Decreased functional dispersal traits of spontaneous plants in urban areas

Urbanization is a major form of landscape alteration characterized by the extent of impervious structures. For urban vegetation, dispersal is key for allowing plants to reach and occupy spaces that offer conditions for germination. Here, we investigated (i) the effect of urbanization intensity on th...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Urban ecosystems 2024-02, Vol.27 (1), p.15-26
Main Authors: de Almeida, Jonathan Wilson, Heringer, Gustavo, Zenni, Rafael Dudeque
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Disorders
Dispersion
Ecology
Environmental Management
Fruits
Germination
Indigenous plants
Introduced plants
Invasive species
Life Sciences
Nature Conservation
Plant species
Plants (botany)
Seeds
Urban areas
Urban Ecology
Urbanization
Variation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Urbanization is a major form of landscape alteration characterized by the extent of impervious structures. For urban vegetation, dispersal is key for allowing plants to reach and occupy spaces that offer conditions for germination. Here, we investigated (i) the effect of urbanization intensity on the variation in plant height, quantity, size and weight of fruits and seeds of spontaneous plants; (ii) the presence of variation in the traits for species with different dispersive syndromes and invasion status; and (iii) the effect of urbanization on the proportion of species with different dispersive syndromes. We collected plants from the herbaceous and shrub strata in different intensities of urbanization, in Lavras-MG, Brazil. Data were analyzed using generalized linear mixed-effect models. A total of 88 plant species were identified. We observed a decrease in the values of the functional traits with increasing urbanization intensity. Plant height decreased with increased urbanization. Anemochorous plants showed a decrease in fruit size, and zoochoric plants showed a decrease in fruit and seed weight. There was a reduction in the number and size of fruits of native plants and in the number of seeds of naturalized exotic plants. There was no variation in the proportion of species by dispersive syndromes. The tendency of smaller dispersive structures illustrates the filtering of functional traits caused by urbanization.
ISSN:1083-8155
1573-1642
DOI:10.1007/s11252-023-01426-9