Diameter distribution in a Brazilian tropical dry forest domain: predictions for the stand and species

Currently, there is a lack of studies on the correct utilization of continuous distributions for dry tropical forests. Therefore, this work aims to investigate the diameter structure of a brazilian tropical dry forest and to select suitable continuous distributions by means of statistic tools for th...

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Published in:Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências 2017-06, Vol.89 (2), p.1189-1203
Main Authors: Lima, Robson B DE, Bufalino, Lina, Alves, Junior, Francisco T, Silva, José A A DA, Ferreira, Rinaldo L C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anacardiaceae - growth & development
Aspidosperma - growth & development
Bauhinia - growth & development
Biodiversity
Brazil
Caatinga domain
Caesalpinia - growth & development
continuous distribution
diameter structure
forest management
Forests
Geographic Mapping
maximum likelihood
Mimosa - growth & development
MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES
Plant Dispersal - physiology
Reference Values
Statistics, Nonparametric
Trees - classification
Trees - growth & development
Tropical Climate
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Summary:Currently, there is a lack of studies on the correct utilization of continuous distributions for dry tropical forests. Therefore, this work aims to investigate the diameter structure of a brazilian tropical dry forest and to select suitable continuous distributions by means of statistic tools for the stand and the main species. Two subsets were randomly selected from 40 plots. Diameter at base height was obtained. The following functions were tested: log-normal; gamma; Weibull 2P and Burr. The best fits were selected by Akaike's information validation criterion. Overall, the diameter distribution of the dry tropical forest was better described by negative exponential curves and positive skewness. The forest studied showed diameter distributions with decreasing probability for larger trees. This behavior was observed for both the main species and the stand. The generalization of the function fitted for the main species show that the development of individual models is needed. The Burr function showed good flexibility to describe the diameter structure of the stand and the behavior of Mimosa ophthalmocentra and Bauhinia cheilantha species. For Poincianella bracteosa, Aspidosperma pyrifolium and Myracrodum urundeuva better fitting was obtained with the log-normal function.
ISSN:0001-3765
1678-2690
1678-2690
0001-3765
DOI:10.1590/0001-3765201720160331