The "Serra do Mar" region comprises the largest remnant of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The coast of the Paraná State is part of the core area of the "Serra do Mar" corridor and where actions for biodiversity conservation must be planned. In this study we aimed at characterizing the landscape structure in the APA-Guaraqueçaba, the largest protected area in this region, in order to assist environmental policies of this region. Based on a supervised classification of a mosaic of LANDSAT-5-TM satellite images (from March 2009), we developed a map (1:75,000 scale) with seven classes of land use and land cover and analyzed the relative quantities of forests and modified areas in slopes and lowlands. The APA-Guaraqueçaba is comprised mainly by the Dense Ombrophilous Forest (68.6% of total area) and secondary forests (9.1%), indicating a forested landscape matrix; anthropogenic and bare soil areas (0.8%) and the Pasture/Grasslands class (4.2%) were less representative. Slopes were less fragmented and more preserved (96.3% of Dense Ombrophilous Forest and secondary forest) than lowlands (71.3%), suggesting that restoration initiatives in the lowlands must be stimulated in this region. We concluded that most of the region sustains well-conserved ecosystems, highlighting the importance of Paraná northern coast for the biodiversity maintenance of the Atlantic Forest.

Summary: Wood density is central for estimating vegetation carbon storage and a plant functional trait of great ecological and evolutionary importance. However, the global extent of wood density variation is unclear, especially at the intraspecific level. We assembled the most comprehensive wood density collection to date, including 109 626 records from 16 829 plant species across woody life forms and biomes (GWDD v.2, available here: doi: 10.5281/zenodo.16919509 ). Using the GWDD v.2, we explored the sources of wood density variation within individuals, within species and across environmental gradients. Intraspecific variation accounted for c . 15% of overall wood density variation (SD = 0.068 g cm ⁻³ ). Variance was 50% smaller in sapwood than heartwood, and 30% smaller in branchwood than trunkwood. Individuals in extreme environments (dry, hot and acidic soils) had higher wood density than conspecifics elsewhere (+0.02 g cm ⁻³ , c . 4% of the mean). Intraspecific environmental effects strongly tracked interspecific patterns ( r = 0.83) but were 70–80% smaller and varied considerably among taxa. Individual plant wood density was difficult to predict (root mean square error > 0.08 g cm ⁻³ ; single‐measurement R ² = 0.59). We recommend: (1) systematic sampling of multiple individuals and tissues for local applications; and (2) expanded taxonomic coverage combined with integrative models for robust estimates across ecological scales.

A produção, o conteúdo de N, P, K, Ca e Mg, a transferência de nutrientes e a taxa de decomposição da serapilheira foram estudados em uma Floresta Estacional Semidecidual e em um reflorestamento situado adjacente a esta no Parque Estadual Mata dos Godoy, Estado do Paraná, Brasil. A deposição anual de serapilheira foi estimada em 8.212 kg.ha-1.ano-1 na floresta e 5.341 kg.ha-1.ano-1 no reflorestamento. A floresta apresentou nos dois meses após a seca (setembro e outubro) maior deposição. Nas duas áreas a média anual da concentração de macronutrientes em g.kg-1, obedeceu à mesma ordem na floresta Ca(31,85) > N(19,94) > K(7,14) > Mg(2,28) > P(0,217) e no reflorestamento Ca(23,02) > N(19,62) > K(7,67) > Mg(1,74) > P(0,302). No reflorestamento a transferência de nutrientes variou mais durante o ano e a taxa de decomposição foi menor.