Abstract
A key issue in large-area inventories is defining a suitable sampling design and the effort required to obtain reliable estimates of species richness and forest attributes, especially in species-diverse forests. To address this issue, data from 418 systematically distributed 0.4 ha plots were collected. Estimators of nonparametric species richness were employed to assess the floristic representativeness of data collected in three forest types in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The sampling sufficiency of forest attributes was evaluated as a function of sample size. Altogether, 831 tree/shrub species were recorded. The data acquired through the systematic sampling design were representative of both species richness and basal area. The confidence intervals’ length would not substantially decrease by using more than 70 % of the reference sample (n = 364), thereby reaching a length of ~5 % of the sample mean. Nevertheless, reliable estimates of species richness for diverse forests demand a thorough sampling approach far more exacting so as to achieve acceptable population estimates of forest attributes. Though the study area is regarded as a biodiversity hotspot, the forest stands showed diminished species richness, basal area, stem volume and biomass when compared to old-growth stands. As regards species richness, the data provided evidence of contrasting great γ-diversity (at the forest type level) and small α-diversity (at the forest stand level). Amongst anthropic impacts, illegal logging and extensive cattle grazing within stands are undoubtedly key factors that threaten forest conservation in the study area.
Highlights
The main target of forest inventories is to generate both quantitative and qualitative data about forests and related ecosystems, taking a multi-temporal approach, and providing information for managers in terms of species composition, structure, growing stock, and forest dynamics (Vidal et al, 2008)
The Forest and Floristic Inventory of Santa Catarina (IFFSC), which is integrated into the National Forest Inventories (NFIs)-Brazil (Freitas et al, 2010), creates an unprecedented opportunity to verify data variability, sampling sufficiency and floristic representativeness, at both the forest stand and forest type levels in the shrinking and threatened Atlantic Forest (Ribeiro et al, 2009)
Three forest types can be found in Santa Catarina: semi-deciduous forest (SF), Araucaria forest (AF), and evergreen rainforest (ERF) (Oliveira-Filho et al, 2015)
Summary
The main target of forest inventories is to generate both quantitative and qualitative data about forests and related ecosystems, taking a multi-temporal approach, and providing information for managers in terms of species composition, structure, growing stock, and forest dynamics (Vidal et al, 2008). Many countries rely on continuously updated National Forest Inventories (NFIs) with systematic sampling designs and multi-source approaches which integrate field data and remotely sensed imagery. There are fewer (sub)tropical countries with completed NFIs (e.g., Mexico, Chile, and Tanzania) than European and North American countries (Tomppo et al, 2010). Many of these (sub) tropical countries lack the support of a public forest administration and stable financial support. The sampling design should be able to generate solid data about structural attributes (e.g., basal area, and tree density) and species diversity metrics (McRoberts et al, 2013; Tomppo et al, 2010). The Forest and Floristic Inventory of Santa Catarina (IFFSC), which is integrated into the NFI-Brazil (Freitas et al, 2010), creates an unprecedented opportunity to verify data variability, sampling sufficiency and floristic representativeness, at both the forest stand and forest type levels in the shrinking and threatened Atlantic Forest (Ribeiro et al, 2009)
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