SPATIAL PATTER OF FOUR FOREST COMMUNITIES BY RIPLEY'S K FUNCTION IN SÃO PAULO STATE

• Autor(a) principal: Capretz, Robson Louiz
• Data de Publicação: 2012
• Outros Autores: Batista, João Luís Ferreira, Sotomayor, Jaime Felipe Medina, Cunha, Camila Rossetti da, Nicoletti, Marcos Felipe, Rodrigues, Ricardo Ribeiro
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Ciência Florestal (Online)
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.ufsm.br/cienciaflorestal/article/view/6622
• topic: forestry ecology; population structure; spatial analysis; tropical forests; ecologia florestal; estrutura populacional; análise espacial; floresta tropical

http://dx.doi.org/10.5902/198050986622Investigating tree’s spatial patterns according to their size classes and according to their more abundant species can provide evidences about the structure of the vegetal community, since the spatial pattern is a key question for forestry ecology studies. The tree spatial organization patterns on the environment depend on several ecological processes and on the specific characteristics of each environment, so that the best understanding of this frame provides important elements for the knowledge on forestry formation. This study aimed to study tree spatial patterns, according to the diameter classes and from four most abundant species in different forests, in order to provide evidences regarding to the ecology of each vegetal community. The spatial pattern description in each forestry formation was developed by using Ripley’s K function. The studied forestry formations were: Ombrophilous Forest, Cerradao, Seasonal Forest and Forest of Restinga. In this work, a 10.24 ha plot was installed in each forestry formation, and in every tree, with a circumference at breast height (CBH) larger than 15 cm were measured, georeferenced and identified. The obtained data highlights the aggregated character in tropical forests, as observed in every studied forest. The ‘Cerradão’ and ‘Restinga’ forest trees showed close aggregate patterns.  In the Ombrophilous forest, for all distance scales, the aggregate pattern was meaningful. In the seasonal forest, a random tendency was observed, although a meaningful aggregation was observed in all  short distances. The spatial pattern by diameter classes was generally aggregated for trees smaller than 10 cm of diameter and between 10 and 20 com and random for the others, proving the existence of a tendency which in young trees is more aggregated than in old ones. The spatial pattern of the dominant species is always strongly similar to the general pattern of each forestry formation. The differences between the spatial patterns of two or three coincident species, among the forestry formations, indicate that its pattern is influenced by each different environment. This stands out the importance of its self-ecology and of its ecological processes, intrinsic of each community that can explain the observed patterns.