The biodegradation process of tropical woods stocked in the soil and its effects on the initial growth of a pioneer species
leaching, extractives, Schizolobium amazonicum, supression, mining
Before and during the implementation of major projects such as hydroelectric plants, road opening or mining activities, the removal of authorized vegetation is necessary. Wood biodegradation products generated in log stockyards and wood waste interact with rainfall or volatilize, which can impact the environment. The objective of this work was to verify if the biodegradation of tropical wood stored under different conditions affects the soil properties and the initial growth of seedlings from the pioneer species Schizolobium amazonicum. For this purpose, the woods of four tropical species were selected: timborana (Pseudopiptadenia suaveolens (Miq.) J.WGRIMES), yellowwood (Euxylophora paraensis Huber), tamanqueira (Aegiphila integrifolia (Jacq.) Moldenke), and para-para (Jacaranda copaia (Aubl.) D.Don) collected from a bauxite mining company stockyard. The characterization of the chemical, anatomical and physical properties of the wood before and after storage in the soil was performed. Stocking was performed under three conditions: buried wood, positioned horizontally and positioned vertically. For the soil, pH, cation exchange capacity, organic matter, base saturation, aluminum saturation and macronutrients were obtained. In the germinated seedlings, biometric, biomass and biochemical properties were analyzed. The bioassay was conducted in a greenhouse. Preliminary results showed that the technological properties of the wood of different species resulted in different levels of biodegradation, and the yellow wood was remarkably resistant due to its anatomical and chemical properties, despite its similar basic density to that of timborana wood. The intense biodegradation of Pará-Pará wood was due to its low basic density, while timborana wood showed high degradation despite its high basic density, which has been attributed to the high content of easily removable extractives of wood. The biodegradation of all woods modified soil properties and negatively affected the biometric properties and biomass production of Schizolobium amazonicum plants during initial growth.