The cerrado has been a topic of discussion of thematic groups studying biodiversity conservation in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. No information is available on floristic composition and structure of innumerous conservation areas with a cerrado vegetation. The objective of this work was to perform a floristic and phytosociologic survey of a cerrado sensu stricto area in the municipality of Abaeté, as a floristic-structural reference of the cerrados in the region. The studied area is a fragment with 2 ha of cerrado sensu stricto, preserved as a CAF - Santa Bárbara reserve area. It is located within the coordinates 19º05'S and 44º58'W, in a smooth depression close to a riparian area. The type of soil is Distrophic Red Latosol. The latitude is 480 m. The climate is of the Cwa type by the Koeppen system and the annual mean precipitation is 1.400 mm. A total of 15 plots of 200 m² (10 x 20 m) sistematically distributed along 10 m spacing paths weree stablished. The criterium of inclusion was a stem circumference of 10 cm at ground level (CGL), sampling all alive individuals. The Shannon Index was 3.590, and the equability of 0.804, considered to be common values for well-preserved cerrados. A total of 1.339 individuals were sampled with the floristic composition of Abaeté being constituted by 85 species, distributed within 44 families. The families with greater number of species are Leguminosae Caesalpinioideae with 7 species, Annonaceae with 5, Myrtaceae, Malpighiaceae, Erythroxylaceae, Anacardiaceae, Rubiaceae and Bignoniaceae with 4, and Vochysiaceae, Leguminosae Papilionoideae with 3 species. The species showing greater IV were Xylopia aromatica (Lam.) Mart. (22,21), Myrcia lingua Berg (18,18) Caryocar brasiliense Cambess. (17,91), Eugenia dysenterica DC. (17,58), Byrsonima intermedia A. Juss. (13,69) and Brosimum gaudichaudii Trécul (11,86).
Floristic composition; structure; conservation
