Assimetria Flutuante em Qualea grandiflora Mart. (Vochysiaceae) em áreas remanescentes de cerrado sensu stricto com diferentes status edáficos

Abstract

Floating Asymmetry (AF) is a measure widely used to assess developmental instability in animals and plants. Plants are influenced by factors that can cause stress, such as nutritional deficiency and aluminum toxicity. Genetic and environmental stresses interfere with development, causing phenotypic traits to fluctuate above natural variation. In this sense, the objective of the work was to investigate the effects of PA on the development of Qualea grandiflora (Vochysiaceae) in two cerrado sensu stricto environments with edaphic status influenced by limestone and sandstone outcrops. Twenty trees were selected in each area, located in the rural area of Ituiutaba, Minas Gerais; named as limestone soil (area 1) and sandstone soil (area 2). A sum of 800 leaves were collected, 20 per individual. The leaves were scanned and processed by the Image J program, quantifying the right and left widths, using the central rib as reference. After entering the data in data sheets, they were analyzed in the RS Studio statistical program, using the Lilliefors normality test to verify the presence of FA and the T-test to compare the samples. For all characters, the differences between the sides of the leaves presented normal distribution, indicating that positive and negative asymmetry values cancel each other out and do not deviate significantly from zero. There was no difference in FA and midrib between environments (T=0.17372 and p=0.863). It was not possible to identify the influence of low aluminum contents in the limestone soil on PA levels, as expected, despite the species being aluminum accumulator. The results suggest, based on the morphological indices used that Q. grandiflora does not have many restrictions to the variations presented, and the transport of nutrients was not affected by the conditions of the environment and, therefore, the leaves in both environments developed in a similar way and with similar sizes.