Redox markers of native species in urban fragments of the Atlantic Forest

• Grant number: 24/20809-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2025
• End date: April 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Applied Botany
• Principal Investigator: Cláudia Maria Furlan
• Grantee: Allanis Catharina Pimenta Corrêa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 20/07141-2 - Biogenic emissions, chemistry and impacts in the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo: BIOMASP+, AP.TEM

Abstract

Organisms in natural ecosystems have developed evolutionary strategies to interact to biotic and abiotic conditions. Plants, as sessile organisms, have morphological and chemical strategies, including the production of specialized (or secondary) metabolites, which act as an interface, increasing the plant' overall survival capacity. In the last century, climate change induced by human activities has culminated in new environmental constraints for organisms, such as air pollution, a common abiotic stressor in megacities, as the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo (RMSP). The RMSP is located within the Atlantic Forest domain, and therefore contains forest remnants within and around it. It is known that plants present different responses to stress caused by atmospheric pollutants, including the emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC), and these can affect atmospheric chemistry, in a close biosphere-atmosphere relationship. However, studies on this vegetation-atmosphere relationship in urban forest fragments are still incipient. Thus, this study aims to expand knowledge on the effect of atmospheric pollution on native plants of the Atlantic Forest in urban forest remnants using the plant redox state and changes in the metabolome as possible biomarkers, analyzing four tree species in two Atlantic Forest fragments: the Forest Reserve of the Institute of Biosciences [USP], in the city of São Paulo, and the Morro Grande Reserve [RMG], in the city of Cotia, both part of the RMSP. This study will also evaluate the effect of seasonality (dry and rainy seasons) on the vegetation-atmosphere interaction. In this context, this project is part of the BIOMASP collaboration agreement (FAPESP/ANR 2020/07141-2) - Biogenic emissions, chemistry and impacts in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo: BIOMASP+.