EFEITO DO TAMANHO DA UNIDADE DE AMOSTRA NA REPRESENTATIVIDADE FLORÍSTICA E FITOSSOCIOLÓGICA DE UM PARQUE ECOLÓGICO EM CHAPADÃO DO SUL/MS

Abstract

The study of the floristics and phytosociology of a location allows documenting its plant diversity and provides information on the structure of the community, which provides support for decision-making on the best management of forest resources. However, there is little information regarding the representativeness of a floristic and phytosociological survey with different sizes of sampling units. Therefore, the present work aimed to evaluate the efficiency of different sizes of sampling units, in the floristic and phytosociological survey of an Ecological Park, located in Chapadão do Sul – MS. An inventory was carried out through a census of tree and shrub individuals in the area and also through random sampling with four sample unit sizes (10 x 10 m, 10 x 20 m, 20 x 20 m, 20 x 30 m). Circumference measurements at chest height were taken from the individuals and the species was identified. The phytosociological parameters of relative density, frequency and dominance were calculated, which together make up the Importance Value. The phytosiciological parameters of the populations were compared between the different plot sizes in relation to parameters obtained in the census. As the area of the sampling unit increased, the representativeness of the floristics and vegetation structure of the study area increased. The larger sampling unit (20 x 30 m) demonstrated greater species richness and greater representation of the phytosociology of the area, being similar to the census