Avaliação da restauração ecológica de áreas degradadas de campos rupestres quartzíticos 12 anos pós plantio

Abstract

The construction of highways causes major environmental disturbances, especially in extreme and megadiverse environments such as the rupestrian grasslands. Several areas were degraded for paving and asphalting works on the MG-010 highway, in APA Morro da Pedreira, Cadeia do Espinhaço, Brazil. In 10 of these areas, an attempt at ecological restoration was carried out by planting seedlings of woody native species to the region. However, the areas were then fenced off and abandoned. After 12 years since planting, these areas were evaluated for restoration success. To do so, we took adjacent preserved ecosystems as references. The plant community and soil were compared between the reference areas and the areas in the restoration process. The effects of fire, common in the region, and fence on the vegetation of areas undergoing restoration were evaluated. Despite the colonization of the areas undergoing restoration, more than a decade after planting, both the soil and the plant community are very different from the reference areas, located in the surroundings. The plant community in areas undergoing restoration has similar diversity and species richness to reference areas. Only the richness of herbaceous species was greater in the reference areas. Despite the similarity in plant species richness and diversity, floristic similarity was low. Furthermore, the areas undergoing restoration contained lower plant density and less vegetation development. A dependency relationship was identified between the soil factors and the plant community, with the most fertile soils in the areas undergoing restoration having the occurrence of species not shared with the reference areas. In areas undergoing restoration, 129 herbaceous species were found recruited for natural regeneration, but ten of these species are invasive. The study demonstrated that areas can be restored through the use of native species, but the lack of maintenance and monitoring makes restoration much slower, requiring more time to achieve the return of species diversity and ecosystem functioning.