Resumen

FEHLING-FRASER, Tara C.  y  CECCON, Eliane. Macropropagation of Erythrina americana in a greenhouse: a potential tool for seasonally dry tropical forest restoration. Rev. Chapingo ser. cienc. for. ambient [online]. 2015, vol.21, n.1, pp.5-16. ISSN 2007-4018.  https://doi.org/10.5154/r.rchscfa.2014.04.016.

Deforestation in Mexico has made restoration an urgent requirement. Erythrina americana is a multipurpose tree, useful for seasonally dry tropical forest restoration; however, it is poorly studied. Macropropagation of this species is advantageous when compared with sexual reproduction, since it requires scarification to germinate. In this study, the effects of the exogenous application of the phytohormone (indole-3-butyric acid) in the cuttings and/or a slow-release phosphate fertilizer (SRPF) in the substrate were evaluated on the growth and survival of E. americana cuttings in a greenhouse. We used a randomized experimental design of four blocks with 10 cuttings per treatment. We harvested 10 cuttings per treatment after 36, 66, 96 and 126 days of growth, and evaluated survival, total dry biomass production (TDB), relative growth rate (RGR), and resource allocation (RA). Cutting survival was high, averaging 95 %. Treatments did not affect total TDB, RGR or RA. However, the application of SRPF in the substrate showed significantly higher (P < 0.05) dry root biomass values. Growth periods also affect the RGR and RA. Macropropagation of E. americana was successful and non-labor-intensive, making this technique a feasible alternative for restoration projects mainly in low-resource rural communities.

Palabras llave : Cuttings; indole-3-butyric acid; slow-release phosphate fertilizer; relative growth rate; resource allocation.