Exotic invasive flora evaluation on different environments and preservation conditions from a caatinga area, Petrolina, PE

Abstract

Biological invasions are increasingly common worldwide due to continuous transformations that environments have been undergoing. Thus, this study aimed to catalog the exotic invasive species from different environments at the Agricultural Sciences Campus from the Federal University of Vale do São Francisco, Petrolina-PE and to measure the distribution of the species diversity in the evaluated environments. The study area was initially divided into six environments. By walking through them (active search), all exotic invasive species were collected and herborized. Overall, 29 species were sampled, distributed into 16 genera and 12 families. From all catalogued species, 18 were herbs, four trees, four climbing plants and three bushes. Regarding their origin, 13 were from African continent, one from Europe, two from Asia, two from India, one from Madagascar and four from Central America. Some species still have natural occurrence at more than one continent. The ruderal environments showed greater similarity to each other, with a percentage of exotic invasive species in common, equal or greater than 75%. This study suggests that modified environments (degraded) facilitate biological invasions.