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Rare canopy species in communities within the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil

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Abstract

Rare species are one of the principal components of the species richness and diversity encountered in Dense Ombrophilous Tropical Forests. This study sought to analyze the rare canopy species within the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Six different communities were examined: Dense Ombrophilous alluvial Forest; Dense sub-montane Ombrophilous Forest; Dense Montane Ombrophilous in Serra do Mar and Serra da Mantiqueira. In each area the vegetation was sampled within forty 10 × 25 m plots alternately distributed along a linear transect. All trees with DBH (1.3 m above ground level) ≥5 cm were sampled. The canopy was characterized using the allometric relationship between diameter and height, and included all trees with BDH ≥10 cm and height ≥10 m. A total of 64 families, 206 genera, and 542 species were sampled, of which 297 (54.8%) represented rare species (less than one individual per hectare). The percentage of rare species varied from 34 to 50% in each of the different communities sampled. A majority of these rare trees belonged to the Rosidae, and a smaller proportion to the Dilleniidae. It was concluded that there was no apparent pattern to rarity among families, that rarity was probably derived from a number of processes (such as gap formation), and that a great majority of the rare species sampled were consistently rare. This indicates that the restricted geographic distribution and high degree of endemism of many arboreal taxa justifies the conservation of even small fragments of Atlantic Forest.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro for its support of this work; the The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Petrobras for their financial support of the Programa Mata Atlântica (PMA), of which this research is part; to the taxonomists Graziela M. Barroso (in memoriam), Marli P. Morim, Haroldo C. de Lima, Sebastião José da Silva Neto, and Alexandre Quinet for their help in the collection and identification of the botanical material and Alexandre G. Christo for their help with the data base and graphic work; to Dr. Luiz Antonio da Silva for his help in adjust the soil nomenclature to english; to CNPq for the study grants during PhD course; and Professor Sir GT. Prance, Dr. Fernando Roberto Martins (UNICAMP) and Dr. Wm.Wayt Thomas (NYBG) for comments and suggestion about this article. This work is dedicated to the memory of Guilherme and Dora Guedes, Dra. Graziela Maciel Barroso and, Dr. Herman Lent.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Pacheco Leão 915, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, CEP 22460-030, Brazil

    Rejan Rodrigues Guedes-Bruni

  2. Rua Comissário José Dantas de Melo, Centro Universitário Vila Velha, 21, Boa Vista, Vila Velha, ES, CEP 29102-770, Brazil

    Ary Gomes da Silva

  3. Escola de Artes Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, Avenida Arlindo Betio 1000, Ermelino Matarazzo, Sao Paulo, SP, CEP 03828-000, Brazil

    Waldir Mantovani

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  1. Rejan Rodrigues Guedes-Bruni
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  2. Ary Gomes da Silva
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  3. Waldir Mantovani
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Correspondence to Rejan Rodrigues Guedes-Bruni.

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This paper is part of the PhD thesis of the Rejan Rodrigues Guedes-Bruni, Pós-graduação em Ecologia, IB, Universidade do Estado de São Paulo-USP.

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Guedes-Bruni, R.R., Silva, A.G.d. & Mantovani, W. Rare canopy species in communities within the Atlantic Coastal Forest in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Biodivers Conserv 18, 387–403 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-008-9497-y

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