DETERMINATION OF WATER INTAKE OF RED PIGEON (Combretum lanceolatum Pohl)

Abstract

The Pantanal is located in the Upper Paraguay Depression, it is characterized by being the largest floodplain in the world, with alternating floods and droughts. During the last decades, economic changes and political requirements have increased the pressure on the Pantanal and its hydrographic basin, due to transformations in land use and occupation with agriculture. Its natural grasslands have a great diversity of habitats that include grasslands, savannahs and forests under different flood regimes. These conditions directly contribute to the development of Combretum lanceolatum Pohl, also known as Red Pombeiro, being considered a monodominant species, a considerable increase was observed in the Pantanal grasslands. Knowing the characteristics of water consumption of this species in response to atmospheric demand effectively contributes to the understanding of its physiological characterization and, mainly, its management. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the water consumption of Combretum lanceolatum Pohl (Red Pigeon). The study was conducted in an area adjacent to the Meteorological Station Pe. Ricardo Remeter, belonging to the INMET network, in Santo Antônio de Leverger-MT, who provided macrometeorological data: maximum and minimum temperatures, wind speed, rainfall, insolation and evaporation, daily. Water consumption (evapotranspiration) was measured by the constant water table lysimeter method, where there were six pots containing the Red Pombeiro plants, which had their values modeled by multiple linear regression together with estimates of Reference Evapotranspiration from the Penman-Moteith aerodynamic method and with the leaf area. The evapotranspiration rates had a higher correlation with the leaf area index than with the reference evapotranspiration.