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Assessing Forest Succession Along Environment, Trait, and Composition Gradients in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Tropical forests face increasing threats and are often replaced by secondary forests that regenerate after disturbances. In the Atlantic Forest, this creates fragments of different successional stages. The aim of this study is to understand how soil nutrients and light availability gradients influence the species composition and structure of trees and regenerating strata in remnants of lowland rainforest. We sampled 15 plots for the tree stratum (DBH ≥ 5 cm) and 45 units for the regenerating stratum (height ≥ 50 cm, DBH < 5 cm), obtaining phytosociological, entropy and equitability data for both strata. Canopy openness was assessed with hemispherical photos and soil samples were homogenized. To analyze the interactions between the vegetation of the tree layer and the environmental variables, we carried out three principal component analyses and two redundancy analyses and applied a linear model. The young fragments showed good recovery, significant species diversity, and positive successional changes, while the older ones had higher species richness and were in an advanced stage of succession. In addition, younger forests are associated with sandy, nutrient-poor soils and greater exposure to light, while mature forests have more fertile soils, display a greater diversity of dispersal strategies, are rich in soil clay, and have less light availability. Mature forests support biodiversity and regeneration better than secondary forests, highlighting the importance of preserving mature fragments and monitoring secondary ones to sustain tropical biodiversity.
Source: Forests
DOI: 10.3390/f16071169
Authors: Carem Valente, Renan Hollunder, Cristiane Moura, Geovane Siqueira, Henrique Dias, Gilson da Silva
Language: English
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,137
OpenAlex ID: W4412469193
FWCI: 2.62
Cites: 55
Cited by: 4
Related to: 10