The vegetation of the Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park (PETAR), São Paulo, Brazil

Authors

  • Natália Macedo Ivanauskas Instituto Florestal, Seção de Ecologia Florestal
  • Roseli Lika Miashike Instituto Florestal, Seção de Ecologia Florestal
  • João Ruffin Leme de Godoy Faculdade de Engenharia
  • Flaviana Maluf de Souza Instituto Florestal, Seção de Ecologia Florestal
  • Marina Mitsue Kanashiro Instituto Florestal, Seção de Introdução
  • Isabel Fernandes de Aguiar Mattos Instituto Florestal, Seção de Introdução
  • Maria Teresa Zugliani Toniato Instituto Florestal, Estação Experimental de Bauru
  • Geraldo Antônio Daher Corrêa Franco Instituto Florestal, Seção de Ecologia Florestal

Keywords:

flora, Ombrophilous Dense Forest, Atlantic Forest, Paranapiacaba Range, karst

Abstract

The Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park (PETAR) is part of the ecological continuum of the Paranapiacaba Range, one of the most preserved sites of the Atlantic Forest in São Paulo State. However, studies exploring its floristic structure and compostition are rare. The objective of this study was to map the vegetation and characterize the flora of the different vegetation types of PETAR to contribute to its management plan. Aerial photographs were used to produce a general and a detailed map of the park. Data collected through field surveys were combined with secondary data to characterize PETAR's flora. It was found that the Ombrophilous Dense Forest is the predominant vegetation type in PETAR (65%), which mostly occurs at elevations that correspond to the Montane (78.2%) and Lower Montane (19.4%) types. There are also areas of High Montane (0.1%) and Alluvial vegetation (1.7%). The Ombrophilous Open Forest with bamboos, where large patches of bamboos have replaced the tall closed forest, occurs in approximately 13%. Sites of secondary vegetation, which have been regenerating after past clearcuts comprise about 17%. The detailed map showed 12 different vegetation types, which were characterized according to vegetation height and density of cover. The most perserved sites, characterized by tall trees and a closed canopy structure, comprised about 37% of the park's vegetated area. Primary and secondary data were pooled and resulted in a list of 680 native plant species, with the field surveys adding 162 new records for the park. It was found that 40 species belong to some category of threat according to the official red lists of São Paulo State, Brazil, and of the world. Forty-four exotic species were identified, of which 14 were classified as invasive.

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Published

2012-03-01

How to Cite

Ivanauskas, N. M., Miashike, R. L., Godoy, J. R. L. de, Souza, F. M. de, Kanashiro, M. M., Mattos, I. F. de A., Toniato, M. T. Z., & Franco, G. A. D. C. (2012). The vegetation of the Alto Ribeira Touristic State Park (PETAR), São Paulo, Brazil. Biota Neotropica, 12(1). Retrieved from //www.biotaneotropica.org.br/BN/article/view/914

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