The Fate of Astronium urundeuva Monodominance in Reference Ecosystems Within Riparian Forests of the Rio Doce

Abstract

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest has suffered from historical degradation and this work assessed the vegetation structure and soil quality by examining 45 plots divided in three sites in reference ecosystems from Conselheiro Pena-MG, Brazil. We recorded 28 species from 14 families in the tree stratum and 26 species from 13 families in the sapling stratum. We found a clear edaphic-floristic gradient suggesting a strong association between some particular taxa to contrasting edaphic conditions. The tree Astronium urundeuva behaved as a monodominant species, with the highest importance value (IV) in both strata (62.0% in tree, and 31.5% in the sapling strata). In the tree stratum, this species was present in 97.8% of the plots (44 out of 45). This scenario is worrying because this species occurs in a monodominant form in the middle section of the Rio Doce watershed behaving as an invasive species, preventing the colonization of other native species.