Densidade da madeira de espécies da Mata Atlântica do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Abstract

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most important Brazilian biomes, comprising a record diversity of flora species in a small area. However, knowledge about different aspects of its biodiversity and morphological and functional attributes is scarce, and studies on wood density help to understand the dynamics of populations in phytosociological gradients in the face of climate change scenarios. The objective was to evaluate the variability of wood density between species and populations in the three main phytophysiognomies of the Atlantic Forest in the state of Rio de Janeiro. 576 tree species of 84 species were sampled at 31 points distributed in the three main phytophysiognomies of the Atlantic Forest biome in the state of Rio de Janeiro: Dense Ombrophylous Forest (FOD), Semideciduous Seasonal Forest (FES) and Restinga (RES). The sampling of the wood was performed by the non-destructive method (Pressler's probe), with removal of the samples in the regions of the diameter at the height of the chest (DBH) and in the middle of the axis (MF) and in 20% of the individuals' discs were removed from the branches with a diameter greater than 5 cm. The basic density of the wood was determined according to the current technical standard. The density of the wood was related to environmental variables, so that forests subject to higher temperatures and less precipitation, the FES and RES, influence the functional characteristics of the species and cause the formation of denser wood. The wood density was not altered in the species characteristic of arid and pioneer places, regardless of the phytophysiognomy. It was found that it is possible to estimate the density of the stem wood through the tree branches.