Characterization of shrub-arboreal and regenerating strata of remaining forests inserted in agricultural matrix

• Grant number: 14/20823-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: November 01, 2014
• End date: October 31, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Applied Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues
• Grantee: Helen Nunes Breyer
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/50718-5 - Ecological restoration of riparian forests, native forest of economic production and of degraded forest fragments (in APP and RL) based on restoration ecology of reference ecosystems in order to scientifically test the precepts of the New Brazilian Forest Code, AP.BTA.TEM

Abstract

The composition and structure of a community may be indicators of assessment and monitoring of vegetation in restored areas, as well as natural regeneration, which shows if seedlings originated from the surroundings are colonizing the restoration site. These parameters may depict the effects of the actual restoration of ecological processes and the possibility of perpetuation of the plant community in the restored area. Through comparison between the vegetation from the restored areas and the remaining forests on the surroundings is possible to identify if the biological flow is occurring between these areas. In other words, if the biological processes are playing their role to guarantee the coming of new species in the restored area, promoting rescue of biodiversity, which is the main requirement for sustainability of restored areas. Thus, the vegetation characterization from remaining fragments, inserted in an agricultural matrix and located in the surroundings of restored areas becomes pivotal to the effectiveness assessment of restoration actions and to the biodiversity conservation in the remaining areas. Therefore, the aim of this study is to characterize the bush/tree layers and the regenerating plants from the forest fragments inserted in the sugarcane matrix, playing a ground role to the monitoring of restored areas in the surroundings and to the adaptive management of forest fragments aiming the biodiversity conservation of the regional landscape remnant. For the study, the scientific initiation student should visit the remaining forests, collect plant material for later identification in herbarium or consulting specialists. For the student, the development of the project will provide training of the collection methods and scientific data analysis in forest restoration projects, as well as training for the development of a research project, from the planning of the data collection to the development of a report/paper with the discussion of the results. (AU)