Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-v5vhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-07T17:44:20.515Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

A comparative study of cerrado (sensu stricto) vegetation in Central Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Jeanine Maria Felfili
Affiliation:
Departamento de Engenharia Florestal, Universidade de Brasília, Brazil
Manoel Claudio da Silva Jr
Affiliation:
Oxford Forestry Institute, South Parks Road, Oxford 0X1 3RB, England, UK

Abstract

Floristic and structural comparisons and a numerical classification were performed to identify the priority areas for conservation of genetic resources in central Brazil. The main type of woody vegetation, cerrado sensu stricto (savanna woodland with 10–60% tree cover), was sampled under a uniform methodology in six selected sites (total sample of 6 ha) scattered in a physiographic unit called the Pratinha Plateau located between 15–20° S and 46–49° W. A total of 6971 trees belonging to 139 species and 42 families was measured. Each site had a combination of 50–80 species and approximately 30 families but only 22 species from 14 families were common to all sites. Similarity decreased with distance, indicating the existence of geographical gradients as the physical characteristics were relatively uniform and the soils were dystrophic at all sites. The most dissimilar sites, in the localities of Patrocínio-MG and Paracatu-MG were recommended for the establishment of conservation units. The already existent conservation units arc all clumped in the Federal District and are not enough to protect the genetic heritage of the plateau. Floristics and phytosociological surveys based on land system zoning were recommended as useful tools in planning conservation areas at a regional level to preserve the maximum biodiversity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Cavassan, O., Cesar, O. & Martins, F. R. 1984. Fitossociologia da vegetação arbórea da Reserva Estadual de Baurú, estado de Sāo Paulo. Revista Brasileira de Botânica 7:91106.Google Scholar
Cochrane, T. T., Sanchez, L. G., Azevedo, L. G., Porras, J. A. & Garver, C. L. 1985. Landin tropical America. CIAT-EMBRAPA-CPAC, Cali. (3 vol)Google Scholar
Cole, M. M. 1986. The savannas: biogeography and geobotany. Academic Press, London. 438 pp.Google Scholar
Curtis, J. T. & McIntosh, R. P. 1950. The interrelations of certain analytic and synthetic phytosociological characters. Ecology 31(3):434455.Google Scholar
Curtis, J. T. & McIntosh, R. P. 1951. An upland continuum in the prairie-forest border region of Wisconsin. Ecology 32(3):476496.Google Scholar
Dias, B. F. de S 1990. A conservaçāo da natureza. Pp. 583640 in Novaes Pinto, M. (ed.). Cerrado: caracterizaçāo, ocupaçāo e perspectivas. Editora Universidade de Brasília, Brasília.Google Scholar
Eiten, G. 1972. The cerrado vegetation of Brazil. Botanical Review 38:201341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eiten, G. 1978. Delimitation of the cerrado concept. Vegetatio 36(3): 169178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felfili, J. M. & JrSilva, M. C. 1988. Distribuiçāo dos diametros numa faixa de cerrado na Fazenda Água Limpa (FAL) in Brasília-DF. Acta Botanica Brasilica: 2(1–2):85104.Google Scholar
Freese, F. 1962. Elementary forest sampling. USDA. 91 pp.Google Scholar
Gauch, H. G. 1982. Multivariate analysis in community ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. 298 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gibbs, P. E., Leitāo Filho, H. F. & Shepherd, G. 1983. Floristic composition and community structure in an area of cerrado in SE Brazil. Flora 173:433449.Google Scholar
Haridasan, M. & Araújo, G. M. 1988. Aluminum-accumulating species in two forest communities in the cerrado region of central Brazil. Forest Ecology and Management. 24:1526.Google Scholar
Hill, H. O. 1979. TWINSPAN – a FORTRAN program for arranging multivariate data in an ordered two-way table by classification of individuals and attributes. Section of Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University. Ithaca, NY. 90 pp.Google Scholar
Ludwig, J. A. & Reynolds, J. F. 1988. Statistical ecology. A primer on methods and computing. New York: J. Wiley & Sons. 337 pp.Google Scholar
Medina, E. 1987. Nutrients: requirements, conservation and cycles in the herbaceous layer. Pp. 3967 in Walker, B. W. (ed.). Determinants of savannas. IUBS monographs series no. 3. IRL Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Montgomery, R. F. & Askew, G. P. 1983. Soils of tropical savannas. Pp. 6378 in Bourliere, F. (ed.). Tropical savannas. Ecosystems of the world. Elsevier, Amsterdam.Google Scholar
Oliveira-Filho, A. T., Shepherd, G. J., Martins, F. R. & Stubblebine, W. R. 1989. Environmental factors affecting physiognomic and floristic variation in an area of cerrado in central Brazil. Journal of Tropical Ecology 5:413431.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ratter, J. A. 1986. Notas sobre a vegetação da Fazcnda Água Limpa (Brasília, DF, Brazil). Editora UnB, Textos Universitários n. 003, Brasília. 136 pp.Google Scholar
Ratter, J. A. 1987. Notes on the vegetation of the Parque Nacional do Araguaia (Brazil). Notes of the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh 44:311342.Google Scholar
Ratter, J. A. 1991. The conservation situation of the Brazilian cerrado vegetation. Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. 19 pp. (Technical report for WWF).Google Scholar
Ratter, A. & Dargie, T. C. D. 1992. An analysis of the floristic composition of 26 cerrado areas in Brazil. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 49(2):235250.Google Scholar
Ratter, J. A., Leitao Filho, H. F., Argent, G., Gibbs, P. E., Semir, J., Shepherd, G. & Tamashiro, J. 1988. Floristic composition and community structure of a southern cerrado area in Brazil. Notes of the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh 45(1):137151.Google Scholar
Ratter, J. A., Richards, P. W., Argent, G. & Gifford, D. R. 1973. Observations on the vegetation of northeastern Mato Grosso. 1. The woody vegetation types of the Xavantina-Cachimbo expedition area. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London (B) 226:449492.Google Scholar
Rizzini, C. T. 1979. Tratado de fitogeografia do Brasil: aspectos sociológies e florísticos. Vol. 2. HUCITEC e EDUSP, Sāo Paulo. 373 pp.Google Scholar
Silva, A. F. & Leitáo Filho, H. F. 1982. Composição floristica e estrutura de um trecho de mata Atlāntica de encosta, Ubatuba (Sāo Paulo, Brazil). Revista Brasileira de Botânica 5:4352.Google Scholar