Ganade, Gislene Maria da SilvaNascimento, Ana Cleide Cabral do2019-12-192021-10-062019-12-192021-10-062019-11-29NASCIMENTO, Ana Cleide Cabral do. Potencial de uso da espécie Imburana (Commiphora leptophloeos) em projetos de restauração da Caatinga. 2019. 29 f. Monografia (Graduação em Ecologia) – Centro de Biociências. Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, 2019.https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/43301Caatinga, an exclusive Brazilian biome, has suffered from strong anthropogenic pressures. This combined with natural drought, have caused major degradation, making forest restoration necessary in this challenging environment. Knowing the plant species that are able to establish themselves in degraded ecosystems can increase the success of Caatinga restoration projects. Therefore, we seek to test the capacity of a pioneer and widespread tree species Commiphora leptophloeos (Imburana) to survive and grow in degraded areas of Caatinga evaluating its potential to be used in Caatinga restoration projects. We measured a total of 294 transplants between 2017 and 2018 and calculated their total and partial (35) survival rates, annual growth in height and leaf biomass, as well as the influence of insect herbivory on transplant survival and growth. We also measured Caatinga bioclimatic suitability for this species for present and future conditions using niche modeling. The species had a total survival of 86.61%, an average height growth of 18.10 cm and an average annual biomass growth of 11.20 g. Imburana had a high suitability for the Caatinga region for present (average 0.62) and future (average of 0.56) scenarios. Herbivory did not influence species height (p = 0.445, R2 = 0.003), but had a negative influence on biomass and survival per plot (p =0.029, R2 = 0.033; p = 0.028; R2 = 0.138) explaining only a very small portion of the variation. Survival rates in this study were more than double in relation to those found in other studies, because seedlings were transplanted in the field with large roots (1 m length). Low growth values in comparison with other studies may be related to the fact that plants in this study were saplings and not adult trees. Additionally, the apparent resistance of Imburana to herbivory may be related to the pioneer and deciduous character of this species. We conclude that Imburana can be highly indicated for use in Caatinga restoration projects, due to its ability to grow and survive in degraded areas and its wide suitability to live on the Caatinga region for present and future conditions.Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Brazilhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/br/SemiáridoAdequabilidade BioclimáticaSobrevivênciaCrescimentoHerbivoriaRestauração FlorestalbachelorThesis