Ecophysiology of Ceiba glaziovii (Kuntze) K. Schum. Submitted to Shading

Abstract

The Ceiba glaziovii is a forest species used for pharmacological purposes and in the recovery of degraded areas. Nevertheless, the availability of light may be somewhat limiting to its development and may directly influence its physiological and biochemical processes. Thus, the objective of this work was to evaluate the ecophysiological behavior of C. glaziovii plants under different shading levels. The design used was completely randomized, with 5 treatments and 8 repetitions. The treatments used were composed of different shading levels: 0% (full sun), 30%, 50%, 70% and 90% shade. For the analyzes, growth characteristics, gas exchange, chlorophyll indices and chlorophyll a fluorescence were evaluated. Data were subjected to analysis of variance by the F test, and in cases of significance a polynomial regression analysis was performed. The highest values for gas exchange, chlorophyll indexes and fluorescence were 90% shading. Shading is beneficial to C. glaziovii plants, providing positive effects on growth, gas exchange, chlorophyll indexes and chlorophyll a fluorescence.