Efeitos da precipitação e da exposição à radiação solar na decomposição da serrapilheira em um ecossistema no semiárido brasileiro

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to understand the role of solar radiation and precipitation, as well as the effect of reducing this, on the decomposition of litter in an ecosystem in the Brazilian semiarid region. The study was conducted between the years 2013 and 2015 in a fragment of the Caatinga in the municipality of João Câmara, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, through a set of three manipulative field experiments. It had demonstrated that the photodegradation and its indirect effects affected the decomposition process, providing alone, 24% of the weight loss and plays a similar role to that of precipitation (26%). We observed an additive role of solar radiation and the precipitation in the control of annual litter decomposition rates. Reductions in the levels of rainfall proved to be responsible for generating negative impacts on litter decomposition rates of up to 41.2% in the tested scenarios. It remains proven that, in the study area, the process of decomposition of leaf litter is not structured only by a biological process, but also by abiotic photodegradation. Finally, the results of this thesis warn of possible collapse of the litter decomposition process due to possible reductions in rainfall which may undermine the functioning of this ecosystem.