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| Author(s): |
Allan Camatta Mônico
Total Authors: 1
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| Document type: | Master's Dissertation |
| Press: | Piracicaba. |
| Institution: | Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC) |
| Defense date: | 2012-03-12 |
| Examining board members: |
Sergius Gandolfi;
Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues;
Flaviana Maluf de Souza
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| Advisor: | Sergius Gandolfi |
| Abstract | |
The main objective of ecological restoration is the reestablishment of a forest environment in a way to bring back the ecological functions between communities and the abiotic components, making it possible for the forest to be self-sustainable through time. However, many of these restored fragments are unsuccessful because of mistakes made in the initial stages of restoration projects and also due to small inputs of propagules coming from neighboring fragments which, in general, are in a continuous degradation process. Forests showing low regeneration potential in the understory are commonly observed, which hinders the natural process of canopy species substitution and favors the invasion by shrub-tree species, exotic grasses, low diversity, dominance of a few planted species, low offer of resources for the fauna etc. In this frame, it is necessary to monitor and to evaluate the current state of such areas as well as the use of restoration techniques to increase floristic and life forms diversity besides genetic variability which, in turn, will augment ecological interactions and community selfperpetuation. This study aimed to characterize the shrub-tree community by a floristic and phytosociological study, and to analyze the potential of superficial seed banks transfer to enrich a 13-year old restored Seasonal Semidecidual Forest fragment located around the São Luiz water reservoir in Santa Bárbara DOeste, SP, Brazil. Superficial seed banks were collected from a 50-year old restored forest and from an abandoned Pinus sp. plantation to test if these areas can serve as sources of seeds for the enrichment of both unsuccessful restored areas and natural secondary forests. The floristic and phytosociological studies showed that, as for the majority of the restored forest fragments in São Paulo State, the maintenance of the studied fragment may be compromised for not having triggered ecological succession yet. The abandoned Pine plantation seed bank showed a higher number of species and regenerating individuals, despite the fact that most of them were herbs and shrubs. However, the small number of tree species found had high absolute density when extrapolating to one hectare. Moreover, we found interesting life forms, from the ecological perspective, such as Piper sp. and a fern species. This way, our results demonstrate the potential the technique of enrichment by superficial seed bank transfer has. More detailed studies are necessary aiming higher diversity of introduced species and the measures of costs and operational yield of this technique. (AU) | |
| FAPESP's process: | 09/13190-7 - Superficial seed banks transfer as a strategy for enriching biodiversity in a restored forest |
| Grantee: | Allan Camatta Mônico |
| Support Opportunities: | Scholarships in Brazil - Master |