A comparative analysis between forest ecosystems in the Atlantic Forest biome, Southern Brazil

Abstract For the monitoring and assessment of forest ecosystems of the Atlantic Forest biome, the Brazilian guidelines define a set of indicators to classification of successional stages in regenerating. However, such guidelines do not consider possible differences between forest ecosystems in this biome. This study presents a comparative analysis to verify the hypothesis of differences between forest ecosystems in the Atlantic Forest biome when compared at equivalent successional stage. The analysis employed a database of the Floristic Forest Inventory of Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil, with 460 sample units, evaluated based on 5 key indicators variables of successional stages. Kruskal-Wallis test followed by the Dunn's procedure were applied to compare the forest ecosystems with basis on the key indicators. The entire analysis considered two-way tests with 5% significance (α), 95% of power (1-β), and a minimum detectable effect size (ρ) of 20%. The statistical tests confirmed the research hypothesis. At least in one of the multiple paired comparisons in later forest successional stages, the indicator variables showed significant differences. Considering that the stage of forest succession comprises the primary criterion for analyzing vegetation suppression requests, the presented results should support and motivate the review of current guidelines. As a perspective for future studies, artificial intelligence methods should be evaluated as a support tool for classifying the forest regeneration stage.