Dryad
Published June 14, 2021 | Version v1
Dataset Open

Data from: Canals as invasion pathways in tropical dry forest and the need for monitoring and management

Authors/Creators

  • 1. Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco
  • 2. Federal University of Lavras

Description

  1. Linear infrastructure intrusions are common around the world to meet the needs of a growing and interconnected human population. The implementation of linear infrastructures involves numerous forms and mechanisms of land-use transformation that can facilitate and serve as pathways to the spread of invasive non-native species. However, the type and intensity of land transformations change over time and this can affect the frequency and intensity in which linear infrastructures route the spread of invasive species.
  2. Here, we present results collected over five years of monitoring surveys (2015 to 2019) to assess the relationship between the construction of one of the largest canals to date in Brazil and the spread of non-native species. We studied the Integration Project of the São Francisco River (PISF) a canal fully inserted in the Caatinga biome, a tropical dry forest ecosystem for which information on invasion dynamics are little known.
  3. Our results confirmed PISF canals served as habitat and dispersal corridors for non-native plant species. Monitoring surveys recorded 26 non-native species established along the 83.2 km2 PISF deployment area. Eleven years after the canal deployment area was completely cleared of vegetation, 92.3% of its extension had non-native plant populations. Of the ten species assessed for their population status, eight had invasive populations.
  4. The time immediately after construction work finished was the critical stage for the spread of non-native woody plants, which increased their distributions with reduced levels of construction intervention, whereas most of the herbaceous species reduced their distributions. When human intervention was drastically reduced, many populations of non-native plants rapidly formed at the deployment area.
  5. Policy implications: Man-made linear infrastructures can remove biogeographical barriers and serve as pathways for the spread of invasive species over long distances and across ecosystems. Thus, the planning, construction and management of such infrastructures should include measures and funding for risk assessment, prevention, monitoring, and control of biological invasions. Agencies responsible for environmental licensing should mandate invasive species management as part of the installation and operation licensing conditions.

Notes

This dataset is subject to a 5 year embargo after publication owing to contractual rules imposed by the Brazilian Ministry of Regional Development. Please contact the authors if necessary to discuss potential uses of the dataset on analyses and publications during the embargo period (2021-2026).

Some specific details on each dataset:

Csv 1. List of non-native species

List of non-native plants recorded in PISF with respective families and life forms. Calculations of absolute and percentage values for family's frequency and life forms percentage frequency.

Csv 2. Invasion status

Absolute numbers of non-native populations per invasion status (casual, naturalized and invasive) for East, North and both canals.

Csv 3. Occupancy measures

Number of populations with more than 100 m of extent, the largest population in extension, total extension in both canals, mean extension, the standard deviation of extension and the proportion (%) occupied for each species in both canals. Assessed extension (in meters), extension free of non-native populations (in meters), proportion of the canal free of non-native populations (%) for each canal e both added.

Csv 4. Beta and Delta slopes

Slopes extracted from the linear models built for surveys 1 to 5 (beta_1_5), surveys 6 to 8 (beta_6_8) and the difference between them (beta_delta).

Csv 5. Occurrence Data

List of non-native plants recorded in PISF with the number of sampling points where each species occurred per survey for East, North and both canals. Calculations of the mean presence at the sampling points for each canal and the standard deviation of the presence at the sampling points considering both channels. Data for the results of the entire section "Non-native plant presence" was extracted from Csv 5.

PS.: All information presented in Supplementary Material 1 can be accessed in Csv 1, Csv 2, Csv 3 and Csv 4.

Funding provided by: Ministério do Desenvolvimento Regional do Brasil*
Crossref Funder Registry ID:
Award Number: Projeto São Francisco environmental licensing requirements

Funding provided by: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
Crossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003593
Award Number: 304701/2019-0

Funding provided by: Ministério do Desenvolvimento Regional do Brasil
Crossref Funder Registry ID:
Award Number: Projeto São Francisco environmental licensing requirements

Files

1._List_of_non-native_species.csv

Files (20.9 kB)

Name Size Download all
md5:2481d762b2dfc06d7bc7d0cf377fcca8
1.5 kB Preview Download
md5:6dd05fd5debbe82e78784608ab06d017
585 Bytes Preview Download
md5:35c650f5c50ccbedcda16d72a2aeea3b
1.5 kB Preview Download
md5:894af1cb44728bfa6c76b00b11bfb0d4
1.3 kB Preview Download
md5:94fe512320680b253baab0ffaee19aa4
2.4 kB Preview Download
md5:31e47395fa6b347d865faab418ced739
13.6 kB Download