ISBN:  Unavailable

Category: Unavailable

Page count: 257

This study was designed to discover whether are patterns in tree communities and to examine their possible links environment in undisturbed gallery forests. The study focused on the Pitoco, Monjolo and Taquara streams, within the Ecological Reserve of the 'Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica' in the Federal District, in Central Brazil. The three gallery forests are representative of an endangered and extremely important vegetation formation, which is closely related to the maintenance of environmental health and to the volume and quality of the water supply in the region. The conspicuos flora, including species which reflect characteristc environmental features, guided the choice of sites. An intensive study focused on the vegetation and soils of each gallery. Tree species were recorded using the Point Centred-Quarter (PCQ) method from the stream margins to the forest-cerrado border. Soil samples were taken to reflect environmental changes within each catchment. Analysis of the galleries' phytosociology and diameter distribution highlighted their considerable heterogeneity. Only Copaifera langsdorfii and Tapirira guianensis occurred as important species in all threee sites. This probably reflects environmental differences between the threee areas. Classification by TWINSPAN distinguished forest communities at each locality, referred to as 'wet' and 'dry' according to their position in relation to the stream margins and site topography. The floristic links between the galleries and communities were ...