The coastal plain of the southeastern United States is historically wet pine savannahs, prairie, and hardwoods. However, many exotic species have invaded this area and become a serious threat to native forest ecosystems. Among those exotic species, Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera) has become one of the most pervasive tree species in the southern coastal states, including Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. Therefore, to understand the distribution and spread mechanisms has become important in the management and control of Chinese tallow in the southeastern United States. In this research, distribution and spread mechanisms of Chinese tallow were studied at multiple spatial scales, including regional, landscape, and stand. Effects of predisposing (community and landscape features) and inciting (natural disturbance and human activities) factors on Chinese tallow invasion had been evaluated by using a comprehensive data set (field data and Forest Inventory and Analysis data) and spatial statistical models. Results indicated that propagule pressure of Chinese tallow is the main force driving tallow dispersal at different spatial scales. Predisposing and inciting factors such as natural disturbances, anthropogenic disturbances, forest types, forestland ownerships, and landscape features are significantly related to the spread of Chinese tallow at different spatial scales. Regionally, Chinese tallow initially started to spread from southern Texas and Louisiana to the northeastern portion of the Gulf Coastal area. At landscape and stand scales, Chinese tallow has commonly invaded from edges of forests and habitats such as roads and firebreaks. Inciting factors, including hurricanes/storms and prescribed fires, could accelerate the spread of Chinese tallow at different spatial scales, especially in habitats that have previously been invaded. Compared to pine forests, it is easier for Chinese tallow to invade bottomland hardwood forests at the regional scale. The efficient dispersal distance of tallow seeds is 250-300 m, and its distribution is affected by the microtopography in forest stands. Management of Chinese tallow invasion should be focused at selected scales, such as landscape and stand levels, because of variations of site conditions.

Submitted by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-21T18:35:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRAL.pdf: 3616408 bytes, checksum: 1f059af1e83546f934fb09bda5b63e7f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-21T18:35:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRAL.pdf: 3616408 bytes, checksum: 1f059af1e83546f934fb09bda5b63e7f (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Ronildo Prado (ronisp@ufscar.br) on 2017-08-21T18:35:23Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRAL.pdf: 3616408 bytes, checksum: 1f059af1e83546f934fb09bda5b63e7f (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-08-21T18:35:30Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 TeseRAL.pdf: 3616408 bytes, checksum: 1f059af1e83546f934fb09bda5b63e7f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-15 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / The conversion of natural areas to human activities in watersheds is the main cause of riparian forest degradation, which, consequently, decreases the integrity of aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, restoration of riparian forests has been recommended as the best strategy for the recovery of streams in watersheds deforested by land use and cover. In Brazil, projects of riparian forest restoration are still recent and little is known about their effects on adjacent streams ecosystems. This study evaluated the effects of riparian forest restoration on stream water quality and aquatic macroinvertebrate communities using the multiple spatial scales approach. Sampling was carried out using the field protocol developed by the Environmental Protection Agency of the United States of America (US-EPA). We compared streams with natural riparian forests, streams with riparian forests in restoration and streams with riparian zones covered by pasture or grasses. A 150m reach was defined in each stream, and measurements of the physical structure of habitats and water quality were made, as well as samples of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Land-use and cover of each stream sub-basin was carried out through an environmental characterization of the landscape. Riparian forest restoration did not affect stream water quality and biological diversity after 10 and 13 years of project implementation, suggesting that the recovery of tropical streams in response to riparian forest restoration may be slow in sub-basin heavily altered by human activities. The present study fills a knowledge gap on the effects of riparian restoration and suggests the need for further studies and long term evaluations integrating new riparian forest restoration projects in watersheds with different intensities of human degradation to better understand the effects of the implementation of these projects on the quality of stream water and aquatic communities. / A conversão de áreas naturais para as atividades humanas nas bacias hidrográficas é a principal causa da degradação de florestas ripárias, o que, consequentemente, diminui a integridade dos ecossistemas aquáticos. Assim a restauração de florestas ripárias tem sido recomendada como a melhor estratégia visando à recuperação de riachos em bacias desmatadas pelo uso e ocupação do solo. No Brasil, projetos de restauração de florestas ripárias ainda são recentes e pouco se conhece sobre os seus efeitos nos ecossistemas de riachos adjacentes. Este estudo avaliou os efeitos de florestas ripárias em restauração na qualidade da água e nas comunidades de macroinvertebrados aquáticos de riachos, utilizando a abordagem de múltiplas escalas espaciais de investigação. Para a amostragem, foi utilizado o protocolo desenvolvido pela Agência de Proteção Ambiental Norte-Americana (US-EPA). Foram comparados riachos com floresta ripária natural, floresta ripária em restauração e com zonas ripárias alteradas por pastagem ou gramíneas. Um trecho de 150 m foi definido em cada riacho e em cada trecho foram realizadas medidas da estrutura física dos habitats e da qualidade da água e amostragens de macroinvertebrados aquáticos. Na microbacia de cada riacho foi realizada a caracterização ambiental da paisagem para analisar o uso e ocupação do solo. A floresta ripária em restauração após 10 e 13 anos de implantação não afetou a qualidade da água e a diversidade biológica, sugerindo que a recuperação de riachos tropicais em resposta à restauração de florestas ripárias pode ser lenta em bacias hidrográficas fortemente alteradas pelas atividades humanas. O presente estudo preenche uma lacuna de conhecimento sobre os efeitos de florestas ripárias em restauração em riachos de paisagens rurais e sugere a necessidade de mais estudos e avaliações em longo prazo, integrando novos projetos de restauração de floresta ripária em bacias hidrográficas com diferentes intensidades vii de degradação humana, para melhor se compreender os efeitos da implantação destes projetos na qualidade da água e comunidades aquáticas. / FAPESP: 2013/19950-9

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