Abstract
The Atlantic Forest is a biodiversity hot spot in a global context that has been undergoing deforestation and fragmentation in the last centuries. The remnant fragments are under the risk of extinction due to continuous and intense anthropic action. Therefore, many restoration projects have been proposed to recover degraded areas. In this study, we evaluated the anatomical acclimation mechanisms and growth of Guazuma ulmifolia and Ceiba speciosa under different irradiance conditions in dry and wet seasons. Both species are used in restoration projects. We found that under low irradiance, plants allocated more resources to leaves than roots and developed larger and thinner leaves with lower stomatal density. On the other hand, when exposed to high-irradiance (HI) conditions, we observed a smaller leaf area and specific leaf area, thicker leaves and increased root biomass. Both species showed better quality (higher values of Dickson quality index) at HI and dry season, presumably because soil moisture was maintained constant during the experiment. Therefore, we concluded that C. speciosa and G. ulmifolia have a better performance under high-irradiance and well-watered conditions, suggesting that both species can be used in open areas of reforestation projects.
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This work was supported by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) (Grant 304450/2009-0) to C. A. Martinez. D. R. Contin was supported by Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) Graduate Studentships (Grant No. 10422/12-9).
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DRC carried out the experiments, collected and analyzed data and prepared the manuscript; EH commented on the manuscript; VMA supervised the anatomical studies; and CAM supervised the study. All authors contributed to the revision of the manuscript.
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Contin, D.R., Habermann, E., Alves, V.M. et al. Effect of different irradiance levels on anatomy and growth of two Malvaceae species during two seasons. Braz. J. Bot 43, 257–269 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-020-00609-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-020-00609-4