Seed bank analysis and species similarity in the Guarnição da Aeronáutica de Pirassununga (São Paulo State, Brazil)

Abstract

Riparian forests suffered from forest fragmentation, which in turn promote the change in the pattern of seed dispersion and modification of soil seed bank.  The aim of this study is to indicate the main species that make up the seed bank of a stretch of riparian forest of the Mogi Guaçu River continued to a fragment of semidecidual forest, located in the Guarnição da Aeronáutica de Pirassununga. It was delimited ten plots of 10 x 10 m. Four soil samples was collected by plot with a 25 x 25 cm template. Samples were packed in greenhouse for seed germination and monitored every 15 days for six months. Altogether, 494 individuals from 19 families were sampled, distributed in 30 genera and 40 morphospecies. Diversity and distribution of species in the fragment is homogeneous and can be used as source of propagules for forest restoration.