Avaliação da regeneração natural como processo de recuperação do entorno de nascente perturbada

Abstract

The vegetation is important for the stability of the areas around water springs. Natural regeneration is a method suitable for restoration of the vegetation around the water springs, with a low cost, although time consuming. This study aimed to evaluate the natural regeneration in the restauration process of a disturbed area around a water spring in the city of Lavras, MG. The area is covered by a small fragment of native forest. For the floristic survey of natural regeneration, 44 plots of 5 × 5 m were allocated systematically every 10 m along transects, which were spaced 20 m each other, with 16 plots in the fragment and 28 in the restoring area. The inventory of natural regeneration included all individuals with dbh (diameter at breast height - 1.30 meter) less than or equal to 5 cm and a height over 10 cm. It was sampled a total of 467 plants from 24 families and 57 species in the restoring area. In the fragment of native forest, 1.665 plants were found from 30 families and 68 species. In both environments, Myrtaceae had the largest number of species, while Lauraceae had the highest number of plants. Nectandra nitidula showed the highest natural regeneration index in both environments. There was an increase in the number of individuals and species from the ecological groups light demanding climax and shade tolerant climax and a small decrease in the number of pioneer species, and an increase in the number of individuals, species and family, over the 80 months after the isolation of the area. The floristic similarity between the two environments was only 34.4%. Natural regeneration has great potential for restoration of areas with a history of disturbance similar to the studied area. However, the presence of invasive species, such as grass Urochloa sp. may difficult the restoration process.