Secondary succession of woody plants following sand mining in the Soesdyke-Linden area, Guyana: A Chronosequence study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30574/gscbps.2021.17.1.0300Keywords:
Sand Mining, Disturbance, Secondary Succession, Chronosequence, Woody PlantsAbstract
Sandy soils comprise a large proportion of low productivity areas of Guyana on the Soesdyke-Linden Highway, where there is ecological disturbance and evidence of secondary succession after sand mining activities. This study investigated secondary succession of woody plants on abandoned sand mining locations. Secondary succession was studied inferentially by comparing sites in a homogeneous zone that was abandoned at different times post disturbance due to sand mining. Species diversity and community composition at five (5) sites which included an undisturbed area and areas at 3, 5, 10, and 15 years after the disturbance of sand mining were studied. Fifteen 10m x 10m plots were sampled for woody plants with a DBH of more than 2.5cm, and 1m x 1m sub-plots were randomly selected and sampled for seedlings with a DBH less than 2.5cm. A total of 241 plants were recorded, encompassing 22 species across 16 Families. Tapiria marchandii of the family Anacardiaceae dominated the chronosequences of 5, 10, and 15 years and recorded the highest Importance Value Index (IVI) of 112.88, 154.51, and 215.42, respectively. Dimorphandra conjugata of the family Fabaceae also adapted well to conditions post sand mining in the latter chronosequences of 10 and 15 years with IVIs of 54.17 and 38.83, respectively. The youngest site of three years exhibited the highest species diversity post the disturbance of sand mining; however, the undisturbed site possessed the highest overall species diversity. Species diversity of chronosequences decreased with age as competition for limited resources increased and the dominant species proliferated.
Metrics
References
UNEP. The Search for Sustainable Sand Extraction Is Beginning [Internet]. © 2019 [cited 2021 March 26]. Available from https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/search-sustainable-sand-extraction-beginning.
Peduzzi P. Sand rarer than one thinks. Environmental Development. 2014; 11: 208-18.
Farahani H, Bayazidi S. Modeling the assessment of socio-economical and environmental impacts of sand mining on local communities: A case study of Villages Tatao River Bank in North-western part of Iran. Resources Policy. 1 Mar 2018; 55: 87-95.
Koehnken L, Rintoul MS, Goichot M, Tickner D, Loftus AC, Acreman MC. Impacts of riverine sand mining on freshwater ecosystems: A review of the scientific evidence and guidance for future research. River Research and Applications. Mar 2020; 36(3): 362-70.
Leal Filho W, Hunt J, Lingos A, Platje J, Vieira LW, Will M, Gavriletea MD. The Unsustainable Use of Sand: Reporting on a Global Problem. Sustainability. Jan 2021; 13(6): 33-56.
John E. The impacts of sand mining in Kallada river (Pathanapuram Taluk), Kerala. J. Basic Appl. Biol. 2009; 3:108-13.
Gallagher L, Peduzzi P. Sand and sustainability: Finding new solutions for environmental governance of global sand resources. Geneva: United Nations Environment Programme. 2019.
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. World Population Prospects: The 2019 Revision. 2019.
CEPAL N. Economic Survey of Latin America and the Caribbean 2019. The new global financial context: effects and transmission mechanisms in the region. ECLAC. 31 Jul 2019.
Ministry of Finance. Public Debt Annual Report. Government of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. 2020.
Chow MJ. Guyana: Housing Market and Implications for Macroprudential Policies. International Monetary Fund. 31 Jan 2020.
Chazdon RL. Tropical forest recovery: legacies of human impact and natural disturbances. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, evolution and systematics. 1 Jan 2003; 6(1-2): 51-71.
Chapman CA, Chapman LJ. Forest restoration in abandoned agricultural land: a case study from East Africa. Conservation Biology. Dec 1999; 13(6): 1301-11.
FAO and UNEP. The State of the World’s Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people. Rome. 2020.
UNFCCC. The Marrakesh Accords & The Marrakesh Declaration [Internet]. © 2001 [cited 2021 July 20]. Available from: https://unfccc.int/cop7/documents/accords_draft.pdf
FAO. Country Profile – Guyana [Internet]. [cited 2021 May 12]. Available from http://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/index/en/?iso3=GUY.
Sizer N. Profit without plunder. World Resources Institute. 9 Jan 1996.
Ter Steege H. Plant diversity in Guyana: with recommendations for a national protected area strategy. 2000.
Benn V, Pham TT, Moeliono M, Maharani C, Thomas R, Chesney P, Dwisatrio B, Ha CN. The context of REDD+ in Guyana: Drivers, agents and institutions. CIFOR. 28 May 2020.
Ashraf MA, Maah MJ, Yusoff I, Wajid A, Mahmood K. Sand mining effects, causes and concerns: A case study from Bestari Jaya, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. Scientific Research and Essays. 31 Mar 2011; 6(6): 1216-31.
Global Forest Watch. Tree cover in Soesdyke-Linden highway (including Timehri), Demerara-Mahaica, Guyana [Internet]. © 2021 [cited 2021 July 21]. Available from https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/GUY.
Pandolfi JM. Succession. Encyclopedia of Ecology. 2008; 3416-3424.
