Hydrogel and arduino system in the transplantation of Schinus terebinthifolia for urban afforestation

Hidrogel e sistema arduino no transplantio de Schinus terebinthifolia para arborização urbana

Abstract

Urban forest provide medium and large vegetation cover in urban areas. Planting native trees on sidewalks is a viable approach to reduce damages caused by extensive urbanization. The use of hydrogels seems to increase the success of seedling transplantation in urban environments. Thus, this study aims to evaluate the efficacy of Schinus terebinthifolia in urban afforestation, focusing on its adaptation and post-transplant survival using hydrogel and being monitored by an arduino system. The concentrations of the commercial hydrogel used were 0.75, 1.5, 3.0, and 6.0 g L-1, and two controls were also established: a control treatment without irrigation and without hydrogel, and a control with daily water irrigation. The evaluation was continuous for 14 days, and the parameters analyzed were substrate temperature and moisture, relative water content (RWC), electrolyte extravasation (EEE), chlorophyll content, and biochemical compound. A completely randomized design was adopted, consisting of 6 treatments with 9 replicates each. The results indicate that S. terebinthifolia is a highly resilient species suitable for urban afforestation, showing remarkable tolerance to transplantation and water restriction. It was observed that the use of hydrogels significantly contributes to maintaining substrate moisture, resulting in greater stability of the transplanted seedlings. The Arduino system allowed for continuous and precise evaluation of substrate conditions, optimizing the management of urban afforestation and validating the efficiency of the applied treatments. Positive responses were observed when using hydrogels in terms of relative water content, membrane stability, and antioxidant activity, even under water restriction. The viability of Schinus terebinthifolia for urban afforestation stands out, through the application of hydrogels and the use of the Arduino system to monitor parameters such as temperature and humidity.

Keywords
antioxidant system; native species; stress; urban afforestation