Vegetation recovery and plant facilitation in a human-disturbed lava field in a megacity: searching tools for ecosystem restoration

• Published in: Plant ecology 2013-01, Vol.214 (1), p.153-167
• Main Authors: Mendoza-Hernández, Pedro E., Orozco-Segovia, Alma, Meave, Jorge A., Valverde, Teresa, Martínez-Ramos, Miguel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aerial parts; Ageratina; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Anthropogenic factors; Applied Ecology; Biodiversity; Biological and medical sciences; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Buddleja; Community & Population Ecology; Conservation, protection and management of environment and wildlife; Dominant species; Ecological restoration; Ecology; Ecosystem assessment; Ecosystem recovery; Ecosystem restoration; Ecosystem services; Ecosystems; Environmental impact; Environmental restoration; Forest products; Forestry; Forests; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Group facilitation; Human influences; Human settlements; Life Sciences; Megacities; Oxypetalum; Plant communities; Plant density; Plant diversity; Plant Ecology; Plant growth; Plant populations; Plant species; Planting density; Plants; Protection and preservation; Restoration ecology; Sedum; Shrubs; Species; Species diversity; Species richness; Synecology; Terrestial Ecology; Terrestrial ecosystems; Toy industry; Urban areas; Urban development; Urban ecology; Vegetation
• ISSN: 1385-0237; 1573-5052
• DOI: 10.1007/s11258-012-0153-y

Unplanned urban development threatens natural ecosystems. Assessing ecosystem recovery after anthropogenic disturbances and identifying plant species that may facilitate vegetation regeneration are critical for the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem services in urban areas. At the periphery of Mexico City, illegal human settlements produced different levels of disturbance on natural plant communities developed on a lava field near the Ajusco mountain range. We assessed natural regeneration of plant communities 20 years after the abandonment of the settlements, in sites that received low (manual harvesting of non-timber forest products), medium (removal of aboveground vegetation), and high (removal of substrate and whole vegetation) disturbance levels. We also tested the potential facilitative role played by dominant tree and shrub species. Plant diversity and vegetation biomass decreased as disturbance level increased. Sites with high disturbance level showed poor regeneration and the lowest species similarity compared to the least disturbed sites. Six dominant species (i.e., those with the highest abundance, frequency, and/or basal area) were common to all sites. Among them, three species (the tree Buddleja cordata, and two shrubs, Ageratina glabrata and Sedum oxypetalum) were identified as potential facilitators of community regeneration, because plant density and species richness were significantly higher under their canopies than at open sites. We propose that analyzing community structural traits of the successional vegetation (such as species diversity and biomass) and identifying potential facilitator species are useful steps in assessing the recovery ability of plant communities to anthropogenic disturbances, and in designing restoration strategies.