Herbivoria e atributos foliares em comunidades arbóreas de mussununga e de florestas de mata alta na Reserva Natural Vale, Linhares-ES, Brasil
Nenhuma Miniatura disponível
Data
2012-02-29
Autores
Nascimento, Aline Alves do
Título da Revista
ISSN da Revista
Título de Volume
Editor
Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo
Resumo
The study was carried out in two forest type (Mata Alta and Mussununga) located in the Reserva Natural Vale. The main aim was to assess the relationships between insects and plants in two tree comunities that differ in soil traits, testing the following hypotheses: (1) plants from Mussununga are more attaked by herbivores than those of Mata Alta due to higher fiber components in Mussunga leaves, characteristic of environments with more limited resources; (2) pioneer species, which have a lower life cycle, are more consumed by herbivores than late secundary species; and (3) species phylogenetically related differ in plant-defense mechanisms between forest type (Mata Alta and Mussununga); (4) high level of leaf area removal by manual clipping, decrease plant survival, growth and leaf production; and (5) herbivory affects more plants from Mussununga than Mata Alta. We evaluated the percentage of herbivory and leaf characteristics (water content, leaf area, leaf mass per unit area, total phenols, fiber in general and alkaloids) in individual trees of the two communities. When considered 50 randomly selected trees independently of which species they belonged, we found no difference in the percentages of herbivory among communities and there was no significant relationship between herbivory, water content and fiber components. Analyzing the congeneric pairs from these two forest types no pattern was found for investment in total phenols. Three of the five pairs analyzed had higher investment of fiber in Mata Alta, although the overall average of most of these variables did not differ between forest types. In examining these congeneric pairs, herbivory differed significantly between Mata Alta and Mussununga, being higher for the Mata Alta only for one pair. A significant positive relationship were found between herbivory and leaf area for species of both forest types. Herbivory was negatively related with FDN and LIG for Mata Alta species and positively related with FDN for Mussununga species. When the focus was the functional groups, pioneer species had higher nutritional quality and lower concentration of defenses that plants of later successional stage in both forests. However, there were no significant differences in the percentages of herbivory between early and late successional species in both forests. Finally, the impact of the leaf removal in the transplanted plants showed a reduction in the survival and growth of individuals of E. macroplhylla in Mussununga and G. oppositain Mata Alta, when subjected to intense removal of leaf area. The herbivory impact of these species was not higher in Mussununga, thus the Fine’s hypothesis was not confirmed. Although herbivory was generally similar between the congeneric pairs of the two forests, these forests influenced differently the expression of the defense mechanisms of these pairs. Thus, more detailed comparative studies involving phylogeny, should be conducted to elucidate whether herbivores influence the distribution of the tree species in these forest habitats that differ in limiting resources.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Citação
NASCIMENTO, Aline Alves do. Herbivoria e atributos foliares em comunidades arbóreas de mussununga e de florestas de mata alta na Reserva Natural Vale, Linhares-ES, Brasil. 2012. 115 f. Dissertação (Mestrado em Biodiversidade Tropical) - Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Centro Universitário Norte do Espírito Santo, São Mateus, 2012.