The degradation status of the forests in western Santa Catarina state reflects in a reduced number
of conserved areas that enable studies on forest communities diversity and structure in order to create
strategies for ecosystems preservation, management and restoration. The objective of this study was to
describe the diversity and structure of a forest remnant of Seasonal Submontane Deciduous Forest located
in the municipality of São João do Oeste, Santa Catarina state. For the inventory, we demarcated 102
sampling units of 10 × 10 m, continuously arranged in a grid of 6 × 17 plots, in which all plants of the
arborescent-arboreal sinusiae with perimeter at breast height (PBH) ≥ 15 cm were sampled. We surveyed
1441.18 living trees and 93.14 standing dead plants per ha. The 79 species found belong to 61 genera
and 33 families.
Sorocea bonplandii
,
Nectandra megapotamica
,
Inga marginata
,
Ocotea diospyrifolia
and
Trichilia claussenii
presented the highest importance value indexes. The Shannon diversity index (H’) was
3.21 and the Pielou equability (J’) was 0.735. The vertical structure of the vegetation sampled was divided
into treelets (2-11 m), canopy (12-17 m) and emerging trees (18-25 m). The studied forest fragment is
an important reference ecosystem for the implementation of strategies for preservation, management and
restoration of seasonal forests.
