This study was carried out to discover patterns in tree spatial distribution in three gallery forests (Pitoco, Monjolo and Taquara), within the IBGE Ecological Reserve, in the Federal District, in Central Brazil. The three gallery forests are representative of the endangered vegetation formation, which is closely related to the maintenance of the volume and quality of the water supply in the region. Tree species (DBH > or = 5cm) were recorded using the Point Centred-Quarter (PCQ) method, from the stream margins to the forest-cerrado border, totalling 250 sampling points in each gallery forest. Classification by TWINSPAN highlighted floristic communities peculiar of each site, referred to as "moist", "intermediate" and "dry". The floristic links between the galleries and their communities were investigated by cluster analysis (UPGMA), which reinforced the model of a strong association between communities and soil moisture regime. In fact there was a stronger relationship between communities from areas of similar soil moisture, at different stream locations, than between "wet" and "dry" communities within the same stream. The analysis suggests that the Brazilian legislation (Law 7.511 of 7/7/1986) does not effectivelly protects the whole gallery forests woody diversity.
trees spatial patterns; Brazilian legislation; environment-trees relationships
