Tropical Forest Inventories

ECOTROPICA 17: 53–69, 2011: Abstract. This study presents results from the first systematic botanical investigation of the RPPN Feliciano Miguel Abdala (RPPN-FMA, formerly Caratinga Biological Station), a semi-deciduous forest fragment in southeastern Brazil that supports nearly a third of the remaining population of the critically endangered northern muriqui (Brachyteles hypoxanthus). Here we describe the structure, diversity, and floristic composition of this forest. Our goal was to provide the scientific basis for a management plan that will take into consideration the factors involved in the unusually high muriqui carrying capacity in this fragment. Our sample comes from six 500 x 10-m plots, totaling 3 ha. We marked and identified all trees with DBH ≥ 10 cm in all of the plots, and all trees of 5 ≤ DBH <10 cm in half of the plots (1.5 ha). Forest structure was consistent with secondary forest characteristics, inasmuch as large trees were rare, total basal area was small, canopy was discontinuous, average tree height was low, and liana load was heavy. Top-ranking families, based on Importance Value, were Fabaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Annonaceae, Rubiaceae, and Moraceae. Compared with other forests where northern muriquis occur, the RPPN-FMA forest was more floristically diverse (H’ = 4.6) and even ( J = 0.85). In addition, top- ranking species were known muriqui foods. These factors might contribute to the unusually high density of the primate found at this site.

Plant Ecology 160: 149–167, 2002. Abstract: Pico da Neblina National Park, located in north-western Amazonia, Brazil, is characterized by considerable habitat diversity resulting from an orographic zonation of vegetation (from 100 to 3,014 m above sea level) and a mosaic pattern of soil types with lowland primary tropical rainforest being the predominant ecosystem. A tree inventory of the lowland areas of the Park was conducted as part of an ecological study of primates. Two hectares of forest were inventoried within the limits of a 500 hectare study site. There were 1569 trees with diameter at breast height > 10 cm in the sample (minimum of 229 species in 45 families). The tree species Eperua leucantha and Hevea cf. brasiliensis dominated the forest accounting for 29% of the sampled trees. Three forest types were represented: chavascal, terra firme and caatinga. Caatinga was the least diverse forest (H = 0.9), and terra firme the most diverse (H =1.5). Low diversity in caatinga was associated with high species dominance by Eperua leucantha, Micrandra sprucei and Hevea cf. brasiliensis which together accounted for 66% of all sampled trees in one caatinga plot. Compared to Amazonian forests elsewhere, the ranking order of plant families in Pico da Neblina was peculiar in that Leguminosae sensu latu and Euphorbiaceae dominated the sample accounting for 52% of all marked trees. Such families were represented by few tree species, all of which were characterized by dry, large-seeded sclerocarpic fruits. The consequent low availability of fleshy fruits in the forest is suggested as a possible contributing factor to the observed low abundance and diversity of primates in the lowlands of Pico da Neblina.