Forest restoration enrichment through direct sowing of native tree species

• Grant number: 12/25069-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: March 01, 2013
• End date: December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Sergius Gandolfi
• Grantee: Manoela Schiavon Cundari Machado
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project will be developed in a semideciduous forest fragment in the city of Araras-SP and aims to evaluate the ecological efficiency of direct sowing using tree native early secondary and climax species conducted in the forest understory towards the enrichment of a forest in the progress of recovery. The seed viability of the chosen species will be tested and then the seeds will be sowed in a shaded forest environment under two treatments, one being the coverage with a thin layer of soil and the other by a thin coverage of leaf litter. The emergence, establishment and survival of the seedlings will be described during 6 months after the seeding. Then will be compared the richness, floristic composition, and final community structure obtained by each treatment. Also will be verified the floristic similarity between the community that was seeded with the final seedling communities, and these together. Furthermore will be observed the seedlings density, which will be compared with previously estimated densities defined as being sufficient for the covering and future canopy replacement of the area. This project's results will allow us to point out improvements to the method of direct seeding of enrichment that will complement ecological restoration projects.(AU)