Effect of planting mixed and facilitating species on the regenerating community

Ecological restoration is essential to recovering degraded ecosystems and reestablishing fundamental environmental processes such as stability, succession, and resilience. This study evaluated whether the mixed planting of eight native forest species and the facilitator species Baccharis dracunculifolia influences Floristic community composition and diversity indices, phytosociological parameters, patterns of species community composition between treatments, and the effect of overgrowth and light on natural regeneration in areas undergoing ecological restoration. The experiment was conducted at the Canguiri Farm Experimental Station, Paraná, Brazil, using a randomized block design with two treatments and four replicates. Plots of 432 m² were monitored four and five years after planting (2023 and 2024). We do not find differences between treatments regarding Floristic composition. The results indicated that both treatments mixed planting (T1) and planting with facilitating species (T2) showed an increase in floristic richness, diversity, and abundance between 2023 and 2024, with T1 maintaining slightly higher values of diversity (Shannon index) and evenness (Pielou index) over time. Baccharis semiserrata and B. dracunculifolia stood out in the phytosociological parameters, being dominant in treatments and years. The PCoA analysis revealed significantly different floristic compositions between treatments in both years. Finally, a negative effect of light was observed on diversity and evenness in T1 in 2024 and on diversity and richness in T2 in 2023.