Environmental hereterogeneity and structure of wood vegetation in three sites of Cerrado sensu stricto in southwestern of Goiás state, Brazil

Abstract

The physiognomy variation of Brazilian Cerrado is intense and phytosociological studies can provide subsidies on which factors are responsible for this environmental heterogeneity. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the structure of the woody vegetation of three sites of Cerrado sensu stricto, in the municipality of Jataí, state of Goiás, Brazil, aiming to discuss the findings with the history of disturbance of each site and physical aspects of the soils. Ten 20 x 50 m contiguous plots of were allocated in each area, totaling three hectares of survey in total. We included in the sample all trunks with diameter ≥ 5 cm, measured at 30 cm of the ground. The sites showed differences in wood structure, ranging from more open to more dense areas (density ranging 991-1859 ind.ha^-1 and basal area ranging from 10.85 to 17.68 m².ha^-1). The richness in the areas ranged from 70 to 82 as well as the species composition. Although, there is a mix of savanna and forest floristic elements, we detected higher domain of typical savanna species for the three areas. The floristic and structural patterns indicated heterogeneity in the communities, even geographically close, possibly due to soil texture differences. This reinforces the importance of the preservation of savanna formations in the southwest of Goiás state to understand the structural and floristic variations and, consequently, to provide information for other studies on the ecological aspects related to them.

Keywords:
Brazilian savannah; Phytosociology; Environmental heterogeneity; Woody species richness and diversity