HOW TO SELECT POTENTIAL SPECIES FOR ECOLOGICAL RESTORATION OF RAIN FOREST - SOUTHERN BRAZIL

Monitoring of natural regeneration can provide information on potential species for use in ecological restoration projects, as well as provide indications of the area resilience after degradation. In order to analyze variations of natural regeneration in two successional stages and to subsidize the indication of species for planting and enrichness, two abandoned pastures were sampled in Serra do Itajai National Park (PNSI), Santa Catarina state, Southern Brazil. In the analysis of the main components, the plots differed according to the change in the quantitative variables of the species (Monte Carlo, P <= 0.05), and two groups were segregated: the first one constituted by the vegetation in the initial stage, and the second one, by intermediate stage vegetation. Twenty-one species were sampled and the intermediate stage showed the greatest richness (n = 19). The pioneer species were predominant in both stages, especially Vernonanthura discolor, Piptocarpha regnellii and Myrsine coriacea. The results demonstrate that the initial stage does not have indicator species, because all species occur frequently in the intermediate stage. However, the intermediate stage was distinguished by the presence of eight indicator species, which are potentially recommended for reforestation and enrichment plantations of Montana Ombrophilous Dense Forest in the PNSI.