Análise da diversidade de fungos endófitos de Cordia oncocalyx Allemão (Boraginaceae) em área conservada e em área urbana

Abstract

Urbanization processes modify biotic and abiotic factors in ecosystems. Protected areas (PAs) aim to protect ecologically strategic areas from several effects, including urbanization. Cordia oncocalyx, commonly known as pau-branco, is a native tree from Caatinga and is present in Fortaleza arborization, as well as in the Parque Estadual Botânico do Ceará in Caucaia. Fungi and other microorganisms are present in virtually all ecosystems. In plant tissues, when this community does not cause apparent damage, we call these microorganisms as endophytes. This study aimed to compare the richness, abundance, diversity, evenness and similarity in composition of endophytic fungi communities in C. oncocalyx leaves from a conserved area and an urbanized area. Using culture-based methods in culture media, we obtained 16 morphotypes in the conserved area and 19 morphotypes in the urbanized area, 20 morphotypes in total. We preserved the isolates using Castellani and PDA slants. We observed greater abundance and the presence of dominant morphotypes in the conserved area. We analyzed the diversity statistics in R. Only Pielou’s evenness indices showed a statistically significant difference, with the highest values observed in the urbanized area. The Shannon-Wiener and Gini-Simpson indices were slightly higher in the urbanized area, but no statistical significance was observed. The principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) from Bray-Curtis showed that morphotype composition in communities from the conserved area were more similar than those from the urbanized area. The principal coordinates analysis (PCoA) showed that the morphotype composition of the communities in leaves from the preserved area were more similar than the ones from the urbanized area. In this study it was possible to elucidate aspects about the community’s diversity in fungal endophytes in C. oncocalyx and how they are presented in the conserved and urbanized environment.