Influence of Hedychium coronarium J. Koenig on secondary succession of a remnant of Mixed Alluvial Ombrophile Forest

ABSTRACT

Hedychium coronariumJ.Koenig is a rhizomatous herbaceous species native to Asia and invasive in most states of Brazil. We aimed to evaluate the influence of H. coronariumon terrestrial herbaceous communities and natural regeneration of woody plants in a remnant of Alluvial Araucaria Forest in Curitiba - PR. The communities were sampled considering two treatments: (EC) high coverage of H. coronarium(>60%); (BC) low coverage of H. coronarium(<30%). Two communities were recorded: i) herbaceous vascular species (including subshrubs) and ii) seedlings of woody species between 15-130 cm height. In EC H. coronariumhad an average cover of 78.06%, with only five native herbaceous species and 24 native woody species. The average cover of the invasive in BC was 6.29%, with 17 native herbaceous and 37 woody native species. The most representative native herbaceous was Christella dentata(Forssk.) Brownsey & Jermy, while among the woody species Myrcia selloi(Spreng.) N.Silveira stood out for its frequency and abundance. The abundance of woody plants in the EC was approximately four times less than in the BC, showing that the high density of H. coronariumnegatively influences native plant communities. The high cover of the invasive species results in a decrease in species richness and the number of individuals in the communities, both herbaceous and woody regeneration.

Keywords
Phytosociology; Biological invasion; White ginger lily; Natural regeneration