The process of natural regeneration in an area degraded for the construction of the Camargos hydroelectric plant dam, MG, was analyzed 155 months after the planting for its reclamation. The analyses were done in function of the distance to the river, soil compaction and distance of the seed sources. The survey of the natural regeneration was done in plots of 2 x 15m allocated every 10m along three transects (15m width and variable length) parallel to the slope direction. All plants with DBH < 5cm and height > 10cm were identified and measured in height. Sixty four species of 27 families were found. The adjacent fragment provides a great amount of propagules for the natural regeneration, since many regenerative species in the recovering area were found only in the arboreal stratum of that fragment. A distance of up to 75m to the fragment did not affect the regeneration density, height and diversity, but in the plots taken by the grass Mellinis minutiflora, the density was smaller and the plants higher.
Degraded area; Land reclamation; Riparian forest
