Vascular epiphyte biomass in a South Brazilian fragment of Atlantic Forest.

Marise P Petean,Rodrigo A Kersten,Amanda K Marcon,Dieter Liebsch,Franklin Galvão

doi:10.1590/0001-3765201820180103

Marise P Petean, Rodrigo A Kersten + Show 3 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/0001-3765201820180103

Copy DOI

Abstract

The present study aimed at sampling the biomass of vascular epiphytes within a protected area in South Brazilian Atlantic Forest. All tree specimens with diameter at breast height equal or greater than 4.8 cm were measured and divided into classes. In each class, 10% of tree specimens were randomly selected for epiphytic biomass measuring. Furthermore, we divided the phorophytes into five tree parts to analyze epiphytic biomass. We generated mathematical models to estimate epiphytic biomass in similar forest areas. We analyzed 55 phorophytes and found an estimated epiphytic biomass of 5.3 Mg/ha. Epiphytic biomass ranged from 0.02 to 135 kg and the lower values were found on small-sized phorophytes. Higher values of epiphytic biomass were found on phorophytes with diameter at breast height between 30 and 36.5 cm. The tree part with higher epiphytic biomass was the outer crown. The epiphytic biomass showed a high correlation with phorophyte diameter, according to the mathematical models. We selected two equations which presented the most similar values to the ones we measured. Our results corroborate that epiphytes play a very important role as to the biomass level within tropical forests.

Highlights

The Atlantic Forest is the second largest moist tropical forest in the Americas
Ninety-two percent of its area is found within the Brazilian territory (Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica and INPE 2002, Galindo-Leal and Câmara 2003)
The epiphytic biomass found within Reserva das Águas, even though it is a secondary forest, was quite high in comparison to other forests studied throughout the Neotropical region

Summary

Introduction

The Atlantic Forest is the second largest moist tropical forest in the Americas. Ninety-two percent of its area is found within the Brazilian territory (Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica and INPE 2002, Galindo-Leal and Câmara 2003). As a matter of fact, in some forests, epiphytes can account for 63% of the photosynthetic biomass (Walker and Ataroff 2002) and nearly 45% of the mineral content (Nadkarni 1984). Epiphytes can absorb and accumulate large amounts of decayed organic matter, which acts as a nutrient source for arboreal fauna and above ground vegetation. They influence the water dynamics as well as the canopy microclimate (Pócs 1980, Lang et al 1980, Nadkarni 1984, Hofstede et al 1993, Bohlman et al 1995, Freiberg 1996, Freiberg and Freiberg 2000)

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion