Research Network in Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology

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Taxonomic, structural diversity and carbon stocks in a gradient of island forests

Publication . Silva, Lurdes da Conceição Borges; Pavão, Diogo Cláudio; Elias, Rui B.; Moura, Mónica; Ventura, Maria A.; Silva, Luís

Assessment of forest ecosystems and their services is seen as a key action for the advancement of biodiversity objectives, and to inform the development and implementation of related policies and planning. The Azorean forest is important for timber production, the protection of soil and water resources, and for its recreational and aesthetic value. However, its role in carbon accumulation has not been fully addressed. We assessed plant diversity, forest structure and carbon stocks in a gradient of three forest types (Natural Forest-NF; Exotic Woodland-EW and Production Forest-PF) in three of the Azores islands. We used biodiversity indices and found that NF harboured the highest plant diversity levels and PF the lowest. Diversity levels were lower for structural than for taxonomic data, particularly for PF. The highest tree carbon stock was found at EW in one of the islands, while PF consistently exhibited relatively high tree carbon stocks in the three islands. The largest soil carbon stocks were found at EW, while leaf litter carbon stocks were higher at PF. We concluded that NF play a fundamental role as plant diversity hotspots but have lower relevance as carbon stocks what might be associated with montane environmental conditions. PFs provide economic assets and act as carbon sinks, while EWs play a major role as carbon sinks in soil, but also at tree level in the oldest forests.

2022-01Journal article

Open access

Modelling invasive alien plant distribution : A literature review of concepts and bibliometric analysis

Publication . Silva, Lara Dutra; Elias, Rui B.; Silva, Luís

In the last decades, the number of publications dedicated to the application of species distribution models (SDMs) to invasive alien plants (IAPs) has constantly increased. Although recent reviews have addressed very relevant issues in the application of SDMs, the modelling approaches (i.e., algorithms) applied to IAPs have not been systematized. Therefore, we undertook a bibliographic review of articles devoted to SDMs and IAPs, from 1996 to 2019. Our results indicate that maximum entropy, generalized linear models, boosted regression trees and random forest were the four most frequent types of modelling approaches. It was clear that there was a variety of different approaches, regarding the type of algorithm to be used. We discuss the characteristics of the most cited algorithms, providing examples of their application in SDMs dedicated to IAPs. We advocate the use of a combination of different algorithms, an intensive evaluation of predictors, a thorough validation process, and a critical analysis of model predictions.

2021-09Journal article

Restricted access