Do subtropical grasslands recover spontaneously after afforestation?

Aims South American Pampa grasslands are habitats of great conservation interest, with a distinct and rich flora, but have been intensely converted to other land uses, including tree plantations. While necessity for restoration grows, no information on restoration potential of grasslands after afforestation exists. Here, we aim at analyzing composition and structure of grassland vegetation with a history of eucalyptus plantations in order to assess recovery potential of these areas. We hypothesized that areas with history of eucalyptus would differ from reference grasslands with no history of land-use change in terms of floristic and functional composition and would present lower species richness. Methods Our study region comprised four sites in the southeastern part of the Pampa biome, in the coastal plain in the extreme south of Brazil, always with sites with long (50 years) history of eucalyptus plantation and reference grassland. We sampled vegetation at post-eucalyptus sites (with and without resprouting) 10 years after clearclutting and in natural grasslands. We analyzed data by analysis of variance and ordination techniques, considering compositional parameters and life forms, and indicator species analysis. Important Findings Species richness and vegetation cover were higher in reference grassland than in resprout areas but did not differ from post-eucalyptus areas. Exotic species cover was significantly higher in areas with afforestation history. In terms of total composition, natural grasslands differed significantly from areas with past plantation use. Indicator species analyses revealed considerable differences between grassland types. In conclusion, vegetation development led to grassland communities that are still quite distinct from reference sites. Likely, the specificity of grassland management has a high importance in defining vegetation trajectories in time and importance for grassland recovery, and restoration needs to be addressed in more studies.