Influence of Soil and Topography on the Composition of a Tree Community in a Central Brazilian Valley Forest (original) (raw)
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Plant Ecology, 2007
The relationships among floristic, structural and physiognomic variables of the tree component, flooding regime variations and soil fertility were investigated in a riparian forest fragment (ca. 43 ha) in the Rio Botucaraí watershed near the confluence with the Rio Jacuí, southern Brazil. All the trees with a dbh ≥ 15 cm were surveyed in 100 contiguous 10 × 10 m plots and soil chemical and textural variables were obtained from the analyses of 15 topsoil samples (0–20 cm depth) collected at different locations. The sample sites encompass all the topographic variation of the area. We used canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) to seek correlations between environmental variables and tree component distribution. The 1,547 surveyed individuals belonged to 30 species and 16 botanical families. The Shannon diversity index (H′) and the Pielou equability (J′) were 1.995 and 0.586 nats ind.−1, respectively. Sebastiania commersoniana, Casearia sylvestris, Eugenia uniflora and Eugenia hye...
This study set out to investigate the effect of environmental variables such as soil class, soil water availability, topography and slope on spatial distribution patterns of tree species in a Brazilian Seasonal Semideciduous Forest area. Floristic and structural data for a tree community were obtained by sampling of 100 plots of 10 6 10 m in which every tree with trunk diameter (dbh) > 4.77 cm at 130 cm above ground level was sampled. The area under study showed a marked soil gradient, directly associated with the topography: flat hilltops with Al 3+ -rich Dystric Latosols give way to steep colluvial slopes with shallower and more Dystric Cambic Latosols without Al 3+ , which changes over, at the bottom of the hollows, to Epieutrophic Cambisols richer in nutrients. The floristicsociological parameters analysed for the soil habitats did not differ statistically from each other. The diversity and equability indices were 3.6 and 0.84, 3.48 and 0.85, 3.49 and 0.84 for the Dystric Latosol, Dystric Cambic Latosol and Epieutrophic Cambisol, respectively. The soil variables (related to the fertility and texture) and the soil water regime (drainage) were probably the principal factors determining the spatial distribution patterns of tree species in the forest.
Journal of Tropical Ecology, 1994
ABSTRACTThe relationships between soil properties, topography and tree species distribution were analysed in a tropical riverine forest at the margins of the Rio Grande, in Bom Sucesso, state of Minas Gerais, south-eastern Brazil. The forest was sampled by three 0.18 ha plots, with each plot made up of eight contiguous 15 m X 15 m quadrats, four of which were placed at the river margin and the remaining four in the forest interior. A canonical correspondence analysis indicated that the species' density distribution was significantly correlated with some soil chemical characteristics and topographical features. The soils of the three sample plots showed statistically significant differences for the levels of Ca, Mg, K and pH, with the fertility (expressed by the cation exchange capacity) increasing from Plot I to Plot III. These variations were mainly explained by the first canonical axis while the second was strongly correlated with topographical variables, separating the quadra...
Plant Ecology, 2007
Dry semideciduous and deciduous forests occur only on calcium-rich soils and occupy almost 20% of the 200 million ha of the cerrado region of central Brazil. Other savanna physiognomies of woodlands and grasslands, and gallery forests generally occur on acid soils with low calcium levels. The literature on phytosociological aspects of such cerrado physiognomies is quite abundant whereas there is very little information on deciduous forests. Also lacking is information on soil fertility and its influence on species distribution. The objective of the present study was to study the distribution of native species within a dry deciduous forest in the Araguari river valley, Uberlâ ndia, Minas Gerais as related to soil properties. A 1-ha sampling area, with no apparent difference in physiognomy, was divided Joã o Paulo De Souza is a scholarship holder of CNPq.
Revista de Biología Tropical, 2007
The floristic variations of shrub and tree components were studied in two sites of Semideciduous Forest, initial forest and mature forest, located in the Mata do Paraíso Forest Reserve, in Viçosa, State of Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil, in order to analyze the floristic similarity and the correlations between environmental variables and the distribution of tree species in these forests. Individual trees with a diameter at breast height (DBH) ≥ 4.8 cm were sampled in twenty 10 x 30 m plots (10 plots in each site). The plots were distributed systematically at 10 m intervals. The environmental variables analyzed were: the canopy openness and soil chemical and texture characteristics. The two forest sites showed clear differences in the levels of canopy openness and soil fertility, factors that reflect the floristic and successional differences of the shrub and tree component, revealed by the low similarity between these forests by cluster analysis. The canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) of environmental variables and species abundance indicated that the species in these forests studied are distributed under strong influence of canopy openness, moisture and soil fertility.
