EFFECT OF BABASSU PALM TREE DOMINANCE ON MACROFUNGAL COMMUNITIES IN EASTERN AMAZONIA

Resumo

Anthropogenic disturbances are the main factors that threaten biodiversity and modify forest composition. Among the effects of these actions, the dominance of the babassu palm (Atallea speciosa Mart. ex Spreng.) stands out, which proliferates in areas of slash-and-burn agriculture and are in the process of being abandoned. Babassu has great socioeconomic importance, however, its proliferation can lead to a reduction in plant biodiversity and ecological changes. This work investigated the effects of babassu dominance on macrofungi communities in an area of humid tropical forest, located in the municipality of Marabá-PA. Five transects with different babassu dominance levels (7.14% to 78.77%) were established and inventoried. In total, 952 specimens of macrofungi distributed in two phyla were collected: Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, identified in 46 morphospecies, 25 genera and 17 families of 7 orders. Babassu dominance had no effect on biodiversity parameters (abundance, richness, Simpson dominance, Shannon-Weaver diversity and Pielou evenness) of macrofungi. Furthermore, we observed that there are four different macrofungal compositions occurring for the five transects (areas). In general, babassu dominance had no effect on biodiversity, only on species composition due to the occurrence of rare and dominant species. Probably due to changes in the diversity of organic matter (areas with different dominance of babassu) they lead to changes in fungal species, generating different compositions. The results of this study help to understand the diversity and distribution of macrofungi in areas of the Amazon rainforest in southeastern Pará, in addition to subsidizing studies of conservation and environmental management of anthropic areas through the interrelationship of macrofungi communities with dominance of babassu.