Tree community composition and aboveground biomass in a secondary atlantic forest, Serra do Mar State Park, São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

Projects involving floristic-phytosociological surveys are becoming increasingly frequent and is a very important tool to access the biodiversity, status of succession, biomass and carbon storage, guiding conservation and management strategies. These studies are particularly important in Atlantic Forest, which is considered a hotspot in terms of biodiversity, endemism and impacts. São Paulo State lost more than 80% of original forest and, nowadays, remains only isolated patches with a variety stage of succession and history of use. The aim of this study was to characterize the structure, composition and biomass of the woody plant community in a Montane Ombrophilous Dense Forest, Serra do Mar State Park. All trees with DBH ≥ 4.8 cm were sampled in 1 ha plot area, totaling 1,704 individuals belonging to 38 botanical families and 143 species. The highest species richness was found in the Myrtaceae and Lauraceae families, and the greatest value of abundance and Importance (IV) was observed in the Arecaceae and Euphorbiaceae. The Shannon index (H’) was 3.7 nats.ind.-1 and the Pielou’s evenness index (J) 0.7, characterizing a very diverse community with heterogeneous distribution of individuals by species. The aboveground biomass was 166.3 Mg.ha-1, similar to others studies in Atlantic forests. The forest composition, biomass and the history of land use indicate a middle secondary stage of regeneration, but evolving to a more mature condition.