Evolutionary potential of populations of Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) from archaeological sites in the Amazonia aiming at the development of strategies for ecosystem recovery

• Grant number: 22/12692-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: July 01, 2023
• End date: January 19, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Applied Botany
• Principal Investigator: Maria Imaculada Zucchi
• Grantee: Flaviane Malaquias Costa
• Host Institution: Agência Paulista de Tecnologia dos Agronegócios (APTA). Secretaria de Agricultura e Abastecimento (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 24/00569-8 - Evolutionary potential of populations of Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) from archaeological sites in the Amazonia aiming at the development of strategies for ecosystem recovery, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

Multiple large-scale forest restoration strategies are emerging globally to counteract ecosystems degradation and biodiversity loss. However, these strategies often remain insufficient to offset the loss caused by anthropogenic development. Least two reasons could explain this incomplete performance: i) we ignore how human disturbance affects species genetic variability and their potential to evolve and adapt to the ongoing global changes; ii) there is a major gap in the knowledge about long-term (100 years) ecosystem dynamics after human disturbance ends. In this project, we propose to investigate the adaptative potential of the Brazil nut tree, a species that key roles in the structure of forest and their functioning, after anthropic disturbance cessation. The collections will be carried out on Pre-Columbian archaeological sites, today known as Terras Pretas Amazônicas (TPA), where the descendants of ancient Brazilian nut trees still grow today. With 10 selected TPA sites sequentially abandoned that have never been reoccupied, we will build a 1,000-year chronosequence. This chronosequence will allow us understand how the Brazilian nut trees recover their adaptive potential after they are released from domestication when Pre-Columbian peoples collapsed around the XV century. Our team that includes experts in forest restoration, domestication, and genomics will explore changes in the whole genome of the Brazilian nut tree along the chronosequence to start the new field of restoration genomics. The results will help find genomes with increased genetic variability and thus adaptive potential. Individuals with these genomes can then be used in tropical forest restoration, increasing the resilience and resistance of forests to ongoing global changes.