Soil seed bank after 25 years of the planting of tree vegetables in a degraded area - Seropédica, RJ

Abstract

In highly degraded areas such as degraded land, human intervention is critical so that the environment can recover its ecological functions. One of the techniques used for this process is the use of leguminous trees associated with microorganisms. Ecologically, these species are distinguished by associating symbiotically with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and mycorrhizal fungi. This alliance enables a significant improvement of the plant’s nutritional status, accelerating the process of ecological succession and thus contributing to the area’s restoration. Given this knowledge, in 1989, began the revegetation of a clay loan area with seedlings nodulated and mycorrhizal legume trees. As such, this study aims to assess the ecological succession of a degraded land located in the experimental field of Embrapa Agrobiologia, Seropédica - RJ. Therefore, we evaluated the seed bank and the stock of litter. The use of leguminous trees has proved its effectiveness in activating the mechanisms of natural succession. Twenty-five years after planting legumes, 37 species of 16 botanical families emerged, besides the improvement of soil fertility and supply of litter. The study reflects the need to give more importance to other forest guilds in restoration projects, even considering the success of tree legumes in the catalysis of the ecological succession process.

Keywords:
Revegetation; Land reclamation; Ecological succession