The floristic composition of a seasonal semi-deciduous secondary forest was evaluated every three years during a nine year period in a fragment of 196 ha located in Viçosa, MG (20º 45' Latitude South, 42º 55' Longitude West and altitude of 689,7 m), Southeastern Brazil, in the domain of the Atlantic Forest. A total of 161 tree species, 114 genera and 48 botanical families were recognized considering trees with DBH equal or greater than 5 cm. The families Leguminosae, Lauraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Myrtaceae, Flacourtiaceae and Meliaceae exhibited the greatest species richness and most of them were initial secondary species. Shannon-Weaver diversity index varied from 2.26 to 3.65 when the analysis was made as a function of sites. It was observed a great variability in species composition among sites due to physiographic variation. The higher proportion of initial secondary species indicated that the forest fragment studied is in an intermediate stage of succession.
Floristic composition; diversity; semi-deciduous seasonal forest
