CONGRESO
LXV CONGRESSO NACIONAL DE BOTÂNICA
BOTÁNICA
XXXIV ERBOT - Encontro Regional de Botânicos MG, BA, ES 18 A 24 DE OUTUBRO DE 2014 - SALVADOR - BAHIA - BRASIL
Latinoamericano de
Botânica na América Latina: conhecimento, interação e difusão
BIOTIC AND ABIOTIC DETERMINANTS OF ALLAGOPTERA
ARENARIA (ARECACEAE) ESTABLISHMENT IN COASTAL
PLAINS OF SOUTHEASTERN BRAZIL
AUTOR(ES):Luis Fernando Tavares de Menezes;Daniel Costa de
Carvalho;Felipe Cito Nettesheim;Eduardo Arcoverde de Mattos; Francisco I.
Pugnaire;
INSTITUIÇÃO:
Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo
Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro
Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Estacíon Experimental de Zonas Áridas
Coastal sand dunes and sandy plains known as restinga in Brasil are subject
to environmental factors that seriously limit plant establishment and
survival, such as salinity, desiccation, oligotrophy, flooding, high
temperatures and high radiation levels with large daily thermal amplitudes.
Germination and establishment success of seeds in these environments
depend on the ability of seeds to avoid or minimize the effects of
unfavorable environmental conditions and also to escape predators.
Establishment in open areas under unfavorable conditions is still unclear,
but we know that facilitation plays a main role in the process. We
investigated, with laboratory and field experiments, the optimal conditions
for establishment of Allagoptera arenaria, a palm tree found often in
restinga systems of southeastern Brazil. Our results showed that under
controlled conditions the seeds behaved as positive photoblastic with
optimum germination temperature of 35 ºC. In the field, the highest
germination rate success of A. arenaria was linked to burying the seeds,
preferably without mesocarp and in open areas. The burial of the seeds
occurs by Ateuchus squalidus a beetle which uses the mesocarp as food.
Seeds that remain on the soil surface are readily damaged by high
temperatures or predation by Pachymerus nucleorum, especially close to
the mother plant and outside dung piles made by disperser animals. Thus,
establishment depends on a mutualistic interaction with A. squalidus,
allowing A. arenaria has the ability to colonize open areas in restinga
ecosystems.