ABSTRACT
With the objective of evaluating soil seed bank and understanding aspects of the sucessional dynamics of a Seasonal Deciduous Forest, 60 samples of 1 m2 were collected at the end of each season, in three sucessional phases (understory, secondary forest and mature forest). In each sample point it was collected the litter and the first 3 cm of soil. In laboratory at UFSM the material was placed to germinate, separately, in stonemasons of wood of 1 m2, that contained 5 cm of horizon B soil as substratum. The stonemasons were covered with sombrite of 50% for understory, 70% for the secondary forest and 80% for the mature forest. There were made qualitative and quantitative evaluations, by species and sample unit, 20 days after placing in nursery and afterward every 30 days. The frequency and relative density, the Index of Value of Importance for the seed bank and the Index of Diversity of Shannon were calculated. There were 216 individuals, most of them in the mature forest, which also presented the largest floristic richness. In the three subseres, there was predominance of secondary initial species. The spring season presented the largest abundance of species; however, in summer happened the largest density of individuals per area.
Key words:
soil seed bank; arboreal trees; sucessional phases; Seasonal Deciduous Forest