Abstract
This study was conducted in a commercial forest stand of Pinus taeda L. located in Curitibanos, in the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the influence of the physical barrier caused by the deposition of aciculas, on natural regeneration mechanisms of native species in sub-woods of P. taeda L. forest stand. Three plots (10 x 10 m) were installed in the sub-woods of the forest stand, and the natural regeneration was evaluated in the control (presence of aciculas) and clean (absence of aciculas) subplots, in addition to the seeds rain and soil seeds bank. The density and frequency parameters (absolute and relative) and the Shannon-Weaver Index (H’) were calculated, and the total density values of the seeds rain and seeds bank were subjected to ANOVA (p<0.05), while the density of regenerative seedlings was subjected to Student’s t Test (p<0.05), using the Software R Studio ®. The density of regenerative seedlings (ind.m-2) was higher in clean subplots, statistically. No significant statistical difference was observed for the density parameter (ind.m-2) among the subplots for the soil seeds bank, but only for the seeds rain. Shannon Diversity Index was higher in the plots closer to the fragment in all evaluated mechanisms. The obtained results indicate that the litter layer acts as a physical barrier to the breeding of the seeds bank and prevents the arrival of the seeds rain propagules directly to the soil, hindering the establishment of native plants and, consequently, the natural regeneration in the sub-woods.
Highlights
Brazil has an area of 7.84 million hectares of planted forests, from which 1.6 million are cultivated with species of Pinus genus (IBÁ, 2017 – BRAZILIAN TREE INDUSTRY)
This study aimed to evaluate the influence of the physical barrier caused by the deposition of aciculas on natural regeneration mechanisms of native species in the sub-woods of P. taeda L forest stand
Gonçalves et al (2008) observed a seedling emergence density in a greenhouse of 3626.67 seeds.m-2 when evaluating the seeds bank of a forest stand of P. caribaea var. hondurensis, corroborating the results observed in this study
Summary
Brazil has an area of 7.84 million hectares of planted forests, from which 1.6 million are cultivated with species of Pinus genus (IBÁ, 2017 – BRAZILIAN TREE INDUSTRY). The species of this genus play an essential role in the economy and development of the Southern region of Brazil, consisting of the main raw material for the movement of the forest industry in the region (VASQUES et al, 2007). Species showed a good adaptability, because they are resistant to frequent frosts (SHIMIZU, 2008) These species were introduced in this region through tax incentives that aimed to develop the country in the decades of 1960 and 1970 (VASQUES et al, 2007). Due to the intense exploitation condition of the Atlantic Forest and the scarcity of natural resources already in this period, Pinus has become a feasible alternative to supply the wood demand, enabling the native forest conservation (SERVIÇO FLORESTAL BRASILEIRO, 2018)
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