ABSTRACT
The Copaifera
langsdorffii Desf. seedlings, popularly known as “copaiba” or diesel tree,
present a natural occurrence in the riparian forests of the Brazilian Cerrado,
however, not much is known about their capacity to recover from flooding,
particularly when the focus is on their establishment and use in programs for
the recovery of degraded areas near watercourses and subject to flooding. The
objective of this study was to evaluate over time the recovery of the
efficiency of the photosynthetic apparatus and the antioxidant activity of C. langsdorffii seedlings flooded during
different periods. The pots with the seedlings were placed in a plastic tank
and submerged with water, and were removed from the flood condition every 21
days (0, 21, 42, 63 and 84 days), and evaluated every 30 days (0, 30, 60, 90
and 120 days). The seedlings tolerated the flooding for up to 42 days,
recovering after suspension of this condition. Seedlings flooded for 63 and 84
days showed lower recovery capacity after flooding, independently of the
evaluation period. Under these conditions, lower efficiency of the
photosynthetic apparatus, gas exchange, photo assimilate production and seedling quality were
observed.