"ECOLOGIA DE FORMAÇÕES MONODOMINANTES DE BYRSONIMA CYDONIIFOLIA A. JUSS. (MALPIGHIACEAE) SOB INFLUÊNCIA DA INUNDAÇÃO, FOGO E GADO BOVINO"

Abstract

Monodominant stands are vegetal formations in which over 50% of a vegetation stratum is composed of individuals from the same species and can be considered one of the most common landscapes in Brazilian Pantanal Wetlands. Among such formations, we can highlight canjiqueirais, monodominant stands of Byrsonima cydoniifolia A.Juss. – Malpighiaceae (canjiqueira tree), a species of shrub or tree, which bears an edible and highly nutritious drupe, and which is considered an undesirable plant by livestock farmers, who constantly remove such plants from their cattle pastures. This study aims to analyze how B. cydoniifolia density and basal area are affected by both abiotic (fire and flood events) and biotic (livestock raising) factors that occur in Pantanal wetlands. We also aimed to comprehend how local inhabitants understand those relationships. To do so, we selected and delimited fragments of vegetation which might be canjiqueirais stands in the Pantanal wetlands subregions of Miranda and Abobral, Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, through the usage of satellite imagery. After such selection, through the usage of satellite imagery obtained by Landsat-5, -7 and -8 and Resourcesat-1, we selected wildfires that occurred between the years 2000 and 2021, selecting areas with between 1 and 7 episodes of fire, 26 of them being visited to the collection of data such as tree height, diameter at breast height of each branch, fire and watermarks of trees and shrubs. For each area 4 plots, measuring 25x25 meters, were selected. Folk knowledge has been investigated through interviews conducted with inhabitants of Passo do Lontra and Porto Esperança communities and five local farms, who answered questions about how canjiqueiras reacted to fire and flood events and how cattle management dealt with this species, being their answers analyzed following four categories: place of residence, sex, age, and length of residence in the region. After the analysis of vegetation data, it has been stated that water is a limiting factor to the presence of adult individuals of B. cydoniifolia and fire events and cattle decreases the basal area of canjiqueira trees’ branches, although neither of those factors had any influence over the other species that were found in canjiqueirais. Folk knowledge analysis stated that local inhabitants consider canjiqueira trees a species that can endure flood seasons and resprout after fire events, which is consistent with data found in vegetation analysis, and also common knowledge regarding the ecological characteristics of this plants are similarly shared among local inhabitants, being the only remarkable differences between men and women over the ecology of the plant, as women were less aware of canjiqueira’s survival from fire and flood, and the view regarding the relationship between canjiqueira trees and cattle management, which is seen in a negative way by farmer inhabitants but positively by local communities reisdents.