Abstract

ESKUCHE, Ulrich. Podocarpus–Araucaria forest and «campos « near Bom Jardim da Serra, Santa Catarina (Southern Brasil). Bol. Soc. Argent. Bot. [online]. 2007, vol.42, n.3-4, pp.295-308. ISSN 1851-2372.

The grassland of the «campos» and Araucaria forests cover the «planalto», or highlands,of Santa Catarina (Brazil-S). Picking up the discussion on whether the campos replaced the Araucaria forest or the latter originated from the campos , a fitosociological study on an Araucaria forest and on three communities of the campos is presented with special reference to the processes of forest destruction and regeneration. The forest is described as Podocarpo lambertii-Araucarietum angustifoliae. Its canopy consists of Araucaria only; many myrtaceae form, together with the tree fern Dicksonia sellowiana, a rather dense understory of lower trees and shrubs. Numerous species of epiphytes are also common in the rain forest of southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay and NE-Argentina (Misiones); on the other hand, the Podocarpo-Araucarietum is rather poor in climbers. Of the grassland of the «campos», the Plantagini-Andropogonetum macrothrici is described as a meadow with a mean species number of 42, thereof 15 graminiforms and 12 composites nearly all of them geophytes, some herbs with their leaves in rosettes, – possibly a consequence of a long time of cattle grazing and burning. The area of many species ranges from southern Brazil to the NE, N, and Center of Argentina. At sites protected against the fire grows the Baccharido-Heterothalametum alieni shrub, which also invades the burnt and grazed forest. The regeneration of Araucaria angustifolia in the undisturbed forest, and the ocurrence of seedlings as well as treelets in the Baccharido-Heterothalametum, lead to the conclusion that the Araucaria forest is to be considered the actual potential natural vegetation on the planalto of Santa Catarina, and the Podocarpo-Araucarietum that of the studied area.

Keywords : Phytosociology; South Brazil; Araucaria forest; Campos grassland; Forest destruction and regeneration; Actual potential natural vegetation.

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