Trails can modify the floristic composition of a given location, since some environmental conditions are visibly different from the unvisited forest area. The central hypothesis was that trails could be related to variations in species composition, leading to the constitution of floristic blocks, each of them formed by plots of a defined interference degree. Thirty 2 × 50 m plots were sampled in the Parque Estadual das Fontes do Ipiranga, city of Sao Paulo, State of Sao Paulo, Brazil, of which, 10 next to a wide and intensively visited trail, 10 next to a narrow and rarely visited trail, and 10 next to a relatively preserved area. All trees and palms (DBH > 2.5 cm) were sampled. Cluster (by UPGMA), ordination (by CA and DCA) and TWINSPAN analyses indicated floristic distinction between the three sectors. As the floristic composition varied by level of use and width of the trails, it is possible that these trails are influencing the establishment of species in the studied area.
Atlantic forest; conservation; multivariate analysis
