Functional groups and its ecological importance in the wood vagetation in an urban remanescent forest, Uberlândia, MG

Abstract

The objective of this study is the analysis of functional groups in a semideciduous seasonal forest fragment on the city of Uberlândia MG and which the importance of these groups throughout the year. It was used one hectare with samples of all trees with CAP ≥ 15 cm. The characteristics used for the formation of the functional groups were: 1) dispersion syndrome, 2) pollination syndrome and 3) tolerance at desiccation (seeds). It was elaborated a presence/ausence matrix by which the Jaccard´s coefficient of similarity between the species was carried through. From these coefficients, was constructed a dendrogram using average it of group (UPGMA). Seven functional groups had been found: four ornitochorous, two mastochorous representatives and only one anemochorous group. The biggest diversification of pollinators was visualized in the zoochorous groups, demonstrating the importance of the fauna for the functional diversification of the flora. The anemochorous group presented as pollininator only the bees and was typically orthodox, whose seeds being able to form a bank of seeds. Recalcitrant seeds had been found in two groups groups, had to these seeds to be proceeding from berry fruits. This work demonstrates the importance and the potential of resources of this urban forest and its capacity to support the fauna local.