The Influence of Fire and Deforestation on the Floral Symmetry and Fitness of Adenocalymma nodosun (Bignoniaceae)

Abstract

Burnings and deforestation are severe disturbances to plants and may represent a stressful situation for plant growth, and they can also affect plant-pollinator interactions and the reproductive success of plants. In this study, we verified the variation in floral symmetry of Adenocalymma nodosum (Bignoniacea) in two areas, one post-fire and other after deforestation. We also verified the effects on plant-pollinator interactions and fruit set production. Results showed that A. nodosum flowers were more asymmetric in mowing areas than in fire areas. Asymmetrical flowers presented low nectar concentration and bee visitation rates. Although mowed environments produce fewer fruits and seeds than areas affected by fire, the change was not significant. Soil from the burnt area showed higher nutrient and organic matter concentration and less aluminum than that of mowed areas. Our results showed that A. nodosum flowers in the deforestation area are more asymmetric than those in the post-fire area. This result suggest that Cerrado plants may be less adapted to deforestation than to fire, since they have been facing fire events for thousand years in this biome. We suggest that the effects of environmental stress on the development and fitness of plants may provide an important breakthrough to the understanding of insect-plant interactions in Cerrado savanna, where burnings and deforestation are frequent anthropogenic effects.

Effect of Land Use History on Biodiversity of Pine Plantations

“…In most cases, this replacement implies the direct removal of most plants from a site, and many other organisms are displaced or killed during cutting or burning operations (Shahabuddin and Kumar, 2007;Escobar et al, 2015;Owen et al, 2019). Moreover, the changes in environmental variables (i.e., luminosity, temperature, water and food availability; Li et al, 2009;Brauman et al, 2015;Andrews et al, 2017;Zhu et al, 2018), also force the evacuation of many animals, and reduce the fitness of the least mobile organisms (Brook et al, 2003;Ranius and Roberge, 2011;Stefani et al, 2017). On the other hand, the new environmental conditions offer suitable habitat for many disturbance-tolerant species that may colonize the area (Cavallero and Raffaele, 2010;Boscutti et al, 2018).…”

Impacto de insetos herbívoros e do fogo no desenvolvimento vegetativo e reprodutivo de plantas de cerrado

“…O Cerrado, a savana tropical brasileira, é o segundo maior bioma do continente Sul-Americano, que já cobriu 25% do território brasileiro (DURIGAN; RATTER, 2015). Esta savana possui um ambiente com solo relativamente pobre e com sazonalidade climática marcante e apresenta um grande acúmulo de gramíneas e biomassa seca, sendo suscetível a queimadas na época de pouca umidade (SIMON; VILELA et al, 2017;DURIGAN;RATTER, 2015). Nesse bioma, as plantas se adaptaram para resistir à seca e ao fogo, como a alocação da biomassa para órgãos subterrâneos, alta capacidade de rebrota, caules com casca grossa e tortuosos, floração induzida pelo fogo, dentre outros (SIMON; PENNINGTON, 2012).…”