PRESERVATION OF PRIMARY FOREST CHARACTERISTICS DESPITE FRAGMENTATION AND ISOLATION IN A FOREST REMNANT FROM VIÇOSA, MG, BRAZIL1

Markus Gastauer,João Augusto Alves Meira-Neto,Marcos Eduardo Guerra Sobral

doi:10.1590/0100-67622015000600001

Markus Gastauer, João Augusto Alves Meira-Neto + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0100-67622015000600001

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Abstract

According to its owners, the Forest of Seu Nico (FSN) from the Viçosa municipality, Minas Gerais, Brazil, never has been logged and is therefore considered a primary forest. Nevertheless, the forest patch suffered impacts due to selective wood and non-timber extraction, fragmentation and isolation. Aim of this study was to test if the FSN, despite impacts, preserved characteristics of primary forests, which are elevated percentages of non-pioneer (>90%), animal-dispersed (>80 %), understory (>50%) and endemic species (~40%). For that, all trees with diameter at breast height equal or major than 3.2 cm within a plot of 100 x 100 m were identified. With 218 tree species found within this hectare, the FSN's species richness is outstanding for the region. The percentages of non-pioneer (92 %), animal-dispersed (85 %), understory (55 %) and endemic species (39.2 %) from the FSN fulfill the criteria proposed for primary forest. Therefore, we conclude that the FSN maintained its characteristics as a primary forest which highlights its importance for the conservation of biotic resources in the region, where similar fragments are lacking or not described yet.

Highlights

Before the Europeans arrived in South America, the Atlantic Forest covered between 1.300.000 and 1.500.000 km2distributed nearly along the entire Brazilian coast
The species lists gathered in a one hectare plot within the Forest of Seu Nico (FSN) fulfills all criteria proposed by Liebsch et al (2008) for oldgrowth, primary forests as there are less than 10 % of non-pioneer, more than 80 % of zoochorus, more than 50 % understory species and about 40% of species endemic to the Atlantic Forest biome
The Atlantic Forest is a heterogeneous ecosystem comprising more than 27 latitudinal degrees, with precipitation regimes ranging from arid conditions to more than 3,000 mm per year and altitudes from sea level up to 3000 m (STEHMANN et al, 2009)

Summary

Introduction

Before the Europeans arrived in South America, the Atlantic Forest covered between 1.300.000 and 1.500.000 km2distributed nearly along the entire Brazilian coast. Primary forests show higher species richness and diversity than secondary forests (BROWNING et al, 2010; STYRING et al, 2010), they might have suffered selective wood or non-timber extraction Indirect impacts such as fragmentation and isolation create extinction debts (LIRA et al, 2012) initiating their degradation (GASTAUER; MEIRA-NETO, 2013). Primary and secondary forests differ in species richness and diversity (PETERSON; CARSON, 2008) and in regeneration, stratification and dispersion strategies of species forming these forests (NUNES et al, 2003) Because environmental conditions, such as nutrient supply and light availability in the understory, change gradually during succession (LAURANCE et al, 2002), the percentage of pioneer species is higher in the initial than in later stages of succession. Widespread species are expected to colonize disturbed or logged habitats faster than endemic species with a narrow geographic distribution (MORI et al, 1981)

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