Floristic composition and similarity analysis of an Atlantic rain forest fragment in Cananéia, São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

-(Floristic composition and similarity analysis of an Atlantic rain forest fragment in Cananéia, São Paulo State, Brazil). The aim of this study is to investigate the floristic composition of an Atlantic rain forest fragment located in Cananéia, São Paulo, Brazil, and to contribute to the knowledge on Atlantic forest through the comparative analysis of this and other floristic surveys both on the southern and southeastern Brazil, in different soil and relief types. We surveyed 215 species in 132 genera and 51 families. Classification and ordination analysis were applied to a binary matrix in order to analyze the similarity among 24 surveys, including the present one, of Atlantic forest from the south and southeast coast of Brazil. Higher floristic similarity was observed among this area and the ones where there was marine influence and more rugged relief. The surveys in areas with greater marine influence (sandy soil) were separated from those in other conditions, possibly indicating a species replacement gradient from the steep slopes towards the lowland and were probably related to different edaphic conditions. A latitudinal gradient was found among the surveys apparently confirming a continuous species replacement along the Atlantic forest, related to a restricted distribution of the species. This suggests that it is essential to preserve areas from the whole Atlantic coast. Atlantic forest distribution is quite complex and its composition cannot be adequately represented by small localized areas.Key words -lowland rain forest, montane rain forest, shrubs, submontane rain forest, tree community RESUMO -(Composição florística e análise de similaridade de um trecho de Floresta Ombrófila Densa Atlântica em Cananéia, São Paulo, Brasil). O presente trabalho teve como objetivo caracterizar a flora arbustiva e arbórea de um trecho de Floresta Ombrófila Densa Submontana localizado no Município de Cananéia, São Paulo, de modo a contribuir para o conhecimento da Mata Atlântica através de sua comparação com outros 23 inventários do Sul e Sudeste do Brasil. Foi encontrado um total de 215 espécies distribuídas em 132 gêneros e 51 famílias. Foram realizadas análises de classificação e ordenação aplicadas a uma matriz binária para avaliar a similaridade florística entre os levantamentos. Observou-se maior similaridade entre a área estudada e florestas com menor influência marinha e relevos mais acidentados. Os levantamentos de planície costeira realizados em áreas com influência marinha (solo arenoso) diferenciam-se daqueles feitos em locais com outras condições, indicando um possível gradiente de substituição de espécies da encosta para a planície, que pode estar relacionado com condições edáficas diferenciadas. Foi encontrado um gradiente latitudinal entre os levantamentos analisados, o que parece confirmar uma substituição contínua de espécies ao longo da Mata Atlântica, relacionada com uma distribuição restrita de espécies. Os resultados obtidos sugerem que é essencial a preservação de áreas ao longo de toda a ...

Effects of soil, altitude, rainfall, and distance on the floristic similarity of Atlantic Forest fragments in the east-Northeast

“…The Serra Grande (SG) fragment was, according to cluster analysis, close to the two groups, but not directly associated to any group; this characterization suggests particular aspects, because this is the only fragment with Oxisol and Podzolic formation in its area, and it's also the largest fragment, with higher number of species (Table 1) and endemism; the Caete-PE (0.39) and Campo do Aviao-PE (0.37) fragments were the most similar ones. Therefore, according to Urbanetz et al (2010), since all fragments had values below 0.5 for both indices, this indicates a low similarity among them. The CCA results (Figure 4) pointed out that, among the variables examined, the soil and rainfall were the most influential on the similarity/heterogeneity of the forests floristic composition, corroborating the results found by Botrel et al (2002) and Ferraz et al (2004).…”

“…Among them, 5 species are common to all fragments: Schefflera morototoni, Protium heptaphyllum, Eschweilera ovata, Byrsonima sericea, and Apeiba tibourbou. Moreover, 118 species (30.81%) had low frequency, occurring in only 1 fragment, evidencing a high heterogeneity among the fragments (URBANETZ et al, 2010), even those inserted in the same endemism center (MURRAY-SMITH et al, 2008). Brandão et al (2009) found in a phytosociological study that these species account for about 24.24% of the vegetation cover in an Atlantic forest fragment in the east-Northeast.…”

“…According to the numerous variations, studies on floristic similarity of fragments evidence significant heterogeneity, even between areas under similar climatic, geomorphological, and topographic conditions (URBANETZ et al, 2010).…”

Distribution patterns of riodinid butterflies (Lepidoptera: Riodinidae) from southern Brazil

“…Altitude was another important factor, grouping sites characterized by the presence of the Mixed Ombrophilous Forest (Araucaria angustifolia Forest), a type of vegetation exclusive of the south Brazilian region. In Atlantic Forest, the montane forests, such as Araucaria Forest sites, seem to present a higher similarity on its floristic composition (e.g., Oliveira-Filho and Fontes 2000; Garcia et al 2009;Urbanetz et al 2010), which may be influencing the patterns of occurrence of some lepidopteran species (e.g., Brown and Freitas 2000a;Ferro and Melo 2011).…”

Integrating remote sensing and phytosociology of the Atlantic Forest to map a small continental island in southeastern Brazil: subsidies to protect the habitat of critically endangered species

“…Even considering the total number of tree species on the island (S = 17; Kurtz et al 2017), many of which apparently rare locally, this richness is extremely low compared to those usually found in continental remnants of Atlantic Forest formation (Kurtz & Araújo 2000;Scudeller et al 2001;Urbanetz et al 2010). This insular Atlantic Forest shows an unusual oligarchic structure, with strong co-dominance of G. opposita, R. minor, and A. australe.…”