De Conto, Tiago
- Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Research article2017Peer reviewedOpen access
dos Santos, Gilsonley Lopes; Pereira, Marcos Gervasio; de Conto, Tiago; de Carvalho, Daniel Costa; de Amorim, Thiago Azevedo; Monteiro Mendonca, Victoria Maria; Duarte de Moraes, Luiz Fernando
The composition and quality of the seed bank are some of the factors responsible for the structure and floristic composition of forest environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the seed bank of a semideciduous forest patch, taking into account the influence of the landscape's topographical features. Two adjacent landforms, of convex and concave shapes, were selected. They were divided into mini sites (MS) I, II, and III in the convex landform and IV, V and VI in the concave one. Ten sample points on each MS were randomly distributed with a surface area of 0.0625 m(2) and 3 cm deep. A total of 4,862 germinated seeds. m(-1) was registered in 90 days, with the convex landform presenting the highest frequency of germinated seeds. m(-1). A total of 35 families and 88 species were identified in both landforms, of which 37% were of herbaceous habit, 24% arboreal, 18% shrubs, 12% lianas and 2% epiphytic. Regarding the landform's shape, 44% of the species were found in both convex and concave ones, 31% were found exclusively on the convex landform and 25% exclusively on the concave one. Regarding floristic and phytosociological parameters, the convex landform accounted for a higher number of seeds, families, and species richness, while the concave landform accounted for higher diversity. Topography was a determinant factor for the floristic and phytosociological composition of the seed bank. The highest species richness was recorded in the convex landform and highest diversity in the concave landform, with Asteraceae, Melastomataceae and Urticaceae families presenting the highest importance indexes of value.
Atlantic Forest; topography; forest fragment
Ciência Florestal
2017, Volume: 27, number: 4, pages: 1217-1228 Publisher: CENTRO PESQUISAS FLORESTAIS, UFSM
Forest Science
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5902/1980509830310
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/93406