Dendroecological potential of Tabebuia heptaphylla (Vell.) Toledo

Abstract

The use of growth ring information is nowadays increasing in tropical forests. The Pantanal of Nhecolandia, sub-region of Pantanal Mato-grossense may be viewed as one of those regions, as its climatic and soil factors induces annual growth rings development. This study aims at determining the correlation of growth increments by growth ring analysis of Tabebuia heptaphylla, a deciduous tree that occurs naturally in that region. Disks samples of a tree with good canopy development were collected at soil level and at every one meter. The growth rings were counted and measured on eight radii of each disk. Pearson coefficient was used to show the correlation between growth rings and precipitation rates. The age of the tree was estimated as 16 years old. The correlation of radial increment and precipitation was significant at the level of 5% on disks 1 to 5 meters. Above 6 meters the results were not significant, probably due to the small number of compared pairs. These results showed the great potential of T. heptaphylla to be used in dendroecology studies, besides the opportunity of enhancing further studies on growing dynamics of the species.