Ganade, GisleneRocha, Thomaz Gabriel Barros da2021-10-012021-10-012021-09-13O uso da Catingueira (Cenostigma nordestinum Gagnon & G. P. Lewis, Fabaceae) para a restauração ecológica na Caatinga. 2021. 32 f. Monografia (Graduação em Ecologia) – Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, 2021.https://repositorio.ufrn.br/handle/123456789/40859The action of herbivores combined with environmental conditions are important factors that limit the success of restoration projects in the Caatinga. Therefore, it is necessary to know native species resistant to limiting factors, as well as understand how each plant responds when under stress in the field. For this purpose, we sought to understand how the performance of the species Cenostigma nordestinum E. Gagnon & G.P. Lewis is affected by the action of herbivorous insects and how its responses are modulated as a function of species diversity within communities. We assumed that leaf herbivory has negative impacts on survival, leaf production, and growth of the species in the field. While at the plant community level, the diversity of plant species associated with Catingueira should contribute positively to Catingueira survival, leaf production, and growth due to reduced herbivory, resulting from an increase in different defense strategies or the greater richness of herbivore predators that can occur when more plant species are associated with a community. We measured four-year survival, leaf production, and height growth of 294 C. nordestinum individuals planted across 155 plots with different species compositions and levels of species diversity. As a measure of herbivory intensity, we used the proportion of the number of herbivorous leaves per individual. Using linear mixed models, we tested how herbivory affects species performance in the same year and the following year. We found that C. nortestinum underperformed other 12 species with respect to survival, with 68% survival in the first year and 38% in 2020. Also, compared to other species, its leaf production was lower than 11 other species and its height growth was lower than 13 other species. However, we observed that the species responds positively to herbivory. Its survival the next year is positively affected by the previous year's herbivory, while its leaf production and growth the same year are positively affected by the same year's herbivory. We found no effects from species composition and diversity within the communities. Thus, C. nordestinum should be considered in restoration projects in the Caatinga, although the growth is slower compared to other species, it responds positively to herbivory, one of the main factors that limit the performance of plants in the field.Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Brazilhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/br/BiodiversidadeFloresta secaHerbivoriaSemiáridoBiodiversityDry-ForestHerbivorySemi-aridbachelorThesis