Abstract
Knowledge of the vegetation structure in the Atlantic Forest is essential to support studies about its functioning, in view of broad interest issues such as global carbon balance. This study aimed to describe the structural variation in a heterogeneous area at Núcleo Santa Virgínia, Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar and how the aboveground living biomass is distributed in its phytophysiognomies. In each physiognomy studied, blocks of 10 × 10 m plots were allocated, totaling 0.6 ha of sampling. From the 1,046 individuals with PBH > 15 cm sampled, 443 were in riparian forest (RF), 272 in valley forest (VF) and 331 in hill forest (HF), with a total of 119 species. Shannon index was 3.63 and Pielou equability 0.76. Biomass estimated corresponds to 225.45 mg ha-1 (total), 193.6 mg ha-1 (RF), 299.85 mg ha-1 (VF) and 182.9 mg ha-1 (HF). The forest presents similar features to other fragments previously analyzed.
Highlights
Atlantic Domain has its largest remaining areas in the South and Southeast regions of Brazil
According to the physiognomic ecological system of Veloso et al (1991), the vegetation that predominantly occurs in that region is classified as Ombrophilous Dense Forest and it is subdivided into altitudinal facies
This study aimed to characterize the structure of tree component in three different physiognomies of a Montane Ombrophilous Dense Forest area at Parque Estadual da Serra do Mar, in the State of São Paulo, and to estimate their aboveground living biomass by using allometric equations, and answering the following questions: 1) How is the structural variation in the forest of study? and 2) How is the aboveground living biomass distributed in that forest?
Summary
Atlantic Domain has its largest remaining areas in the South and Southeast regions of Brazil. Forest fragments in that State have variable sizes, successional stages and conservation status (Sanqueta 2008) and occur in a wide range of climatic, topographical and soil conditions. About half of the largest remaining fragments are protected in Conservation Units (Galindo & Câmara 2005), mostly located in mountainous areas. According to the physiognomic ecological system of Veloso et al (1991), the vegetation that predominantly occurs in that region is classified as Ombrophilous Dense Forest and it is subdivided into altitudinal facies. Between 16o and 24o South parallels, in altimetric tracks ranging from 500 to 1,500 m, there are montane formations, which cover Serra do Mar and portions of the Atlantic Plateau
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