Floristic and Phytosociological in an Area of Cerrado in Maranhão

Abstract

Cerrado is one of the world's 25 areas considered critical for conservation, due to biological wealth and anthropic high pressure which is being submitted. His physiognomy is characterized by the presence of low trees, skewed, tortuous, with irregular ramifications, and generally with evidence of burning. The southwest region of Maranhão is a typical example of the model quoted before. The search occurred in the municipality of Edison Lobão located in southwestern region of Maranhão, 630 km away from Sao Luis. The vegetation type is savanna, is a sandy tropical oxisol region. However, despite the widespread poverty in soil chemistry, it can be used intensively for agriculture. This research aimed to achieve the lifting of the floristic composition and phytosociological in the strict sense of the savanna in the city of Edison Lobao, to compare this flora with other areas of cerrado. The works were executed along two basic lines of research: a floristic survey with all information regarding the flora and vegetation and its comparison with other regions of the country, and phytosociological selecting, through a predetermined inclusion criteria, a physiognomy of the vegetation to be shown. With the number of sampling points (93) was significant only in relation to 44 species founded, the proportion of the species that did not occur in points was only 6.45%, it can be affirmed that sampling was representative enough about the tree community in the city of Edison Lobao, southwest Maranhão. After the floristic and phytosociological study compared with other regions of the country, led to consider it as Amazonian savana, confirming the hypothesis that the Southwest Maranhão Cerrado has some unique factors that differentiate from the other ones.