Valuation and characterization of the timber species in remnants of the Alto Uruguay River ecosystem, southern Brazil

Turvo Park in the Alto Uruguay River region of the State of Rio Grande do Sul is the last intact remnant of the Seasonally Deciduous Forest in southern Brazil. This forest once covered large parts of southern Brazil but it is now reduced to less than 3% of its original size due to intensive logging caused by its exceptional richness in tree species with commercial timber value. The current study presents results on the diversity of timber species inventored in Turvo Park and in a number of small and scattered forest remnants in its vicinity. All timber plants with DBH >= 5 cm were included in the forest inventory on 540 sampling points, established using the point-centred quarter method. On average, 313 plants ha(-1) were recorded, belonging to 57 different species from 25 families. Timber species of commercial value represented 64% of all woody species and 36% of all woody plants. Nectandra megapotamica and Apuleia leiocarpa were the main dominant species. Twenty percent of all plants showed a DBH greater than 40 cm, representing 67% of the total log volume. Differences in species diversity and plant density among the forest remnants were detected. The few forest remnants represent an enormous richness of timber species, being the maintainers and propagule repository for all the biodiversity of that ecosystem. A knowledge-based forest management plan is therefore required to secure their vital role in forest enrichment programs or in projects aiming at recovering abandoned and degraded areas, and in breeding programs for the timber production improvement, (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.