BIOMETRIC VARIATIONS OF DIASPORES OF BURITI ( Mauritia flexuosa L.f. \u2013 ARECACEAE) IN \u2018VEREDAS\u2019 AT DIFFERENT CONSERVATION STAGES

As veredas s\ue3o fitofisionomias do bioma Cerrado, onde, no estrato arb\uf3reo, predomina a palmeira arb\uf3rea Mauritia flexuosa L.f. - buriti, esp\ue9cie considerada recurso-chave para muitos animais, que a utilizam como moradia e fonte alimentar, e tamb\ue9m pelo pr\uf3prio homem, que usa suas folhas e frutos como mat\ue9ria-prima e alimento. Apesar de ocorrerem em ambientes protegidos pela legisla\ue7\ue3o ambiental, a\ue7\uf5es antr\uf3picas nas veredas t\ueam afetado as popula\ue7\uf5es do buriti, por meio da diminui\ue7\ue3o do n\ufamero de indiv\uedduos ocasionada por desmatamento, assoreamento e drenagem dessas \ue1reas. O objetivo desse trabalho foi avaliar a morfometria de frutos e sementes de buriti oriundos de seis veredas em diferentes est\ue1gios de conserva\ue7\ue3o, situadas na \uc1rea de Prote\ue7\ue3o Ambiental do Rio Pandeiros (norte de Minas Gerais). Foram amostrados, no total, 1800 frutos e sementes, que foram mensurados em comprimento, largura, espessura e peso. Para detectar diferen\ue7as das medidas morfom\ue9tricas dos frutos e das sementes entre as \ue1reas de coleta foi feita a an\ue1lise de vari\ue2ncia. Foram observadas varia\ue7\uf5es nas medidas morfom\ue9tricas de frutos e sementes entre as \ue1reas de estudo, sendo que 87,5% das maiores m\ue9dias ocorreram em \ue1reas com menores interven\ue7\uf5es antr\uf3picas. Esse fato, possivelmente, est\ue1 relacionado aos impactos ocorridos nas veredas, al\ue9m das varia\ue7\uf5es gen\ue9ticas que podem incidir sobre os indiv\uedduos.\u2018Veredas\u2019 (palm swamps) are phytophysiognomies of the \u2018Cerrado\u2019 biome, where the palm tree Mauritia flexuosa Lf. - buriti predominates on the tree layer; this species is considered the key resource for many animals, that use it as shelter and source of food, and also by the man who uses their leaves and fruits as raw material and food. Although, they occur in environments protected by the environmental legislation, human actions have affected the populations of \u2018buritis\u2019, by means of the decrease of individuals caused by deforestation, siltation and drainage of these areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate the morphometric parameters of fruits and seeds of Mauritia flexuosa from six different \u2018veredas\u2019 at different conservation stages, located in the Environmental Protection Area of \u2018Pandeiros\u2019 River (north of Minas Gerais state). In total, 1,800 fruits and seeds were sampled, they were measured in length, width and thickness and, after that, they were weighed. To detect differences in morphometric measurements of fruits and seeds among the sampling areas, the analysis of variance was done. There were differences in morphometric measurements between the studied areas, in which 87.5% of the highest averages occurred in areas with the slightest anthropic interventions. This fact is possibly related to the impacts occurred, besides the genetic variations that may fall upon the individuals