A survey of the community of trees and shrubs, topography and soils of a fragment of tropical semidecidous forest was carried out with the objective of assessing alleged correlations between the variations in physiognomic structure and species composition and variations in soil water regime and chemical fertility. The forest fragment, with an area of 17 ha is situated on the margin of the river Ingaí (21°24' S and 44°55' W), Ingaí municipality, Minas Gerais state, south-eastern Brazil. A topographic survey and a detailed soil classification were accomplished in the forest area. Individual trees and shrubs with diameter at breast height (dbh) > or = 5 cm were sampled in 25 plots with 20 × 20 m of dimensions. Samples of surface soil (0-20 cm of depth) were collected from each plot for analyses of chemical and textural properties. The survey registered 2,683 individuals belonging to 140 species, 90 genera, and 41 families, as well as four soil subgroups and six drainage classes. A canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) of the patterns emerging from the environmental variables and species' abundances indicated that these are distributed in the fragment under a strong influence of the water regime and chemical fertility of the soils. Besides, many species produced significant correlations among their abundance in the plots, soil drainage classes and saturation of bases, suggesting that water and mineral nutrients are key environmental variables determining species distribution in the forest.
tropical semideciduous forest; riverine forest; community of trees and shrubs; multivariate analysis; soil-vegetation relationship
