Analysis of spatial distribution patterns of invasive agave populations in the coastal plain of the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park.

Title: 

Analysis of spatial distribution patterns of invasive agave populations in the coastal plain of the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park.

Author: 

M. Trinidad Torres García

Publication date:

2013

Abstract:

In the late 1950s, two species of Agave, sisal (A. sisalana) and henequen (A. fourcroydes) were introduced into the ecosystem of the eolian coastal plain of the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park for textile use. The initial uniform pattern of cultivation has derived in a visible aggregate pattern through a process of biological invasion, which has shown special intensity on the sandy substrates near the coast. We believe that this pattern may be governed by the clonal growth of the species and the interaction between them and with respect to Ziziphus lotus, a species that dominates a priority habitat typical of this ecosystem. Through the statistical analysis of the spatial pattern of agaves we analyze the process of densification of the populations of these species and their relationship with the most relevant interspecific interactions of the new ecosystem that has been formed.

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