Scientia Agricola, 2012
In tropical forests, the environmental heterogeneity can provide niche partitioning at local scales and determine the diversity and plant species distribution. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the variations of tree species structure and distribution in response to relief and soil profile features in a portion of the largest remnant of Brazilian Atlantic rain forest. All trees ≥ 5 cm diameter at breast height were recorded in two 0.99 ha plots. Topographic survey and a soil characterization were accomplished in both plots. Topsoil samples (0-20 cm) were taken from 88 quadrats and analyzed for chemical and particle size properties. Differences for both diversity and tree density were identified among three kinds of soils. A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that the specific abundance varied among the three kinds of soils mapped: a shallow Udept-Orthent / Aquent gradient, probably due to differences in soil drainage. Nutrient content was less likely to affect tree species composition and distribution than relief, pH, Al 3+ , and soil texture. Some species were randomly distributed and did not show restriction to relief and soil properties. However, preferences in niche occupation detected in this study, derived from the catenary environments found, rise up as an important explanation for the high tree species diversity in tropical forests.
Restinga forests are commonly known to be plant communities rather poor in tree species. This study aimed to describe and explain the association between the floristic-structural similarities and the environmental conditions in three Swamp Restinga Forest communities in southern Brazil. In 13 plots of 100 m 2 each, we sampled all individual trees (circumference at breast height >12 cm and height ≥3 m). We collected soil samples in each plot for chemical and textural analyses. Phytosociological parameters were calculated and different structural variables were compared between areas. The density of individuals did not differ between areas; however, the maximum height and abundance of species differed between the site with Histosols and the other two sites with Gleysols. Further, a canonical correspondence analysis based on a matrix of vegetation and that of environmental characteristics explained 31.5% of the total variation. The high floristic and environmental heterogeneity indicate that swamp-forests can shelter many species with low frequency. Most species were generalists that were not exclusive to this type of forest. Overall, our study showed that swamp-forests within the same region can show considerable differences in composition and structure and can include species-rich communities, mostly due to the presence of species with a broader distribution in the Atlantic Rainforest domain on sites with less stressful environmental conditions and without waterlogged conditions.
Woody species distribution across a savanna-dry forest soil gradient in the Brazilian Cerrado
Brazilian Journal of Biology, 2023
Although richness and distribution of woody species in the Cerrado physiognomies have been extensively studied, the shifts of woody species from savanna physiognomies to dry forests have not yet been addressed. Here, we investigate the effect of soil physical-chemical traits on the woody species turnover between adjacent cerrado stricto sensu and dry forest physiognomies. Woody species were surveyed, and soil and topographic variables measured, in 30 10×40 m plots systematically distributed, with 15 plots in each physiognomy. We found a spatially structured distribution of woody species, and differences of soil traits between cerrado stricto sensu and dry forest areas, mainly related to the aluminum saturation, base saturation, and available phosphorus. Aluminum saturation increased toward the savanna area, while base saturation increased toward the dry forest. Most woody species predominated in one physiognomy, such as Callisthene major in the cerrado stricto sensu and Anadenanthera colubrina in the dry forest. Only 20% of the species were widely distributed across both physiognomies or, not often, restricted to the intermediary values of the soil gradient. General results indicate that contrasting soil traits between cerrado stricto sensu and dry forest produce a strongly spatially organized and sharp transition in terms of species distribution between these physiognomies.
Agrarian Academy, 2016
The Cerrado biome presents different physiognomies distributed throughout several Brazilian states. Studies related to species distribution as direct environmental factors may subsidize forest restoration projects. The objective of this study wasto evaluate ecological and structural differences and determine the species distribution based on soil factors in two physiognomies types of Cerrado. Data sampling was conducted in the area of influence of the sugar cane industry in southwest of Goiás, Brazil. Soil samples were collected in those plots and analyzed chemically and psysically. The results of the soil characteristics were useful to verify if the species distribution correlate with soil patterns through canonical components analysis (CCA).The structural aspects were higher in the plots identified as seasonal forest. Although the Ecological aspects, such as species diversity, were higher in the cerradão. The CCA showed a positive correlation between the tree species distribution with physicochemical characteristics of soil. The analysis showed a positive correlation between the distribution of tree species and the physicochemical characteristics of the soil. A group of species was related to higher fertility in the soil and clay content. Another group was correlated with low fertility and higher sand content soils.