Invasive alien plants in Sergipe, north-eastern Brazil

By

Fabricante, Juliano Ricardo
Targino De Araújo, Kelianne Carolina
Almeida, Thieres Santos
Bispo Santos, João Paulo
Oliveira Reis, Daniel

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2021-1-29

Original Publication

Neotropical Biology and Conservation

Volume

16

Series / Issue

Issue: 1

Pages

89--104

Subjects

Checklist , Environmental impacts , floristic survey , invasive exotic

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Brazil Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/neotropical.16.e56427

 

Abstract

Biological invasions are considered one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity. In addition, they cause substantial economic impacts. However, studies about the subject in Brazil are still scarce. The aim of the present study was to prepare an inventory of non-native flora with invasive potential from Sergipe, Brazil. The inventory was carried out along the entire length of the sites. The species with potential invaders were grouped according to the biome/ecosystem and classified according to their habit and origin. Eighty-five species with invasive potential were sampled, 43 in the Caatinga, 75 in the Atlantic Forest, 36 in Sandbank and 22 in Mangrove. From these species, 17 were inventoried in all the biomes/ecosystems and 36 were observed in only one of them, six in the Caatinga, 27 in the Atlantic Forest and three in Sandbank. The number of potentially-invasive species sampled in Sergipe is alarming. The present study showed nearly twice the species listed by other authors for the entire northeast Brazil. This high number of taxa may be a consequence of facilitating the transfer of these species and the conservation conditions of the ecosystems studied in Sergipe. Another very worrying factor is that many of the species sampled are extremely aggressive and cause a series of impacts.