Abstract

OLIVEIRA-COSTA, Jorge  and  SOUZA, Reginaldo. Geosystems and invasions by Australian Acacia Species (Fabaceae, Mimosoideae) in the Rio Arouce’s watershed area: An overview of biological invasions at the geosystem scale. GOT [online]. 2015, n.8, pp.145-169. ISSN 2182-1267.  https://doi.org/10.17127/got/2015.8.008.

Various factors influence the spatial and temporal spreads of biological invasions. Land structure is one of the crucial factors, which influence the spreads, but also risk elements. Therefore, the assessment of invaded areas by alien species implies the analysis of land structure. This study is approached by analyzing the past and present of the land structure. The applied methods include analysis of orbital images and land cover maps. The timespan covers 50 years, 1960-2010. The study area is located in the ‘Serra da Lousã’ (Portugal). The results show clear changes in the land use, with trends to increase in invaded areas. A prone to invasion was detected, where are highlighting Acacia areas that seem to increase steadily.

Keywords : Land use change; Biological invasion; Spatial-temporal analysis; Invaded surfaces; Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Arouce; Portuguese watershed; Acacia genus.

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