Composição florística de uma floresta ripária na Reserva Estadual de Porto Ferreira, SP Floristic composition of a riparian forest area in Porto Ferreira State Reserve, State of São Paulo, S.E. Brasil

Aplicou-se o método de quadrantes (63 pontos) na Reserva Estadual de Porto Ferreira (21º49'S e 47º25'W), numa área (l,08ha) à margem direita do rio Moji Guaçu, amostrando dois indivíduos lenhosos em cada quadrante: um com fuste mínimo de 130cm e DAP < 10 cm; outro com DAP > 10cm. Os resultados obtidos foram comparados com os publicados por outros autores para uma área de mata riparia na Estação Ecológica de Moji Guaçu (Mata da Figueira), cerca de 100 km a montante daquele rio. Em Porto Ferreira, encontraram-se 107 espécies, sendo 80 exclusivas. Das 59 espécies listadas por outros autores para a Mata da Figueira, 31 foram exclusivas. As duas áreas tiveram 27 espécies comuns, com uma similaridade de Sørensen de 48,6%, considerada baixa. A grande heterogeneidade ambiental das várzeas e os diferentes graus de perturbação antrópica poderiam contribuir para essa variação florística. Os maiores números de espécies ocorreram em Leguminosae (20), Myrtaceae (17), Rutaceae (9), Euphorbiaceae (7) e Lauraceae, Meliaceae, Moraceae e Rubiaceae (6 espécies cada). Ao nível de família, parece haver poucas diferenças'com as florestas paulistas não inundáveis, mas as espécies mostram diferentes graus de preferência pelo habitat. As duas áreas apresentaram uma mistura de espécies típicas com outras de florestas nâo inundáveis. Estas ocorreriam na várzea em decorrência de, principalmente: a) adaptações do sistema radicular a períodos relativamente curtos de inundação; b) menor tempo de inundação nos pontos mais elevados do microrrelevo da várzea; c) maior aeração provocada pela água corrente.<br>The point-centred quarter method (63 points) was applied in Porto Ferreira State Reserve (21º49'S and 47º25'W) in an area (1.08ha) on the right margin of Moji Guaçu river, including two woody individuals per quarter - one with DBH < 10cm and at least 130cm high, the other with DBH > 10cm. The results obtained were compared with those published by other authors for a riparian forest (Mata da Figueira) at Moji Guaçu Ecological Station (about 100 km upstream on the same river). At Porto Ferreira 107 species were found, of which 80 were exclusive, compared with the Mata da Figueira where of the 59 species listed, 31 were exclusive. The two area shared 27 common species, thus accounting for a low Sørensen similarity of 48.6%. The great environmental heterogeneity of the floodplains, as well as the degree of anthropic disturbance, could account for this floristic variation. The greatest numbers of species were shown by Leguminosae (20), Myrtaceae (17), Rutaceae (9), Euphorbiaceae (7), and Lauraceae, Meliaceae, Moraceae and Rubiaceae (6 species each). There appears to be little difference at the family level among the periodically flooded and non-flooded forests of the State of São Paulo, but the species show different degreees of preference for habitat. The floristic composition of the two areas presented a mixture of typical species with others of non-flooded forests. The latter would occur on the floodplain probably by a) adaptation of the root system to relatively short flooding periods; b) shorter periods of flooding on the higher points of the microrelief of the floodplain, and c) greater aeration due to running water

Local hydrological conditions influence tree diversity and composition across the Amazon basin

Tree diversity and composition in Amazonia are known to be strongly determined by the water supplied by precipitation. Nevertheless, within the same climatic regime, water availability is modulated by local topography and soil characteristics (hereafter referred to as local hydrological conditions), varying from saturated and poorly drained to well-drained and potentially dry areas. While these conditions may be expected to influence species distribution, the impacts of local hydrological conditions on tree diversity and composition remain poorly understood at the whole Amazon basin scale. Using a dataset of 443 1-ha non-flooded forest plots distributed across the basin, we investigate how local hydrological conditions influence 1) tree alpha diversity, 2) the community-weighted wood density mean (CWM-wd) – a proxy for hydraulic resistance and 3) tree species composition. We find that the effect of local hydrological conditions on tree diversity depends on climate, being more evident in wetter forests, where diversity increases towards locations with well-drained soils. CWM-wd increased towards better drained soils in Southern and Western Amazonia. Tree species composition changed along local soil hydrological gradients in Central-Eastern, Western and Southern Amazonia, and those changes were correlated with changes in the mean wood density of plots. Our results suggest that local hydrological gradients filter species, influencing the diversity and composition of Amazonian forests. Overall, this study shows that the effect of local hydrological conditions is pervasive, extending over wide Amazonian regions, and reinforces the importance of accounting for local topography and hydrology to better understand the likely response and resilience of forests to increased frequency of extreme climate events and rising temperatures