ABSTRACT
The Estação de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Ambiental de Peti, a successional mosaic of forests, is located in a mining region at the Upper Doce River in the municipalities of Santa Bárbara and São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo, Minas Gerais. The aim of this study was to describe the phytosociological structure and evaluate the relationship between vegetation and soil of five forest areas in different successional stages. In each area, we sampled 48 points using the Point-centered quarter method, and measured circunference at breast height (CBH≥ 15 cm) and heigh of trees. We registered a total of 45 families, 116 genera and 191 tree species. Families with highest number of species were Fabaceae, Myrtaceae, Lauraceae, Melastomataceae, Euphorbiaceae, Rubiaceae. Pogonophora schomburgkiana, Cupania ludowigii, Astronium fraxinifolium and Mabea fistulifera had the highest importance value index. Mean height ranged from 7.1 ± 2.1 to 9.2 ± 3.4 m and mean diameter from 8.9 ± 5.1 to 12.1 ± 7.1 cm. Two areas showed different floristic composition, according to similarity analysis. Shannon Diversity Index was 4.58 nats/individual, indicating considerable diversity, a result of the successional mosaic. The area submitted to selective cut presented highest floristic richness in comparison to the other areas analyzed, all of them occurring on poor soils with high levels of aluminum.
Key words:
phytosociology; regeneration; vegetation sucession; Santa Bárbara river