Species composition, diversity, and vegetation structure in a gallery forest-cerrado sensu stricto transition zone in eastern Mato Grosso, Brazil

Abstract

We investigated the existence of an ecotone in the species composition, diversity and vegetation structure in the transition between gallery forest and cerrado sensu stricto in central Brazil. We tested two hypotheses: 1) a ecotone can be found between gallery forest and cerrado; 2) a gradient exists in the species composition of the cerrado. We established three parallel transects of 5 m × 350 m running between gallery forest and cerrado, which were divided into subplots of 5 m × 10 m, perpendicular to the margin of the Bacaba stream in Nova Xavantina (Mato Grosso, Brazil). We identified and measured the height and diameter of individual plants in the plots with a diameter of at least 3 cm at 30 cm above the ground. We recorded 140 species, of which 26 were exclusive to the gallery forest, and 95 to the cerrado. The cerrado presented higher species richness (observed and estimated) and diversity (diversity profiles) than the gallery forest. Both hypotheses were accepted: a distinct ecotone was observed between gallery the forest and cerrado, and a pronounced gradient was found in species composition among the cerrado plots, apparently in response to the variation in soil moisture content, probably related to topography.

Tree Species Diversity and Composition of Miombo Woodlands in South-Central Angola: A Chronosequence of Forest Recovery after Shifting Cultivation

“…pseudotaxus, as demonstrated by the Indicator Species Analysis. Local site-specific environmental characteristics such as relief, topography, and physicochemical soil properties may play a secondary role, as demonstrated in other studies in the woodlands of southern Africa and savanna biome of South America [87,88].…”

Heterogeneidade ambiental e estrutura da vegetação arbustivo-arbórea em três áreas de Cerrado sentido restrito no Sudoeste goiano

“…Em torno de 65% das 30 espécies registradas com maior VI no presente estudo são comumente encontradas em áreas de cerrado sentido restrito sobre solos profundos (RATTER et al, 2003;MENDONÇA et al, 2008;LENZA et al, 2015). Dentre essas espécies mais importantes (VI), merecem destaque Caryocar brasiliense, Curatella americana, Dimorphandra mollis, Myrcia bella e Qualea grandiflora.…”

Drivers of floristic variation in biogeographic transitions: insights from the ecotone between the largest biogeographic domains of South America

“…Our analyzes also showed that the floodplains differ from the others in both cluster analysis and ordination. The influence of soil and river basin moisture is evident, showing that the floristic variation of the Transition is strongly related to local variations, and closer areas tend to be more similar to each other than to areas geographically close to river basins (Lenza et al 2015;Morandi et al 2016). Another remarkable pattern was the fact that the forested savannas (both dystrophic and mesotrophic ones) presented a greater floristic similarity with the typical savannas.…”