Abstract
We studied a 1225 ha area, composed mainly of cerrado, in Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil (21°36-38'S, 47°36-39'W). In three cerrado physiognomies (campo cerrado -- a wooded savanna, cerrado sensu stricto -- a woodland, and cerradão -- a tall woodland), we collected all vascular plants in reproductive stage, and identified them to species level. We found 360 species, representing 236 genera and 69 families. The richest families were: Asteraceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae, and Rubiaceae. The savanna physiognomies were richer than the forest one. The ratio between herbaceous and woody species was approximately 2:1. We analysed the whole flora and its two components separately, woody and herbaceous, comparing them with other disjunct cerrado areas. We obtained similarity values (Sørensen index) from 0.47 to 0.81, which showed that the 3 diversity of the cerrado was higher in the herbaceous component than in the woody one.
Highlights
About 23% of the Brazilian territory (2 millions km2) were originally covered by cerrado vegetation (Ratter et al 1992)
Our aim was to carry out a floristic survey in a disjunct cerrado area, distinguishing its physiognomies
The Pé-de-Gigante Reserve is located in Santa Rita do Passa Quatro Municipality, São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil, between 21°36-38’S and 47°36-39’W, under a Cwag’ (Köppen 1948) or B3B’3w (Thornthwaite & Mather 1955) climate type, at 590 to 740m high, on Red-Yellow Latosol (Pivello et al 1998)
Summary
About 23% of the Brazilian territory (2 millions km2) were originally covered by cerrado vegetation (Ratter et al 1992). Its core area covers the Brazilian Central Highlands, in the states of Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goiás, Tocantins, Maranhão, and Piauí (Mantovani & Martins 1993). Outlying cerrado areas occur in other states, as in São Paulo (Ratter et al 1992). The cerrado vegetation is characterized by its wide physiognomic variation. According to Coutinho (1978), the cerrado goes from campo limpo, a grassland, to cerradão, a woodland. The intermediate physiognomies (campo sujo – a shrub savanna, campo cerrado – a wooded savanna, and cerrado sensu stricto – a woodland) are considered ecotones
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