Manual Crowning Versus Cardboard in Forest Restoration: Costs and Effect on Seedling Development

GONÇALVES, F.L.A.; RESENDE, A.S.; LIMA, I.S.S.; CHAER, G.M.

doi:10.1590/S0100-83582018360100107

ABSTRACT:

Invasive grasses are one of the biggest obstacles to be overcome in restoration plantations. Thus, developing efficient and low-cost techniques to overcome this obstacle is a challenge for science and the ecological restoration practice. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of the use of cardboard for the crowning operation on the growth of forest tree species from the Atlantic Forest biome and on the operating costs of this technique in a reforestation implemented in Seropédica, Rio de Janeiro state. The predominant vegetation of the area was of Andropogon bicornis L. An experiment was installed in randomized blocks, with two treatments and 12 replications. The treatments consisted of crowning with cardboard and crowning with hoe. The used cardboard (50 x 50 cm) were pre-treated with a preservative solution with CuSO4. Treatments were applied to 11 forest species from the Atlantic Forest biome: Anadenanthera colubrina var. cebil (Griseb.) Altschul, Citharexylum myrianthum Cham., Enterolobium contortisiliquum (Vell.) Morong, Eugenia brasiliensis Lam, Eugenia uniflora Lam, Handroanthus chrysotrichus (Mart. ex DC.) Mattos, Hymenaea courbaril L., Inga laurina (Sw.) Willd., Plinia cauliflora (Mart.) Kausel, Plathymenia reticulata Benth. e Triplaris americana L. Evaluations were carried out as for height, diameter at collar height (DCH) and survival rate, 6, 12 and 18 months after planting. The costs of each crowning method were also quantified. Overall, the height, DCH and growth rates did not differ between the crowning treatments for the species evaluated. However, the cardboard crowning treatment showed a higher survival rate (80%) of plants, compared with the hoe crowning (73%). The cost of the crowning with cardboard over a 12-month period was 40% lower than that of the crowning with hoe. These results show that the cardboard crowning technique can be a viable and a cost effective alternative to replace the crowning with hoe in reforestation areas with species from the Atlantic Forest biome.

Keywords:
weed competition; Andropogon bicornis; reforestation; mulching

[1] * Corresponding author: <fernando_lima85@yahoo.com.br>

Specie	Family	Height (cm month^-1)		DCH (mm month^-1)
Specie	Family	Cardboard	Hoe	Cardboard	Hoe
Anadenanthera colubrina	Leguminosae	4.89 (0.69)	5.28 (0.51)	0.86 (0.16)	1.01 (0.12)
Citharexyllum myrianthum	Verbenaceae	2.94 (1.28)	2.80 (0.65)	1.04*(0.34)	0.61 (0.14)
Enterolobium contortisiliquum	Leguminosae	5.48 (0.68)	5.58 (0.42)	1.83 (0.14)	1.96 (0.16)
Eugenia brasilienses	Myrtaceae	0.89 (0.41)	1.01 (0.24)	0.54 (0.10)	0.82 (0.27)
Eugenia uniflora	Myrtaceae	1.96 (0.52)	2.43 (0.31)	1.01 (0.13)	0.93 (0.06)
Handroanthus chrysotrichus	Bignoniaceae	3.01 (0.76)	3.73 (0.55)	0.91 (0.18)	0.78 (0.11)
Hymenaea courbaril	Leguminosae	2.50 (0.35)	3.15 (0.29)	0.81 (0.05)	0.88 (0.10)
Inga laurina	Leguminosae	4.30 (0.71)	4.59 (0.44)	1.25 (0.13)	1.37 (0.18)
Plinia cauliflora	Myrtaceae	0.96 (0.86)	0.58 (0.76)	0.77 (0.17)	0.40 (0.15)
Plathymenia reticulata	Leguminosae	6.50 (0.42)	6.56 (0.67)	2.32 (0.35)	2.33 (0.15)
Triplaris americana	Polygonaceae	5.12 (0.60)	4.69 (0.56)	1.36 (0.11)	1.29 (0.12)
Média geral		3.50	3.67	1.15	1.12

Specie	Family	% Survival
Specie	Family	Cardboard	Hoe	p (F test)
Anadenanthera colubrina	Leguminosae	85	84	ns
Cytharexyllum myrianthum	Verbenaceae	68	67	ns
Enterolobium contortisiliquum	Leguminosae	82	82	ns
Eugenia brasilienses	Myrtaceae	74	63	ns
Eugenia uniflora	Myrtaceae	80	76	ns
Handroanthus chrysotrichus	Bignoniaceae	86	69	0.058
Hymenaea courbaril	Leguminosae	81	73	ns
Inga laurina	Leguminosae	83	71	ns
Plinia cauliflora	Myrtaceae	85	44	0.087
Plathymenia reticulata	Leguminosae	88	77	ns
Triplaris americana	Polygonaceae	82	83	ns

Cardboard crowning (5 fixing clips and without plantation crowning)
	Unit	Quantity	Price (R$)	Value (R$)
Copper sulphate (prep. of preservative solution)	kg	0.8	12.00	9.60
Cardboard (0.5 x 0.5 m sheets)	unit	2500	0.60	1,500.00
Wire (clips)	kg	111	9.90	1,098.90
Labor - copper sulphate application	man day^-1 per hectare	0.5	80.00	40.00
Labor - cardboard placement on the field*	man day^-1 per hectare	7.81	80.00	624.80
			Total:	3,273.30
Hoe crowning
Labor - plantation crowning	man day^-1 per hectare	14.3	80.00	1,142.86
Labor - After-planting crowning (4/year)	man day^-1 per hectare	57.1	80.00	4,571.43
			Total:	5,714.29

Brasil

Brasil

Manual Crowning Versus Cardboard in Forest Restoration: Costs and Effect on Seedling Development

Coroamento Manual Versus Papelão na Restauração Florestal: Custos e Efeito sobre o Desenvolvimento das Mudas

ABSTRACT: