Estrutura, diversidade florística e variações espaciais do componente arbóreo-arbustivo da vegetação ciliar do rio Pandeiros, norte de Minas Gerais

Abstract

The north of Minas Gerais is a region situated at the extreme south of Brazil´s semi-arid and presents transition areas between the biomes Caatinga and Cerrado with difficult floristic characterization, resulting into a vegetation mosaic. Inserted in this mosaic lie the riparian forests, environments associated with the watercourses and with the spring water, considered as inland extensions of the Atlantic Forest and migratory corridors, capable of creating routes linking biomes and refuges for the terrestrial fauna. Currently, they are recognized inside phytogeographic units as one of the most important forest formations. Despite this importance, riparian forests are quickly becoming small forest patches, entailing the decrease of the gene flow by means of the interruptions of these ecological corridors. So, it is necessary to seek the knowledge regarding those formations so that mitigating and repairing measures can be established, aiming at both the conservation and preservation of those environments. Seeking this better understanding, mainly of the essential character exercised by riparian forests and their distribution in several watersheds, this paper was conducted with the purpose of generating knowledge which can be then used as supports to the regeneration of riparian forests. Thus, this paper is structured into two chapters: (1) in the first, basic knowledge about phytosociology and the structure of the riparian forest of the Pandeiros river is given; (2) in the second, a detailed approach about the possible correlations existing between the vegetation and the habitat through the analysis of correlation between the species and the soil attributes in one of the areas sampled along the Pandeiros River is performed.