides did not present a dominant type of dispersal. The abundance of exotic species at the roadsides, both in the aboveground vegetation and the seed bank, may be due to the stressful environment and the characteristics of the species themselves, such as the ability to form seed banks. This work revealed that the roadsides of the Patagonian steppe constitute reservoirs of invasive exotic species, highlighting the importance of identifying them and controlling their spread, with a view to generating ecosystem management programs.

Año de publicación

2021

Idioma

inglés

Formato (Tipo MIME)

application/ms-excel
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet

Clasificación temática de acuerdo a la FORD

Ciencias de la tierra y ciencias ambientales relacionadas

Materia

Arid environments; Functional groups; Seed dispersal; Seed bank; Ecosystem management; Grasslands; Ciencias de la Tierra y Medio Ambiente;

Cobertura geo-temporal

ARG

Condiciones de uso

Disponible en acceso abierto bajo licencia Creative Commons https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/

Repositorio digital

Repositorio Digital Institucional (UNCo) - Universidad Nacional del Comahue

Registro relacionado

http://rdi.uncoma.edu.ar/handle/uncomaid/16073