Check List 11(1): e19133, doi: 10.15560/11.1.1535
Non-native and invasive alien plants on fluvial islands in the São Francisco River, northeastern Brazil
expand article infoJuliano Ricardo Fabricante‡, Sílvia Renate Ziller§, Kelianne Carolina Targino de Araújo‡, Marilia das Dores Genovez Furtado|, Fabiana de Arantes Basso|
‡ Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco (UNIVASF), Brazil§ Instituto Hórus de Desenvolvimento e Conservação Ambiental, Brazil| iversidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco (UNIVASF),

Corresponding author: Juliano Fabricante ( julianofabricante@hotmail.com )

© 2017 Juliano Fabricante, Sílvia Ziller, Kelianne Araújo, Marilia Furtado, Fabiana Basso.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Fabricante J, Furtado M, Ziller S, Araújo K, Basso F (2015) Non-native and invasive alien plants on fluvial islands in the São Francisco River, northeastern Brazil. Check List 11(1): 1535. https://doi.org/10.15560/11.1.1535
Open Access
Abstract
This paper is the result of a survey of the alien flora present on fluvial islands in the São Francisco River, northeastern Brazil. The floristic similarities between the islands wereassessed, as well as the relationship between area size and species richness. The study covered eight islands in the São Francisco River Valley and was carried out in a period of eight months. Thirty one alien species were registered, six of them (Amaranthus viridis, Calotropis procera, Cenchrus ciliaris, Enneapogon cenchroides, Prosopis pallida and Ricinus communis) present on all islands. The highest number of invasive alien species (26) was recorded on Massangano Island. The floristic similarity between the islands varied between medium and very high, while the number of alien species present was positively correlated with area size. The study demonstrates that the biodiversity on these eight fluvial islands is endangered, especially due to the presence of alien species capable of invading natural areas.
Keywords
biological invasion; invasive alien species; island ecosystems; dry forest; Caatinga