Abstract
Plastic responses in plants can be induced by spatial heterogeneity, being the restinga a supportive ecosystem to understand these responses due to its limiting environmental conditions. This study evaluated so compared the leaf plastic responses in two populations of Tibouchina clavata (Melastomataceae) inhabiting the herbaceous and forest formations of the restinga Acaraí State Park, located in São Francisco do Sul-SC. In the ten individuals sample of each formation were measured leaf morphoanatomic attributes and stem. Environmental variables such as edaphic nutrition, gravimetric moisture and light radiation were measured. Mean values for each variable were compared by the Student t test. For each attribute, it was calculated phenotypic plasticity index. Morphological and anatomical attributes differentiate the two populations together, and the population of herbaceous formation typically xeromorphic due to more stringent environmental conditions. More favorable terms given by the increased supply of nutrients and water in the forest environment provided greater investment of growing individuals. Anatomical attributes were shown little plastic when compared to the morphological. T. clavata it proved to be a morphologically plastic kind that allows the understanding of the effects of the limiting factors of the restinga on plant development, with emphasis on nutrition, water and luminous conditions that induce xeromorphism.
Key words:
plasticity index; forest restinga; functional morpho-anatomy; coastal plain; herbaceous restinga
