IMPACT OF SEEDLING REMOVAL ON NATURAL REGENERATION IN THE SOUTHERN ATLANTIC FOREST REMNANT

Abstract

The use of a forest seedling bank has been recommended as an alternative to increase the species richness in forest nurseries, as well as to produce seedlings of species with difficult propagation, especially those that belong to the late secondary and climax successional group which present reduced commercial availability. However, little is known about the impacts of this method on forest dynamics. Thus, the present study aimed to examine the resilience and dynamics of a seedling bank in a remnant of a subtropical seasonal forest belonging to the Atlantic Forest Biome, when subjected to different intensities of seedling removal. The experiment was conducted in a random block design in a factorial scheme (5 x 4), with treatments composed of five intensities of removal of individuals from the seedling bank and the four seasons. The treatments were distributed into 18 blocks, and the experimental units were composed of 1 m x 2.5 m units. The resilience of the seedling community was assessed considering five intensities of removal of individuals from the seedling bank. The dynamics between the evaluation periods within each treatment was verified by comparing the number of species and seedlings present before the treatments with the other evaluation periods. After one year, we found that the tree-shrub component of vegetation presented partial capacity to restore after withdrawal of individuals from the seedling bank. The technique of seedling transplantation may be recommended for species which have abundant regeneration, such as A. concolor, E. rostrifolia, T. claussenii and N. megapotamica.