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<p><i>Retama monosperma</i> is a native shrub of southwestern Iberian coastal dunes that has strongly expanded over the last century, contributing to woody encroachment in dune grasslands. Understanding how recruitment patterns emerge over time is key to explaining this expansion. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of recruitment in recently formed coastal dunes at the eastern end of the El Rompido spit (SW Spain), where seed dispersal is mediated by rabbits and hares. We mapped all individuals established between 2004 and 2024 using high-precision GPS and reconstructed population age structure from allometric relationships. Recruitment distances were estimated by linking each individual to its most probable seed source, allowing the construction of recruitment curves and their comparison with a historical colonization period (1978–2003). Recruitment followed a leptokurtic, fat-tailed distribution dominated by short distances, with 95% of establishment events occurring within 86&#xa0;m of potential seed sources, while rare events reached up to 280&#xa0;m. Temporally, colonization was initially associated with recruitment at longer distances from the nearest mature populations, followed by a progressive shift toward recruitment at shorter distances as local populations became established and densified. Comparison with historical dynamics indicates that the rate of shrub expansion is not limited by dispersal capacity but by geomorphological constraints associated with dune formation and stabilization. Overall, recruitment patterns reflect the combined effects of dispersal and post-dispersal processes shaping shrub encroachment dynamics in coastal dune systems, with implications for the management of native expansive species.</p>

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Recruitment patterns reveal spatiotemporal encroachment dynamics of Retama monosperma in a coastal dune system

  • 期刊论文

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年5月7日

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  • Pablo Rodríguez Vázquez,
  • Juan B. Gallego Fernández

摘要

Retama monosperma is a native shrub of southwestern Iberian coastal dunes that has strongly expanded over the last century, contributing to woody encroachment in dune grasslands. Understanding how recruitment patterns emerge over time is key to explaining this expansion. Here, we investigated the spatiotemporal dynamics of recruitment in recently formed coastal dunes at the eastern end of the El Rompido spit (SW Spain), where seed dispersal is mediated by rabbits and hares. We mapped all individuals established between 2004 and 2024 using high-precision GPS and reconstructed population age structure from allometric relationships. Recruitment distances were estimated by linking each individual to its most probable seed source, allowing the construction of recruitment curves and their comparison with a historical colonization period (1978–2003). Recruitment followed a leptokurtic, fat-tailed distribution dominated by short distances, with 95% of establishment events occurring within 86 m of potential seed sources, while rare events reached up to 280 m. Temporally, colonization was initially associated with recruitment at longer distances from the nearest mature populations, followed by a progressive shift toward recruitment at shorter distances as local populations became established and densified. Comparison with historical dynamics indicates that the rate of shrub expansion is not limited by dispersal capacity but by geomorphological constraints associated with dune formation and stabilization. Overall, recruitment patterns reflect the combined effects of dispersal and post-dispersal processes shaping shrub encroachment dynamics in coastal dune systems, with implications for the management of native expansive species.