Dissertation Research: Brazil Nut Regeneration and Seedling Autecology

全球的注意力集中在最近在巴西亚马逊建立的采掘储备，作为一种有希望的新的土地利用战略，鼓励同时使用和保护热带雨林。虽然采掘业利用和管理森林已有几十年的历史，但这项新的任务加上人口密度的增加，要求更高水平的管理技术。科学界可以在测试向这些雨林生产者开放的各种生产战略方面发挥重要作用；然而，这方面的研究非常有限。拟议的研究将协助巴西阿卡的萃取者评估旨在增加本地树种巴西坚果（Bertholletia excelsa Humb）可持续生产的技术选择。& Bompl.)，因其许多传统用途和巨大的经济价值而受到重视。研究目的是考察：(1)巴西坚果种子发芽成功率，比较落果日期、种子大小和种子预处理的影响。这些数据将为种子收集和储存提供实用的信息，以及关于所观察到的发芽缓慢和不均匀的原因的具体科学数据。(2)在保护区内的三个地区成功建立巴西坚果幼苗：(a)林隙，(b)流动耕作地和(c)牧场，采用两种廉价的种植技术和种植后制度。这些试验将确定巴西坚果对不同种植环境的生理反应，以及哪些因素限制了幼苗的建立和早期生长。(3)巴西坚果在萃取物生产系统中的作用，比较了该物种的传统利用和管理与引进巴西坚果富集技术所带来的系统变化。传统管理和利用的文件将有助于了解使该物种代代相传的土著技术，并可能为开发潜在的市场产品提供有价值的信息。了解新建立技术所产生的变化将有助于在社会经济和生物水平上进行批判性评价。

Global attention has focused on the recently created extractive reserves in the Brazilian Amazon as a promising new land use strategy that encourages the simultaneous use and conservation of the rainforest. Although the extractive community has utilized and managed the forest for decades, this new mandate coupled with increasing population densities demands a higher level of management sophistication. The scientific community can play an important role in the testing of various production strategies open to these rainforest producers; however, research has been very limited. The proposed research will assist extractivists in Acre, Brazil in evaluating technological options designed to increase sustainable production of the native species, Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa Humb. & Bompl.), valued for its many traditional uses and great economic value. Study objectives are to examine: (1) Brazil nut seed germination success comparing the effects of date of fruit fall, seed size, and seed pretreatment. These data will provide practical information for seed collection and storage as well as specific scientific data on the causes of the observed slow and uneven germination. (2) Brazil nut seedling establishment success in three areas within the reserves: (a) Forest gaps, (b) Shifting cultivation plots, and (c) Pastures, employing two inexpensive planting techniques and post-planting regimes. These experiments will determine how Brazil nut responds physiologically to varied planting environments, and what factors limit seedling establishment and early growth. (3) Role of Brazil nut in the extractivist production system, comparing traditional uses and management of the species with changes to the system created by the introduced Brazil nut enrichment technologies. %%% Documentation of traditional management and uses will assist in understanding indigenous techniques that have maintained the species over generations and may yield valuable information for development of potential market products. Understanding changes generated by the new establishment technologies will facilitate critical evaluation on a socio-economic and biological level.