PRESERVATION OF PRIMARY FOREST CHARACTERISTICS DESPITE FRAGMENTATION AND ISOLATION IN A FOREST REMNANT FROM VIÇOSA, MG, BRAZIL

Markus   Gastauer; Marcos Eduardo   Guerra Sobral; João Augusto   Alves Meira-Neto

PRESERVATION OF PRIMARY FOREST CHARACTERISTICS DESPITE FRAGMENTATION AND ISOLATION IN A FOREST REMNANT FROM VIÇOSA, MG, BRAZIL

Autores

Markus Gastauer

Marcos Eduardo Guerra Sobral

João Augusto Alves Meira-Neto

Editor

Universidade Federal de Viçosa

Descripción

According to its owners, the Forest of Seu Nico (FSN) from the Viçosa municipality, MinasGerais, Brazil, never has been logged and is therefore considered a primary forest. Nevertheless, the forestpatch suffered impacts due to selective wood and non-timber extraction, fragmentation and isolation. Aimof this study was to test if the FSN, despite impacts, preserved characteristics of primary forests, which areelevated percentages of non-pioneer (>90%), animal-dispersed (>80 %), understory (>50%) and endemic species(~40%). For that, all trees with diameter at breast height equal or major than 3.2 cm within a plot of 100x 100 m were identified. With 218 tree species found within this hectare, the FSN’s species richness is outstandingfor the region. The percentages of non-pioneer (92 %), animal-dispersed (85 %), understory (55 %) and endemicspecies (39.2 %) from the FSN fulfill the criteria proposed for primary forest. Therefore, we conclude thatthe FSN maintained its characteristics as a primary forest which highlights its importance for the conservationof biotic resources in the region, where similar fragments are lacking or not described yet.