Floristic, structure and ecological groups of a tree community in the Atlantic Rainforest at Serra do Mar, SP, Brazil

The present study evaluated the floristic and structural composition of a tree community in a Lowland Atlantic Rainforest along a forest continuum in Brazilian southeast, assessing the species distribution among ecological groups. For this purpose, we sampled all trees with PBH >= 15 cm, including palm trees and tree ferns, in a total area of one hectare, divided into subplots of 10x10 m. The studied community was also analyzed through the Shannon diversity index and Pielou equability, and its species distribution among dispersal syndromes and successional classes. We recorded 1,120 living individuals distributed in 131 species of 40 families. The richest families were Myrtaceae (32 species), Fabaceae (12) and Rubiaceae (11), and Euterpe edulis was the most abundant species (11.1% of the total). In the study area, there were found four species on the Livro Vermelho da Flora do Brasil and recorded a dominance of zoochoric species (86.7% of species classified) and non-pioneers (71.6%). The general results of the community structure and species composition were similar with other surveys carried out in the same region of this study. Finally, our results corroborate the great diversity of trees and a dominance of zoochoric and non-pioneer species in the Atlantic Rainforest continuous.