Occurrence of Non-Native and Exotic Plants in Restored Areas of Rupestrian Grasslands

Non-native plant species invasion significantly represents a problem to projects on environment restoration. Such species have often been associated with the failure of restoration processes, the loss of local inputs, economic issues and, certainly, social losses. This present work aimed at listing and assessing the occurrence of non-native species resulting from the pavement work conducted on route MG-010 in restored areas of rupestrian grassland vegetation along the Espinhaco ridge, on the Cipo range, in Brazil. A total of 23 non-native plant species were found to invade the restored areas. Among such species, we may highlight the legumes Cajanus cajan, Chamaecrista flexuosa, Crotalaria pallida, Crotalaria spectabilis, and Mimosa pigra; and among the invasive weeds, Andropogon bicornis, A. leucostachyus, Melinis repens, M. minutiflora Paspalum paniculatum and Urochloa brizantha. Such species invasion in restored areas, as well in highway roadside, is associated with soil improvements along the highways, which use a common technique that includes limestone-soil mixture in pavement bed preparation. The lack of monitoring and management of restored areas, as well as of the national conservation units where they are located, is another factor that hinders the restoration process, endangering the unique local flora.