Growth and fruit production of the tree Caryocar brasiliense in the Cerrado of central Brazil

Abstract

Caryocar brasiliense is a native tree found throughout the Cerrado savanna biome in central Brazil, and is exploited by rural population as food and industry. Although the abundance and popularity of this species in Cerrado have been an important component of local extractive economy, several aspects of sustainability as fruit production per tree size and growth rate have received little attention. We monitored, during two growing seasons, the stem growth rates and fruit production of tree in a wild population in Distrito Federal, central Brazil. The results showed a low growth rate of trees. The proportion of adult population fruiting was higher in 2006 than in 2007. For the smallest size (7.3-cm stem diameter) to begin fruiting, the estimated age was between 30 and 51 years old, and for tree with the largest stem diameter in the plot (43-cm diameter) the age was estimated to be between 110 and 153 years old. The whole fruit production by hectare was highly variable between years and was associated with differences in annual precipitation. The total fruit production was 1,004 fruits per ha (72.9 kg ha−1) in 2006, and 299 fruits per ha (21.7 kg ha−1) in 2007. The fruit production per tree was significantly positively correlated between 2006 and 2007 fruit season. Although an estimated fruit yield for whole Cerrado region is more than enough to support the actual demand, the slow growth rates and intensive harvesting indicates that more attention to sustainable management is required to avert demographic collapse of this cornerstone of the Cerrado extractive economy.