Vegetative and reproductive phenology of tree communities in naturally regenerating secondary forest fragments

• Grant number: 23/01247-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Principal Investigator: Marina Corrêa Côrtes
• Grantee: Igor Matos Moreira
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Natural regeneration is an economic and effective strategy for the recovery of degraded ecosystems, occurring mainly due to the arrival of seeds from nearby fragments through abiotic agents or by the frugivorous fauna that inhabits the region. Trees comprise the founding elements in these new forests and are source of resources to the local fauna. Different resources are made available throughout the plant life cycle, which includes phases of sprouting, leaf fall, and reproduction. In this way, our project aims at characterizing the phenological patterns of trees in regenerating secondary forests based on metrics of seasonality, duration, and synchrony of phenophases. Secondly, we aim at comparing these patterns across species deciduousness, pollination, and seed dispersal modes. Phenological observations are conducted in eight plots of 20x45m located in forest fragments in the Corumbataí watershed, São Paulo state. The data collection is being carried out through monthly observations in each plot with the help of a binocular. We aim at completing two continuous years of observation, which already started in March 2022. Preliminary results totaling eight months of observation indicate variation in vegetative phenophases, with a greater proportion of leaf sprouting in the rainy season and leaf fall in the dry season. Individuals pollinated by insects represent the vast majority of those that flowered. Among individuals with ripe fruits, animal dispersal mode was observed in 47% of the total species and 45% of individuals. Such patterns indicate that the new tree communities are highly dependent on invertebrates and vertebrates for reproduction, in the same measure that there is food supply for the fauna. These results reinforce the importance of fauna for natural restoration.