Influence of Habitat on the Reproductive Ecology of the Amazonian Palm, Mauritia flexuosa, in Roraima, Brazil

Abstract

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThroughout this dissertation, many people have graciously shared their shared their time, expertise, creativity, and support with me; to them, I am grateful. Suzanne Koptur, my major professor, consistently supported my outlandish idea of studying a species that most people in the US have never heard of, and in a region where few US or European scientists venture. Despite the many difficulties I encountered along the way, Suzanne continued to encourage me while giving me the intellectual and emotional freedom to make my own decisions. Suzanne is an inspiration to all women who dream of simultaneously being scientists, mentors, educators, mothers, partners, friends, and stewards of the environment.I am also indebted to my doctoral committee for guiding, challenging, and encouraging me over the past seven years. Each of these individuals has helped me become a better writer. Scott Zona will always be my palm "guru," as he is humble despite his seemingly infininte knowledge of these unique plants. I also thank Scott for teaching me grammar I had long forgotten, and for showing me how to give focused, Vendors argued that the price of buriti must increase, and must fluctuate with varying supply. With appropriate economic incentives to vendors/harvesters, Roraima may expand its market infrastructure for buriti, effectively stimulating the regional economy and practicing sustainable harvesting.x

Climate-related phenology of Mauritia flexuosa in the Colombian Amazon

“…Results showed that fruit production was associated with precipitation, increased cloudiness, and minimum air temperatures. Haugaasen and Peres (2005) reported that lengthy green fruit production was more common in flooded Amazon forests and particularly in M. flexuosa (Da Silva 2009;Tobler 2010;Khorsand-Rosa 2013). However, ripe fruits exhibited a peak between June and July in both years.…”

“…Here, these conditions affected not only the number of females shedding fruit (24 females ha -1 in 2010-2011 compared to 35 females ha -1 in 2012), but also fruit production, which was much lower in the first (0.9 ton ha -1 year -1 ) compared with the second (2.2 ton ha -1 year -1 ) year. Haugaasen and Peres (2005) showed interannual fruiting variation in species from Amazon flooded forests and in many other tropical forest species due to strong changes in rainfall and temperature, with ENSO responsible for the most notable variability in the Amazon (Phillips et al 2010;Khorsand-Rosa 2013). However, new data now indicate other climate forces, such as the Atlantic SST (Espinoza et al 2011;Marengo et al 2013), might also influence Amazon plant phenology.…”

“…The reproductive cycle of M. flexuosa transitions from annual to supra annual (Urrego 1987;Khorsand-Rosa 2013). Urrego (1987) reported that the species was influenced by climatic variables, including the number of sunshine hours per day and extreme air temperatures, which might trigger the current season's flowering or fruiting.…”

“…Urrego (1987) reported that the species was influenced by climatic variables, including the number of sunshine hours per day and extreme air temperatures, which might trigger the current season's flowering or fruiting. Higher flood levels with longer flooding times might also negatively influence reproductive cycles, including seed germination and seedling establishment (Urrego 1987;Khorsand-Rosa 2013;Galeano et al 2015). Despite reports of moderate seed germination percentages (50 %), seedling survival might drop (23-44 %) after 6 months of flooding (Urrego 1987;Galeano et al 2015), likely related to density dependent factors and anthropogenic disturbance intensity among sites (Isaza et al 2013;Khorsand-Rosa 2013;Galeano et al 2015).…”

Effect of climatic factors on the phenological phases of Mauritia flexuosaLf. in low terrace plantations in Ucayali, Peru

“…En Jenaro Herrera (río Ucayali) el 10% de la floración ocurre de febrero a marzo y el 90% desde agosto hasta diciembre con un pico en setiembre con 62%. De acuerdo con Khorsand (2013), el ciclo fenológico de la M. flexuosa es anual, sin embargo, Hernández et al (2004) señalan que su ciclo fenológico es supra anual, indicando que el período reproductivo no está sujeto exclusivamente por condiciones estacionales. En ese contexto, teniendo en cuenta que la fenología de las especies es alterada de acuerdo a su localización geográfica y con los elementos del clima, el objetivo en este trabajo fue determinar la influencia de la precipitación pluvial y la temperatura del aire sobre la fenología de M. flexuosa en los distritos de Campo Verde y Nueva Requena de Ucayali.…”