In Santa Catarina State, the forested area of the Atlantic Forest increased in the last decade, forming a landscape which is characterized by a mosaic of fragments of distinct successional stages. This work aimed to evaluate the successional process dynamics of two successional stages in the secondary Atlantic forest. This study was carried out in a secondary forest remnant near São Pedro de Alcântara-SC (area of 40 ha), abandoned since 1970. Permanent plots (50 x 50 m) were established randomly, two in a secondary medium growth (SM) and four in a secondary old growth (SA) forest stages. The annual evaluations from 1994 to 2000 on all trees with DBH >5 cm revealed that while the SM stage exhibited superior values for density, recruited, dead and branched plants, the SA stage exhibited superior values for species richness, basal area and diametric class. Botanically, the dominant species and families in each stage were clearly observed, as well as the succession dynamics of this species group, explosive increase and posterior decrease and substitution, perfectly demonstrating the functionality of the ecological groups of this forest typology. Finally, the density of the plants branched was found to be superior at the initial secondary forest stages, although the rates of annual current increase were similar. The floristic evaluations also showed that the forests in the Santa Catarina coast were in a succession dynamics, where pioneer species have been gradually replaced by climax species, increasing species diversity and forest biomass.
Diameter increment; forest species; mortality; ramification; recruitment
