Spatial analysis of competitive stress, diameter increment and structure of an Araucaria forest, Irati, PR.

Abstract

A Geographic Information System (GIS) can be used as a tool in decision making for forest management due to its ability to integrate a large number of variables in order to generate information. The objective of this research was use GIS to spatial representation of competitive stress, diametric increment, structure, recruitment and mortality in individual tree level. The focused area is a fragment of the National Forest of Irati, located in districts of Teixeira Soares and Fernandes Pinheiro, in the Central-South region of Paraná State, Brazil. The data of this research came from permanent sample plots in a remaining of Araucaria Forest maintained without interventions for at least 65 years. The best performance competition index , diametric increment, vertical and horizontal structure for all trees and for the most important species of the forest fragment were represented using GIS, through clustering and consultations of spatial data and forest inventory. The GIS tool allows the spatialization of the competitive stress, the diameter increment and other variables, as well as their combinations in individual tree level. The spatial representation of tree diametric increment presents relation with others variables besides the competition indexes.