Phytosociology of a primary Subtropical Rain Forest in southern Brazil.

Abstract

Abstract

The Subtropical Rain Forest is altered in Santa Catarina regarding its composition and structure. Thus, the studies that focus on these forest remnants are important because they can consist as a basis for meta-analysis. In this work research we intend to characterize the composition and structure of a Subtropical Rain Forest stand and compare the species composition of this stand with others in the same forest type. The vegetation was sampled through 25 sample plots of 400 m², where individuals with DBH ≥ 5 cm were measured. We sampled 1,727 individuals belonging to 144 species, 91 genus and 45 families. Myrtaceae, Lauraceae and Fabaceae were the richest families, especially the Ocotea, Eugenia and Myrcia genus. The species with the highest importance percentual were Euterpe edulis Mart., Sloanea guianensis (Aubl.) Benth., Ocotea aciphylla (Nees & Mart.) Mez, Tapirira guianensis Aubl. We detected two floristic groups formed due to geographical proximity; the first was formed by studies conducted in the southern region and the second by studies conducted in the Itajaí Valley. Our results indicated that the studied forest stand is composed primarily of shade-tolerant climax species and can be characterized as a well-preserved forest remnant. The results indicate the importance of this area for conservation.