Impacto do extrativismo sobre as plântulas e os indivíduos jovens de Caryocar coriaceum Wittm. (Caryocaraceae) e remoção natural dos diásporos na Floresta Nacional do Araripe – Ceará, Nordeste do Brasil

Abstract

It is believed that the market potential of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) can be an alternative to reduce deforestation, but the exploitation of these products can be highly unsustainable, compromising diasporores dispersal and seedling establishment. The pequi (Caryocar coriaceum Wittm. (Caryocaraceae)) is a species that undergoes intense pressure extraction in collecting its fruits, for commercial and subsistence in the Floresta Nacional do Araripe (FLONA-Araripe). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impacts caused by the extraction of fruits of C. coriaceum on seedlings and saplings of the species and to characterize the rate of natural removal of their diaspores in FLONA-Araripe, south of the state of Ceara. The study was conducted in three areas of 1 ha within the FLONA-Araripe, and is an area of cerrado, a savannah and a predominantly savannah and patches of dense woodland. To assess the impacts caused to the seedlings and young individuals were randomly selected 15 reproductive individuals of the species in each of the three study areas. Around and far between 5 and 15 m of each selected individual were established four plots of 100 m2 (10 x 10 m), where before the peak fruiting all young individuals of the species were properly marked and recorded. At the end of the harvest of C. coriaceum all plots of 100 m2 were visited to check for damage to the young of the species. To characterize the rate of natural removal of seeds, from the trunk and around each of the 15 selected reproductive individuals, as mentioned above, were established four plots of 25 m2 (5 x 5 m), where in each plot were grouped 10 diaspores. The natural removal of diaspores of C. coriaceum was monitored for eight consecutive weeks and is here assigned the following categories: removed depredated, infested by insects and not removed. It was found that the total number of juveniles found before peak fruiting of C. coriaceum 5.7% suffered some type of damage after the collection period pequi during the end of the harvest, but no plants were found before or after the peak fruiting in three areas of study. In the area of dense woodland was observed at higher cumulative rate of natural removal (34.82%) and lower rates of predation and insect infestation of the seeds (11.79% and 15.89%, respectively). However, the mean removal of the categories were not different between the study areas. It can be concluded that the action does not damage the extractive young individuals of C. coriaceum but intense gathering fruits of the species in the region is affecting the germination and seedling establishment.