Abstract
The species Melanoxylum brauna Schott is considered vulnerable due to intensive logging and lack of replanting. Several challenges affect its propagation, including seed viability, predation, and difficulties in commercial seedling production caused by substrate, fertilization, and excessive watering, which can lead to mortality. This study aimed to evaluate the survival and quality of M. brauna seedlings produced in different soil/substrate compositions and under treatments expected to alter microbial viability, seeking to identify a suitable reference substrate for seedling production under nursery conditions. Seedlings grown in soil collected near the mother tree exhibited the greatest survival and growth after 150 days. Enzyme activities, including β-glucosidase and arylsulfatase, were highest in the organic substrate, followed by the soil near the parent tree, indicating their potential as biochemical markers for soil quality. However, high enzyme activity alone was insufficient to ensure seedling survival in the organic substrate. These findings indicate that soil collected near parent trees is an effective reference substrate for maintaining M. brauna seedling survival and quality under nursery conditions. The maintenance of seedling survival in autoclaved parent-tree soil may indicate a possible rhizosphere memory, understood as the persistence of soil properties generated by previous interactions among the mother trees, their roots, microorganisms, and the surrounding soil. However, for large-scale production, future studies should develop sustainable strategies based on low proportions of rhizospheric soil, microbial extracts, selected microbial consortia, or optimized mixtures with nursery substrates.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), the Research and Innovation Support Foundation of Espírito Santo (FAPES), the Coordination of Superior Level Staff Improvement (CAPES) and the Academic Writing Center at UFES (CAESA). We thank the rural producers Denilton Cabanês Manhães, Henock Paschoal, Matias Ratunde, and Valdir Ratunde for donating and assisting with the collection of M. brauna seeds and for their significant contributions to this and other studies through the sharing of their traditional knowledge.
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Permission to work with the genetic material was granted by the National Genetic Heritage and Associated Traditional Knowledge Management System (SISGEN), No. A81745F. The license to collect plant material was granted by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio) through the Biodiversity Authorization and Information System (Sisbio), No. 101411-1. The specimen voucher was identified by Dr. Rodrigo Sobreira Alexandre, and deposited in the Capixaba Herbarium (CAP), under ID CAP010088, located in the Department of Forestry and Wood Sciences of the Center for Agricultural Sciences and Engineering of the Federal University of Espírito Santo, Jerônimo Monteiro – ES, Brazil.
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Simões, I.M., de Araujo, C.P., Baptista, J.O. et al. Rhizospheric soil as a means of maintaining the survival of Melanoxylum brauna Schott seedlings, an endangered tree species.
Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-72437-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-72437-7
Keywords
Melanoxylum brauna
- Seedling production
- Oxidative stress enzymes
- Soil quality enzymes
Source: Ecology - nature.com
