Comparação de dimensões de parcelas para análise de vegetação em um fragmento de Mata Atlântica, Aracaju, SE

Abstract

Plot dimension comparison for vegetation analysis in an Atlantic Forest fragment, Aracaju, SE. In an Atlantic Forest fragment, located at the Environmental Protection Area of "Morro do Urubu", a vegetation analysis was conducted in order to compare different plot dimensions. The area was divided into 314 plots of 20 x 100 m, and then 15 sampling points were randomly selected, 15 plots of 20 x 50 m (1000 m2) and 15 plots of 10 x 100 m (1000 m2) were installed, from each one of the sampled points. In the plots, we measured the circumference at breast height (CBH - 1.30 m height) and the total height of individuals with CBH > 31cm, using a measuring tape and a telescopic pole, respectively. In addition, we collected botanical material for scientific identification of species. The statistical test used to detect whether there was difference between independent treatments (different plot dimensions) was the Mann-Whitney test. The test showed that the following variables: height (p = 0 838), DAP (p = 0.461), basal area (p = 0.713), number of trees (p = 0.653) and number of species (p = 0.868) were not statistically meaningful among them.