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Abiotic factors determining the distribution of different types of forests (swamp forest, semi-deciduous riverine forest and forested savanna) in the cities of Batatais and Restinga, northeast of São Paulo State, in Brazil.

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Author(s):
Vânia Korman
Total Authors: 1
Document type: Doctoral Thesis
Press: Piracicaba.
Institution: Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC)
Defense date:
Examining board members:
Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues; Miguel Cooper; Sergius Gandolfi; Natalia Macedo Ivanauskas; Maria José Brito Zakia
Advisor: Ricardo Ribeiro Rodrigues
Abstract

In order to understand what abiotic factors determine the occurrence of different forest formations in the region of Batatais, coordinated between 20038\'S and 20058\'S and 47037\'W and 47028\'W, three agricultural properties were chosen (Monte Belo, in the city of Restinga, SP and Magnolia and Pratinha in Batatais, SP, Brazil), which had forests representative of the region (swamp forest, semi-deciduous riverine forest and forested savanna). To describe the floristic composition and structure of the arboreal community, 05 plots of 10 x 10 meters around each tensiometric station were sampled. For the study of abiotic factors, the physico-chemical characteristics of the soils, the soil-water-retention curves and the groundwater fluctuation were determined. The discrimination of the environmental variables and arboreal species were made through the Principal Components Analysis (PCA), and in the correlation between the abundance of species and abiotic factors, direct analyses of gradient through Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) were made. The texture of the soil (levels of clay, silt and sand) and the position on the ground (altitude) were the most important environmental variables in the distribution of species and variations of forest physiognomies, with influence in the retention rates of water and soil fertility. These differences in levels of clay in depth along the slope, with direct influence on the retention of soil moisture and even in the development of swampy environment, determined distinct groups of species and forest physiognomies: (i) a group of species of typical occurrence in physiognomies of Forested Savanna and strongly associated with higher altitude (less fertile, well-drained soil and lower percentages of clay and silt in the deeper layers), including: Matayba juglandifolia, Trichilia pallida, Lithraea molleoides, Anadenanthera falcata, Myrcia tomentosa, Copaifera langsdorffii, Erytrhoxylum pelleteranum, Platipodium elegans, Chrysophyllum marginatum, Luehea divaricata, among others, and (ii) a group with indicator species of Swamp Forests or common occurrence in these physiognomies, associated with lower altitude (Gleisoil), with high percentages of clay and silt in the upper and more fertile layers, and greater water retention: Cecropia pachystachya, Citronella gongonha, Rapanea guianensis, Talauma ovata and Tapirira guianensis. A third group of transition between Semi-deciduous Forest and Forested Savanna, in intermediate altitude and soils less humid (species sampled in plots located at the edges of Swamp Forests), occurred both in the Forested Savanna and in Semi-deciduous Forest and a few in swampy environment. The highest percentages of sand in the soil of Pratinha, with less influence on water retention and also on the rates of fertility (alic soils, with greater acidity and less fertile), may explain some differences in the composition and abundance of species of forest physiognomies equal. The forested Savanna of Monte Belo, has proved floristically different from the Forested Savanna of Pratinha. This same difference occurred in swamp forests of Magnolia and Pratinha. The few species of common occurrence had differentpopulations. The CCA also revealed correlations of some species with certain variables of soil. (AU)