Floristic and structural patterns, richness and diversity of Semidecidal Seasonal Forests in the Cerrado

ABSTRACT

Seasonal Forests (FE) occurring in the Cerrado, are characterized by the presence of tree species with different deciduous levels on dry seasons and vary in floristic composition depending on their geographic location. The present work has as premise that the floristic-structural patterns of these forests can be remarkable, due to the environmental conditions imposed by the environments and proximity to different watersheds. We used sample data of 17 fragments of Semideciduous Seasonal Forest (FE) in the Cerrado. For each sampling site to be inventoried an area of one hectare where the circunference of all the trees were measured at 1.30cm ≥ 15cm were included. An Principal Component Analysis - PCA, including abiotic and structural variables of each forest were made. For similarity analysis we used the floristic data in an absence-presence matrix of species and a number of trees of each species data. To determine floristic patters we use the Sorensen and Bray-Curtis similarity and made a cluster with the Unweighted Average Grouping Method (UPGMA). To explore the patterns of abundance performed in the Non-Metric multidimensional Scale (nMDS). The floristic-structural patterns indicated the presence of two distinct floristic groups, a smaller group formed different areas of the Araguaia and Paraguay River watersheds, and another large group formed by areas of the Paraná basin, and other others, even basin, more dissimilar than too much. The formation of floristic groups reflects that, as analyzed communities, there are several generalist species that are not very demanding and that adapt to new conditions, occurring in non-Cerrado and Atlantic Forest seasonal forest areas, forming two diverse tests located mainly in the Araguaia basin and Paraná.

Keywords
Seasonally Dry Forests; Diversity; Phytosociology; Environmental variables