The objective of this work was to evaluate the composition and structure of the woody community of cerrado stricto sensu fragments located in Carolina (southern Maranhão), and Filadelfia (northern Tocantins) in the north-northeastern phytogeographic Cerrado province. The survey was carried out with ten 1000 m² plots (20 × 50 m) at Filadélfia. The composition and structure data of the same vegetation physiognomy from Carolina was obtained by using literature. The Sørensen Index with UPGMA linkage method and the TWINSPAN were used to evaluate the similarities between the woody communities. All wood individuals showing diameters > 5 cm, at 30 cm above the ground level were recorded. In Filadelfia county 789 individuals, 53 species and 44 genus were recorded. Nine species (Qualea parviflora, Pouteria ramiflora, Curatella americana, Hirtella ciliata, Qualea grandiflora, Parkia platycephala, Diospyros sericea, Stryphnodendron sp. and Stryphnodendron rotundifolium) reached 49.9% of the total VI; H' = 3.32 and J' = 0.83. Among the total of 69 species, 36 species were found in the both counties. The Sørensen Index has shown low floristic similarity between Carolina and Filadélfia. Also the TWINSPAN has shown low qualitative and quantitative similarity between and within areas. These results have shown differences between and within areas of cerrado stricto sensu that most likely was associated with the different types of soils. The phytosociological results were similar to other surveys around the region and the floristic composition is typical of the north/northeastern phytogeographic Cerrado province. Typical species from this Cerrado province were recorded such as Hirtella ciliata, Platonia insignis and Caryocar coriaceum.
Phytosociology; Species diversity; Similarity
