Bioactivity of mangrove humic materials on Rizophora mangle and Laguncularia racemosa seedlings, Brazil

Abstract

The mangrove sediments are rich in organic matter and humic substances, responsible for important functions such as reducing the toxicity of heavy metals, nutrient stabilization, serving as drain to atmospheric carbon and increasing the plant growth. In this study, we observed the effect of humic substances, humic acids and fulvic acids isolated from sediments of a mangrove forest, sampled from the Municipal Ecological Station Ilha do Lameirão (EEMIL, located in Vitória, Espírito Santo State, Brazil), on the growth and root acidification of Rizophora mangle and Laguncularia racemosa seedlings. For this, R. mangle and L. racemosa propagules were transferred to pots and then treated with different humic materials. The evaluation in root architecture change was performed by analyzing the main root axis length, lateral root length, density of lateral roots, fresh and dry mass weight of roots and estimated H⁺-ATPase activity by specific root acidification measurement. The results indicate that all humic materials extracted from mangrove organic matter were able to modify the root architecture systems of the studied plants. In addition to inducing an increase in the number of lateral roots and root branching, it also stimulated specific root acidification when compared to control groups. There is a good potential in developing technologies for the production of seedlings of mangrove plant species treated with biostimulants based in humic materials isolated from the mangrove ecosystem itself.

Keywords: Humic substances, humic acids, fulvic acids, mangrove