ARQ - Life and Marine Sciences
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Browsing ARQ - Life and Marine Sciences by Author "Ah-Peng, Claudine"
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- Long-term monitoring across elevational gradients (II) : vascular plants on Pico Island (Azores) transectPublication . Coelho, Márcia Catarina Mendes; Elias, Rui B.; Kluge, Jürgen; Pereira, Fernando E. A.; Henriques, Débora; Aranda, Silvia C.; Borges, Paulo A. V.; Ah-Peng, Claudine; Gabriel, RosalinaPico Island remains one of the last remnants of natural vegetation in the Azores, including the largest natural protected area; nevertheless, habitat change and the spread of exotic plants are visible, especially in those areas where human presence prevails. Currently, the lowlands are vastly occupied by pastures dominated by exotic herbs/grasses and most forests are dominated by Pittosporum undulatum. This paper aims to: i) review previous botanical studies related to elevational gradients; ii) investigate vascular plants composition and abundance in native vegetation, following an elevational transect (from 10 to 2200 m); and iii) investigate some patterns of the recorded diversity and distribution of vascular plants. Methodology follows a standardized protocol with observations in 100 m2 plots. A total of 88 species were recorded, representing 35% of the indigenous but only 5% of the exotic species previously known from Pico. The richest areas were found between 600 and 1000 m and the areas with the lowest proportion of indigenous species occurred between 1800 and 2200 m. The recorded composition and richness values of endemic and native vascular plants support the high ecological and conservation value of the studied areas and constitute a good basis for long-term monitoring projects.
- Long-term monitoring across elevational gradients to assess ecological hypothesis : a description of standardized sampling methods in oceanic islands and first resultsPublication . Gabriel, Rosalina; Coelho, Márcia M. C.; Henriques, Débora; Borges, Paulo A. V.; Elias, Rui B.; Kluge, Jürgen; Ah-Peng, ClaudineWe are launching a long-term study to characterize the biodiversity at different elevations in several Azorean Islands. Our aim is to use the Azores as a model archipelago to answer the fundamental question of what generates and maintains the global spatial heterogeneity of diversity in islands and to be able to understand the dynamics of change across time. An extensive, standardized sampling protocol was applied in most of the remnant forest fragments of five Azorean Islands. Fieldwork followed BRYOLAT methodology for the collection of bryophytes, ferns and other vascular plant species. A modified version of the BALA protocol was used for arthropods. A total of 70 plots (10 m x 10 m) are already established in five islands (Flores, Pico, São Jorge, Terceira and São Miguel), all respecting an elevation step of 200 m, resulting in 24 stations examined in Pico, 12 in Terceira, 10 in Flores, 12 in São Miguel and 12 in São Jorge. The first results regarding the vascular plants inventory include 138 vascular species including taxa from Lycopodiophyta (N=2), Pteridophyta (N=27), Pinophyta (N=2) and Magnoliophyta (N=107). In this contribution we also present the main research question for the next six years within the 2020 Horizon.