POPULATION STRUCTURE OF TWO DOMINANT GYPSOPHYTE

SHRUBS THROUGH A SECONDARY PLANT SUCCESSION

The paper addresses the issue of abandoned farmland and makes
mention of the global landscape for these lands and emphasizes the study of the
ecological consequences of the abandonment of agricultural lands previously been
well explored. It is seen the little fertile land abandonment which denotes injury to
crop cultivation because the cost of production for soil correction and was also
observed that the areas of marginal land and hilly are the most abandoned. The
mineral gypsum is widely discussed in the introduction to the article, seeing as the
main constituent of the soil of the study area described.
The study was conducted in Spain sought to evaluate the age structure of
the population and secondary growth of two species of shrub gypsophyte through a
secondary plant succession after abandonment of agriculture. It was then a
chronosequence approach and selected three nearby sites and similar differing
primarily in their values of time since abandonment. Then dendrochronological
technique was applied. At work, the target species were Helianthemum squamatum
and Lepidium subulatum. The issues addressed in the study were: to what extent the
population age structure gypsophytes two dominant shrub species is determined by
the time elapsed since the abandonment of agricultural activity and the radial growth
of these species vary along the secondary succession.
Of the study sites were removed three samples with diameter 5 cm and
depth 10 cm, mixed to form a single composite sample per spot, and subsequently
sent for analysis to determine the chemical soil parameters such as conductivity,
organic carbon , total nitrogen, sulfate, active lime and phosphorus. Each place was
marked in relation to vegetation variables such as the total vegetative cover and
density of the study species (H. and L. squamatum subulatum) and all individuals
present were counted. We also collected additional individuals of both species in
order to assess the maximum longevity, selecting the largest individuals found within
each site and in each individual were measured height, crown diameter and the
presence of remains of flowers / fruits of last season Flowering recorded.
Regarding the differences in age structure of the population of H.
squamatum, the results showed that these differed between the study sites,
specifically in populations with 15 locations and over 65 years differed significantly
from common theoretical population, while the population aged 30 no. Regarding
recruitment, the three sites differed as to time, including between 2005 and 2007.
Results were pointed longevity of each species, which showed different periods.
These data are important to propose appropriate management for long-lived plants
present in degraded areas.
The study emphasizes that application of techniques for
dendrocronolgicas shrub species is an approach that meets the needs of multi-site
monitoring when dealing with demographics and the long-term monitoring when
working in environments characterized by high stochasticity.



Maircon Rasley Gonalves Arajo