CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologias, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Universidade dos Açores, R. Mãe de Deus 13A, Ponta Delgada, 9500-321, Portugal.
BIOPOLIS Program in Genomics, Biodiversity and Land Planning, CIBIO de Vairão, Vairão, Portugal.
BMC Ecol Evol. 2024 Aug 20;24(1):111. doi: 10.1186/s12862-024-02300-8.
Anthropogenic threats are causing alteration of coastal areas worldwide. Most of the coastal biodiversity is endangered, taking a particular toll on island ecosystems, like the Azores. To better understand the biotic and abiotic factors constraining the distribution and conservation status of two endemic plants, Azorina vidalii (Campanulaceae) and Lotus azoricus (Fabaceae), we performed a global survey of coastal plant communities in the archipelago, also covering environmental descriptors, natural and anthropogenic threats. Moreover, we revised their IUCN conservation status and estimated the population fractions within protected areas.
Non-indigenous plants were commonly found in plots with or without the target endemics, contributing to the absence of well-defined coastal plant communities. Nonetheless, indigenous taxa commonly occurred at the plots with L. azoricus. With a larger area of occurrence, A. vidalii ecological niche differed from that of L. azoricus, the latter being restricted to dry and rocky sea cliffs, mostly in Santa Maria Island. Besides the presence of invasive plants, signs of habitat destruction, trampling and grazing, and of natural threats, such as coastal erosion, were commonly observed.
Occurrence data indicated an endangered status for both species, although this would change to critically endangered for L. azoricus when using smaller-sized occurrence cells. Both species are threatened since their habitat is restricted to a very narrow vegetation belt, strongly limited by sea influence and human pressure, and with the frequent presence of invasive plants. While focusing on two endemic plants, our study allowed a broader view of the impact of anthropogenic disturbance on Azorean coastal plant communities.
人为威胁正在导致全球沿海地区发生变化。大多数沿海生物多样性受到威胁，对岛屿生态系统造成了特别大的影响，如亚速尔群岛。为了更好地了解限制两种特有植物（Azorina vidalii（桔梗科）和 Lotus azoricus（豆科））分布和保护状况的生物和非生物因素，我们对该群岛的沿海植物群落进行了全球调查，还涵盖了环境描述符、自然和人为威胁。此外，我们修订了它们的 IUCN 保护状况，并估计了保护区内的种群比例。
非本地植物在有或没有目标特有植物的样地中都很常见，导致没有明确界定的沿海植物群落。尽管如此，本土类群通常在有 L. azoricus 的样地中出现。A. vidalii 的生态位比 L. azoricus 的生态位更大，后者仅限于圣玛丽亚岛干燥多石的海崖。除了入侵植物的存在外，还经常观察到栖息地破坏、践踏和放牧的迹象，以及自然威胁，如海岸侵蚀。
出现数据表明两种物种都处于濒危状态，尽管当使用较小的出现单元格时，L. azoricus 的状况将变为极危。由于它们的栖息地仅限于非常狭窄的植被带，受到海洋影响和人类压力的强烈限制，并且经常有入侵植物的存在，因此这两种物种都受到威胁。虽然专注于两种特有植物，但我们的研究使我们能够更全面地了解人为干扰对亚速尔群岛沿海植物群落的影响。
