The objectives of this work were to map and classify the preserved areas in a forestry based project. In the region of the medium Vale do Rio Doce, located in the Eastern part of the State of Minas Gerais, two areas with native forest cover and eucalypt plantings were classified as follows: Areas of "Cocais" (hilly region) and Areas of "Ipaba" (lowland region). Maps, techniques of visual interpretation of orthophotocharts, field surveys and analyses of documents of the areas studied were used. The classification of the successional stages followed the parameters established in the No 10 Resolution of CONAMA, of October 1st, 1993. Diagrams of vertical profiles of the forest successional stages and those of the other plant types mapped in the area studied were made. In the hilly region the initial (52%) and medium (31%) stages were the major ones in the area. And in the lowland region, the medium (33%) and initial (23%) stages were in the majority. Both in the hilly and in the lowland region the small fragments (< 5 ha in greatest number 69%) contributed to only 10% (2,462 ha) of the total preserved area in the hilly region, and 6% (2,907 ha) in the lowland region. The large fragments, with more than 50 ha, with the smallest number, less than 5%, contributed to 53% of the total preserved area in the hilly region and with 67% in the lowland region, indicating, in both cases, a high connectivity among fragments.
Atlantic Forest; Successional stages; Landscape ecology; Vegetation classification
