Banca de DEFESA: JAQUELINE SILVA MOURA

Uma banca de DEFESA de MESTRADO foi cadastrada pelo programa.
STUDENT : JAQUELINE SILVA MOURA
DATE: 28/02/2023
TIME: 09:00
LOCAL: Google Meet
TITLE:

ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS AND ABIOTIC CHARACTERISTIC INFLUENCE THE SUCCESS OF CAATINGA FOREST RESTORATION.

KEY WORDS:

Restoration; Technical advances; Biotic interactions; Limiting factor.

PAGES: 100
BIG AREA: Ciências Biológicas
AREA: Ecologia
SUMMARY:

Several ecological processes can influence the structure and dynamics of communities to be restored. Among them are abiotic interactions such as facilitation, competition, and mycorrhizal symbiosis, as well as system limiting factors. In Caatinga, a seasonally dry Brazilian forest, little is known about how these interactions can contribute to the success of both the production of seedlings in the greenhouse and to increase their survival and performance in the field. To answer these questions, this dissertation is divided into two chapters, in the first, we tested how the addition of co-species tree soil (inoculum soil) containing Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) spores can improve seedling production of 7 potential tree species for ecological restoration of the Caatinga. The results showed that AMFs positively influenced the growth of most tree species, however the species responded differently to the growth parameters. We also found that the trees that showed the highest richness of AMFs were also the ones that showed the best performance in development and showed little similar AMF species, demonstrating that the positive effect on plants was more dependent on richness than on composition. These results highlight that the application of inoculum soil with native AMFs may be an efficient and low-cost approach to increase seedling performance and consequently overall success rates of dryland ecosystem restoration. In the second chapter, we tested in an in situ experiment, how facilitating herbaceous and arboreal plants, Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi and limiting abiotic factor (water), influence the survival and performance of seven tree species (target species). To this end, we implemented an experiment with factorial combinations of presence and absence of the following treatments replicated 5 times each: mycorrhiza (symbiosis); tree facilitator (facilitation); competitive herbaceous (competition); and water (abiotic limiting factor). Multifactorial anovas demonstrated that the limiting factor is able to modulate facilitation and competition interactions during restoration. The addition of water at the time of planting contributed to both facilitating and competitive herbaceous plants having a positive influence on growth measures of the target species, however the benefits were neutralized when the two groups of plants co-occurred. We also evidenced that in the absence of water, facilitating and/or herbaceous plants compete for resources more intensely, suppressing the growth of the target species. Thus, for best results, restoration projects must reconcile the management of competitive facilitators or herbaceous plants with the addition of water; if irrigation during transplanting is not possible, the use of only the target plant is the most indicated. We found that the outcome of the interactions may be dependent not only on resource availability, but also on the tolerance and competitive ability of the target species, thus future studies should investigate which combinations of techniques are best suited for the various species. Finally, we found that management of mycorrhizal fungi with facilitators can bring greater benefits to some species in the presence of water, however, the absence of water implies greater competition for resources, in the latter case, it is recommended to use only the facilitator species for greater benefits. In summary, this work contributes to the advancement of new techniques that can substantially increase the success of restoration in the Caatinga and other semi-arid regions.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
Externa à Instituição - WANESSA NEPOMUCENO FERREIRA - UFCA
Interno - 1678202 - CARLOS ROBERTO SORENSEN DUTRA DA FONSECA
Interna - 1677189 - GISLENE MARIA DA SILVA GANADE