Abstract

The structure of the woody component of in restinga (tropical coastal vegetation) of Brazil was surveyed in order to describe and examine the relationship between community structure, water table, and soil nutrients. The survey was undertaken between January and March 2005 in an area with a forest physiognomy, employing the point-center quarter method with 100 sampling points. Soil samples were collected for chemical and physical analysis. A total of 51 species, 36 genera, and 31 families were sampled. The H’ was 3.508 nit.ind^-1 and the species with the highest VI were Manilkara salzmannii (22.63), Myrcia bergiana (20.55), Chamaecrista ensiformis (19.82),Sacoglottis mattogrossensis (17.68), and Coccoloba laevis (15.18). The distribution of species was associated with certain soil nutrients (calcium, acidity, organic matter and cation exchange capacity). The species richness in Maracaípe Reserve was high in comparison to other coastal areas in the Brazilian northeast, indicates the need for conservation of this area. We may conclude that the present study indicated that soil nutrients were of greater importance for explaining the observed variations in the physiognomy and species distribution in the restinga area.

Key words: Pernambuco, physiognomies, resting, species distribution.