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Structure of the tree component in montane tropical rain forest in the Parque Natural Municipal Nascentes de Paranapiacaba (PNMNP), Santo André, São Paulo State, Brazil

It was performed a phytosociological analysis of two 0.5 hectare plots (P1 and P2) of tropical montane rain forest in the PNMNP. Trees with DBH (diameter at breast height) of 4.8 cm or more were sampled, a total of 1,992 individuals belonging to 183 species, 103 genera and 49 families. Most of the species are zoochoric and the number of pioneer and non-pioneer individuals is similar in the two plots. The Myrtaceae family was the richest in species number, followed by Rubiaceae, Lauraceae and Melastomataceae. The specific diversity was obtained by the Shannon's Index (H'), 3.779 in P1 and 4.049 in P2 and the equability by Pielou's Index (J), 0.770 in P1 and 0.836 in P2. The diversity indexes found in PNMNP are similar to those ones found in other protected areas in the State of São Paulo and may indicate that the air pollutants produced by the industrial complex of Cubatão were not so deleterious as in other surrounding areas in the Mogi river valey and Reserva Biológica do Alto da Serra de Paranapiacaba. Furthermore, the presence of big trees belonging to non-pioneer species in P2 indicates that PNMNP may keep relicts of the original forest that covered the area in the past.

dispersal syndromes; diversity; floristics; phytosociology; successional categories


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