Connell JH, Slatyer RO. Mechanisms of succession in natural communities and their role in community stability and organization. The american naturalist. 1 Nov 1977 ; 111(982): 1119-44.
The Nature Conservancy. Field Methods for vegetation mapping. NBS/NPS Vegetation. 1994.
Begon M, Townsend CR, Harper JL. Ecology–From individuals to Ecosystems. John Wiley & Sons. 2006.
Clements FE. Plant succession: an analysis of the development of vegetation. Carnegie Institution of Washington. 1916.
Odum EP. The Strategy of Ecosystem Development: An understanding of ecological succession provides a basis for resolving man's conflict with nature. science. 18 Apr 1969; 164(3877): 262-70.
Gleason HA. The individualistic concept of the plant association. Bulletin of the Torrey botanical club. 1926; 1: 7-26.
Arroyo‐Rodríguez V, Melo FP, Martínez‐Ramos M, Bongers F, Chazdon RL, Meave JA, Norden N, Santos BA, Leal IR, Tabarelli M. Multiple successional pathways in human‐modified tropical landscapes: new insights from forest succession, forest fragmentation and landscape ecology research. Biological Reviews. 2017 Feb; 92(1): 326-40.
Andersen DJ. Community ecology: pattern and process. Community ecology: pattern and process. 1 Jan 1986; 269-285.
Chazdon RL, Letcher SG, Van Breugel M, Martínez-Ramos M, Bongers F, Finegan B. Rates of change in tree communities of secondary Neotropical forests following major disturbances. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 28 Feb 2007; 362(1478): 273-89.
Norden N, Angarita HA, Bongers F, Martínez-Ramos M, Granzow-de la Cerda I, Van Breugel M, Lebrija-Trejos E, Meave JA, Vandermeer J, Williamson GB, Finegan B. Successional dynamics in Neotropical forests are as uncertain as they are predictable. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 30 Jun 2015; 112(26): 8013-8.
Walker LR, Del Moral R. Primary succession and ecosystem rehabilitation. Cambridge University Press. 2003 Feb 13.
Walker LR, Wardle DA, Bardgett RD, Clarkson BD. The use of chronosequences in studies of ecological succession and soil development. Journal of ecology. Jul 2010; 98(4): 725-36.
Ter Steege H, Lilwah R, Ek R, Van Der Hout P, Thomas R, Van Essen J, Jetten V. Composition and diversity of the rain forest in Central Guyana. An addendum to'Soils of the rain forest in Central Guyana'. Tropenbos Guyana reports 1999.
Hurbert O, Gharbarran G, Funk VA. Preliminary Biodiversity Map of Guyana. Washington DC. 1995.
Pickett ST. Space-for-time substitution as an alternative to long-term studies. Long-term studies in ecology. New York: Springer. 1989.
Molnár Z. The land-use historical approach to study vegetation history at the century scale. In Proceedings of “Research, conservation, management” conference. Aggtelek: Aggteleki Nemzeti Park Igazgatóság. 1997; 345-354.
Fukami T, Wardle DA. Long-term ecological dynamics: reciprocal insights from natural and anthropogenic gradients. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 22 Oct 2005; 272(1577): 2105-15.
Mueller Dombois D, Ellenberg H. Aims and methods of vegetation ecology. 1974.
Magurran AE. Biological diversity. Current Biology. 22 Feb 2005; 15(4): 116-8.
Ismail MH, Zaki PH, Fuad MF, Jemali NJ. Analysis of importance value index of unlogged and logged peat swamp forest in Nenasi Forest Reserve, peninsular Malaysia. International Journal of Bonorowo Wetlands. 20 Aug 2017; 7(2): 74-8.
Hutchison K. A test for comparing Shannon-Wiener diversity indices. J. Theor. Biol. 1970; 29: 151-4.
Clarke KR, Warwick RM. Change in marine communities. An approach to statistical analysis and interpretation. Jun 2001; 2: 1-68.
Huston M, Smith T. Plant succession: life history and competition. The American Naturalist. 1 Aug 1987; 130(2): 168-98.
Lohbeck M, Lebrija-Trejos E, Martínez-Ramos M, Meave JA, Poorter L, Bongers F. Functional trait strategies of trees in dry and wet tropical forests are similar but differ in their consequences for succession. PloS one. 2015 Apr 28.
Holl KD, Loik ME, Lin EH, Samuels IA. Tropical montane forest restoration in Costa Rica: overcoming barriers to dispersal and establishment. Restoration ecology. Dec 2000; 8(4): 339-49.
Kumar N, Kumar A. Floristic diversity assessment in river sand mining near Palri Bhoptan village, Kisangarh Tehsil, Afmer district, Rajasthan, India. Asian Journal of Earth Sciences. 2014; 7(2): 51-9.
Whittaker RH. Dominance and diversity in land plant communities: numerical relations of species express the importance of competition in community function and evolution. Science. 15 Jan 1965; 147(3655): 250-60.
Pielou EC. Species-diversity and pattern-diversity in the study of ecological succession. Journal of theoretical biology. 1 Feb 1966; 10(2): 370-83.
Habeck JR. Forest succession in the Glacier Park cedar‐hemlock forests. Ecology. Sep 1968; 49(5): 872-80.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
