Seed germinations and seedling morphology of pioneers species of the Amazon floodplain

ABSTRACT

The white-water floodplain forests (várzea) have been affected for centuries by various human activities that endanger the integrity of this ecosystem, demanding studies that provide conservation and restoration. The objective of this study was to characterize the seedling morphology of three pioneer species present in the floodplain forest of Catalão Lake - AM: Cecropia latiloba Miq. (Urticaceae), Ficus insipida Willd. (Moraceae), Allophylus amazonicus (Mart.) Radlk. (Sapindaceae), as a subsidy to create tools for the field identification. Seeds were collected from three different matrices, these were processed and placed in trays for germination in soil from the collection site. Each developmental phase until the seedling formation was analyzed and morphologically described. In the three species, the germination was classified as epigeal and phanerocotyledonous, and all showed morphological differences in cotyledons, eophylls and cataphylls, allowing the visual separation of them. Our results indicate that the leaf morphology is an important tool to help the identification and differentiation from the early stages of the seedling development. This knowledge can support management strategies such as the formation of a seedling bank for the recovery of degraded várzea forests areas.

Keywords:
Floodplain forest; Establishment; Germination; Morphofunctional ecology; Forest succession