ADVANCING OPEN OMBROPHILOUS FOREST KNOWLEDGE IN THE SOUTHWEST BRAZILIAN AMAZON: STRUCTURE, FUNCTIONAL TRAITS, VEGETATION TYPES, AND THREAT ASSESSMENT IN A PROTECTED AREA

Structure and ecology of open ombrophilous forest in Southwest Amazon

Abstract

Biodiversity inventories present excellent opportunities for ecological investigations and the classification of different threats to the community, nonetheless these applications are not frequently employed. Our main objective was to analyse the structure of the tree and palm community in a one-hectare plot within a protected area in the deforestation arc. Additionally, we performed a comprehensive ecological characterization—encompassing functional traits, vegetation typology, and conservation threats—based on a review of the available literature and existing databases. We established a rectangular plot (10x1000m) to assess the community structure. Information on seed and fruit size attributes was obtained from the literature, along with data on the projected threat category. Overall, two taxa (Rubiaceae sp. and Rhizophoraceae sp.) were characterized only at the family level, 106 at the genus level (morpho-species), and 124 at the binomial name. We found information about seed size for 55 genera. Medium-sized seeds were the most frequent, occurring in 22 genera, followed by large seeds (16), small seeds (6), and very small seeds (5). For the projected threat status for 2050, we found that 28 species were classified as vulnerable and 16 species as endangered. In our plot, we found a few species with many individuals. Our research, though small in scale, provides a significant contribution to the region's biodiversity knowledge. Such studies are urgently needed, given the continuing loss of native vegetation due to development pressures. We conclude that it is important to improve regional floristic knowledge to address existing shortfalls in understanding species distributions and ecological interactions, such as dispersal characteristics and threat status.