XVI International Botanical Congess

Trees between 1 and 5 m height were surveyed within canopy gaps in an area of cloud forest in south-eastern Brazil aiming at: a) describing the composition and structure of the tree community in canopy gaps in comparison with that of three strata of the mature forest, and b) correlating the tree community structure of canopy gaps with the following gap-related variables: mode of formation, age, location, size, canopy openness, and abundance of bamboos and lianas. Cluster analyses indicated that tree community structure of gaps was more similar to that of the mature forest understorey, suggesting that advanced regeneration plays an important role in the filling-up process. A canonical correspondence analysis produced significant and stronger correlations between tree community structure within gaps and a) abundance of bamboos, b) canopy openness, and c) gap location on the soil catena.