Initial stage of natural regeneration of tree species in a disturbed area in Amazonas State, Brazil

Abstract

The better understanding of floristic composition and structure of natural regeneration in differents types of disturbances is essential to identify the degree of recovery of the area and silvicultural interventions to be eventually adopted in order to accelerate the process of forest sucession. The present study aimed to characterize the natural regeneration of 0.4 ha in the natural recovery process in the Experimental Farm of the Federal University of Amazonas aiming to identify the potential of natural regeneration tendency for recovering the area. Tree saplings with height bigger than 10 cm were sampled in five plots of 15 m x 9 m. We registered 148 seedlings and saplings from eight botanical families, nine genera and thirteen tree species. After 14 months without interference, the area was dominated by species of the genus Vismia, which had the highest values of the most structural parameters (density, dominance, frequency, importance and coverage values). The studied site presents natural regeneration with low floristic diversity, dominated by individuals of pioneer species, which may be associated with the previews use as agriculture land, the short period since the last interference and the strong competition with grasses species.