Natural living walls: protective role of native climbing species against invasive plants at forest edges
- 1Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, 13506-900, São Paulo, Brazil; Corresponding author.
- 2Institute of Biosciences, Research Center for Biodiversity Dynamics and Climate Change (CBioClima), São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, 13506-900, São Paulo, Brazil; School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- 3Institute of Biosciences, São Paulo State University (UNESP), Rio Claro, 13506-900, São Paulo, Brazil
Abstract
The fragmentation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest has led to partially isolated fragments under strong edge effects. At the edges of these fragments, there is usually dominance of native climbing species and invasive African grasses. The high density of climbers creates a “wall” around the forest, known to hamper seedling establishment and eventually limit forest regeneration. We hypothesize that, to some extent, this dense “wall” formed by native climbing species may act as a barrier against the spread of invasive grasses into forest fragments. In this study, we investigated how the abundance of native climbers affects the abundance of invasive grasses at forest edges, and whether climbers influence seedling establishment and woody species richness. We conducted vegetation surveys at 45 edges distributed among private and public protected areas, via plot sampling (1 m 2 ; n = 1,225). We used Generalized Linear Mixed Models to investigate: (i) the effects of climber abundance (predictor) on the abundance of invasive grasses (response); (ii) the effects of climber and invasive grass abundance (predictors) on the abundance of eudicot seedlings (response); and (iii) the effects of average climber and invasive grass abundance (predictors) on species richness of trees and shrubs (response). The abundance of native climbers negatively affected the abundance of invasive grasses and reduced the establishment of eudicot seedlings. However, it did not affect species richness of native trees and shrubs. The effect of climbers on invasive grasses directly reduces the risk of wildfires, especially during the dry season. We understand that, despite these evidences, restoration projects may still have reasons to manage climbers in areas under regeneration. Then, we propose five main aspects to be carefully considered before initiating any direct intervention on climbers, considering the risk of fire and distribution of local species.
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BibTeX
@article{zardetto2026natural,
title = {{Natural living walls: protective role of native climbing species against invasive plants at forest edges}},
author = {Juliano Zardetto and Tadeu Siqueira and Alessandra Fidelis},
journal = {Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1016/j.pecon.2026.08.002},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecon.2026.08.002},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Natural living walls: protective role of native climbing species against invasive plants at forest edges
AU - Juliano Zardetto
AU - Tadeu Siqueira
AU - Alessandra Fidelis
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/25
JO - Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation
DO - 10.1016/j.pecon.2026.08.002
UR - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecon.2026.08.002
AB - The fragmentation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest has led to partially isolated fragments under strong edge effects. At the edges of these fragments, there is usually dominance of native climbing species and invasive African grasses. The high density of climbers creates a “wall” around the forest, known to hamper seedling establishment and eventually limit forest regeneration. We hypothesize that, to some extent, this dense “wall” formed by native climbing species may act as a barrier against the spread of invasive grasses into forest fragments. In this study, we investigated how the abundance of native climbers affects the abundance of invasive grasses at forest edges, and whether climbers influence seedling establishment and woody species richness. We conducted vegetation surveys at 45 edges distributed among private and public protected areas, via plot sampling (1 m 2 ; n = 1,225). We used Generalized Linear Mixed Models to investigate: (i) the effects of climber abundance (predictor) on the abundance of invasive grasses (response); (ii) the effects of climber and invasive grass abundance (predictors) on the abundance of eudicot seedlings (response); and (iii) the effects of average climber and invasive grass abundance (predictors) on species richness of trees and shrubs (response). The abundance of native climbers negatively affected the abundance of invasive grasses and reduced the establishment of eudicot seedlings. However, it did not affect species richness of native trees and shrubs. The effect of climbers on invasive grasses directly reduces the risk of wildfires, especially during the dry season. We understand that, despite these evidences, restoration projects may still have reasons to manage climbers in areas under regeneration. Then, we propose five main aspects to be carefully considered before initiating any direct intervention on climbers, considering the risk of fire and distribution of local species.
SN - 2530-0644
ER -