Wood anatomical traits of the Araucaria Forest, Southern Brazil

Abstract

The goal of the present study was to find a pattern regarding wood anatomical features for the Araucaria Forest. For that, we studied the wood anatomy of 17 tree species characteristics of this forest formation of Southern Brazil. The species were selected based on the amplified importance value. Wood samples of three individuals per species were collected and prepared according to standard wood anatomical techniques. Most of the species can be grouped according to the presence of the following features: visible growth rings, diffuse porosity, absence of any typical vessel arrangement, simple perforation plate, simple to diminute bordered pits in fibers, little axial parenchyma, heterogeneous rays. The Grouping Analysis of qualitative and quantitative characters groups the species together, but two are distinct from the others: Cinnamodendron dinisii and Roupala montana. Principal Component Analysis explained 69 % of the total variance, influenced by rays height and width, vessel element and fiber length, separating Cinnamodendron dinisii and Roupala montana from the others. Results corroborated ecological wood anatomical patterns observed for other species in other tropical and subtropical vegetation formations occurring in higher altitudes and latitudes, where the species can be characterized by the presence of visible growth rings, predominantly solitary vessels, simple perforation plates and little axial parenchyma.