Dispersion and aggregation patterns of tree species in Araucaria Forest, Southern Brazil

Abstract

Studies about dispersal syndromes and spatial distribution can provide information about species ecology. However, few studies analyze these ecological patterns in different vegetation layers. In this work, we verified the relationship between the dispersion syndromes and the spatial distribution in different layers in Araucaria Forest. We sampled 180 plots with size and inclusion criteria that changed according to the vegetative layer. We sampled 15,545 individuals in 103 tree species. We found significant differences between the number of species in the dispersion syndromes (χ2 = 11.52; P ≤ 0.05) and spatial distribution patterns (χ2 = 10.94; P ≤ 0.05), being zoochoric and tends to clustering the most predominant. We also found a significant interaction between the dispersion syndromes and spatial distribution patterns in the analyzed layers (F = 1,044; P < 0.0001), with anemochoric species characterized by random distribution, autochoric in the cluster distribution and zoochoric in the tends to clustering. The results demonstrate that the tree species of the different layers are related to the type of dispersion and the aggregation pattern.

Forest regeneration and seed rain in the conversion of a stand of Pinus sp. into native forest

“…In mature forests of the region, Ruschel et al (2007) and Benvenuti-Ferreira and Coelho (2009) recorded respectively 19 and 41% of anemochoric individuals. In turn, Maçaneiro et al (2018) recorded 27% of anemochoric trees in the upper layer and 24% in the lower layer in an Araucaria Forest in the state of Santa Catarina. The anemochoric species tend to be the tallest trees in dense forests, facilitating seed dispersion (HORN et al, 2001;GIEHL et al, 2007).…”

Effects of the Environment and Spatial Factors on the Regeneration of Araucaria Forest Fragments, Southern Brazil

“…This vegetation is characterized by the presence of dense clusters formed by Araucaria angustifolia and associated with several tree and shrub species of the Myrtaceae and Lauraceae families (Kersten et al, 2015). Currently, the vegetation in the study area is in advanced stage of regeneration, with about 35 years without anthropic exploration (Maçaneiro et al, 2018…”

Serviços ecossistêmicos de carbono, composição e estrutura florestal em uma cronosequência de plantios de restauração

“…Trichilia casaretti C.DC., are species that could offer synergistic gains, but which were observed in less than 20% of the restorations, being found one to five individuals of these species in the 160 sample plots. We must admit that there are rare species, of non-aggregated distribution, where few individuals naturally occurs in a given space (Metzger et al, 1997;Wilson et al, 2004;Maçaneiro et al, 2018), a pattern that might be replicated in ecological restoration plantings.…”

“…However, the low abundance of these species in the restorations, together with the low forest cover of the studied regions, are detrimental factors for these populations in the long run, regarding the isolation context that these populations are embedded (Wilson et al, 2004;Guisan et al, 2006;Maçaneiro et al, 2018;Safar et al, 2020). Thus, to ensure the perpetuation of priority plant species in restored forests, it is necessary to monitor and manage their populations tied to the species natural behavior.…”