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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Grasses are one of the most successful and dispersed plant families worldwide
and their environmental and economic values are widely acknowledged. They
dominate the landscape of Cabo Verde, the southernmost and driest archipelago of Macaronesia, and are relevant natural resources for local populations,
but a comprehensive evaluation of their distribution patterns is still lacking. In
this study, we aim to evaluate the potential effects of climate change using the
long-term data concerning grass distribution in Cabo Verde and the widely
recognized climatic variability of this archipelago, which entails a huge irregularity in spatial and temporal rainfall. We identified two contrasting climatic
periods (wet, from 1929 to 1968, and dry, from 1969 to 2007) and gathered all
the information available from the bibliography, herbaria, and fieldwork
concerning spontaneous grass species recorded in Cabo Verde during those
two periods, which amounted to 107 taxa. This information was then used to
disclose the patterns of grass diversity as related to climatic and topographic
variables (altitude and windward vs. leeward aspects). Different altitudinal
shifts in the distribution patterns of grass species assemblages and an assemblage specific to the wet period were revealed by comparing the two climatic
periods. The role of exposure in delimiting the altitudinal distribution of the
various assemblages was highlighted; the trade winds clearly determine the
distribution of grass assemblages. We detected shifts in the distribution of grass
assemblages according to the climatic periods (related to the macroclimate)
and local topographic factors (associated with mesoclimates). Also, functional
traits (i.e., annuals vs. perennials, C3 vs. C4 grasses, and tropical vs. temperate
species) were found to vary between wet and dry periods, as well as with altitude and with slope aspect. Understanding species distributions and the role of
the climatic variability of Cabo Verde is crucial to predicting how climate
change will affect them and thus to support effective management and conservation actions.
Description
Keywords
Africa Cabo Verde Climate variability Drought Environmental adaptations Functional traits Macaronesia Poaceae
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Duarte, M. C., Rocha, V., Fernández-Palacios, J. M., Gomes, I., Neto, C., Costa, J. C., Branquinho, C., & Romeiras, M. M. (2024). Shifts in grasses diversity patterns between two contrasting 40-year climate periods in tropical dry islands. Ecospher, 15(4), e4837. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4837
Publisher
Wiley