Comparison of seedling growth among three co-occurring varieties of Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze under greenhouse conditions

Abstract

RESUMO -(Comparações do crescimento de plântulas entre três variedades co-ocorrentes de Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze em condições de casa de vegetação). Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze é uma espécie de porte alto e vida longa, que cresce como árvore emergente em fl orestas de araucária no sul do Brasil. Quatro variedades foram descritas para esta espécie, e três delas foram selecionadas para este estudo: "angustifolia" (variedade típica), "caiova" e "indehiscens". Estas variedades co-ocorrentes diferem umas das outras na coloração externa de suas sementes e em relação ao tempo de maturação das mesmas. O objetivo deste estudo foi comparar o crescimento inicial de plantas oriundas de sementes destas três variedades, a fi m de testar a hipótese de que estas variedades também diferem no crescimento inicial das plântulas. As sementes foram coletadas em um mesmo local da fl oresta, e 60 plantas de cada variedade foram cultivadas em vasos por um período de 244 dias. A variedade "angustifolia" acumulou signifi cativamente mais massa (tanto na parte aérea quanto na raiz) do que as outras duas, mas as três variedades não diferiram na partição de massa entre parte aérea e raiz e entre raízes laterais e a raiz principal. O maior crescimento da variedade típica pode ajudar a explicar a sua maior abundância natural, uma vez que um maior tamanho inicial teria efeitos positivos sobre o recrutamento e sobrevivência da mesma. Palavras-chave: Araucariaceae, pinheiro brasileiro, pinheiro macaco, pinheiro caiova, variação fenotípica ABSTRACT -(Comparison of seedling growth among three co-occurring varieties of Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze under greenhouse conditions).Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze is a tall, long-lived tree species, which grows as an emergent tree in the araucaria forests of southern Brazil. Four varieties have been described for this species, and three of them were selected for this study: "angustifolia" (the type variety), "caiova" and "indehiscens". These are co-occurring varieties that differ in external seed color and timing of seed maturation. The purpose of this study was to compare the initial growth of plants originated from seeds of these three varieties, in order to test the hypothesis that these varieties also differ in the initial growth of their seedlings. Seeds were collected from a single forest location, and 60 plants per variety were grown in pots for a period of 244 days. The "angustifolia" variety accumulated signifi cantly more mass (both in shoot and root) than the other two, but the three varieties did not differ in mass allocation between shoot and root and between lateral roots and the main root. The greater growth of the type variety may help explain its greater natural abundance, since attaining a larger size will have positive effects on seedling recruitment and survival.

Establishment of post-harvest early-developmental categories for viability maintenance of Araucaria angustifolia seeds

“…Araucaria angustifolia (Brazilian pine) is a key species of the Brazilian Atlantic Rain Forest (Veloso et al 1991;Coutinho & Dillenburg 2010), being its only native gymnosperm of economic importance (Silveira et al 2008;Elbl et al 2014). Its seeds are consumed by humans and are the most important food source for several wild mammals and birds during the winter (Stefenon et al 2009;Reis et al 2014).…”

Stem Modeling From Terrestrial Laser Scanning Using the Block Minimum Approach

“…tree, a conifer also known as Brazilian pine, which has a peculiar shape, with a long and straight stem and is native of the southern region of South America. Araucaria forests, in the past, comprised about 35% of the vegetation cover of southern Brazil (Coutinho and Dillenburg, 2010), but because of intensive logging were extremely reduced and this specie is now endangered and therefore under federal protection.…”

<b>Physiological and physical quality of local <i>Araucaria angustifolia</i> seed variety

“…However, for A. angustifolia seeds, there are no studies correlating the physical, physiological, and biochemical characteristics of seeds. Studies have found different rates of seedling growth among the various varieties (Coutinho & Dillenburg, 2010), and several varieties identified by farmers have been characterized (Zechini et al, 2012).…”