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ECOSYSTEM
FAUNA (summary)
Ilha do Mel has the following fauna:
Birds: 153 species;
Insects: 19 orders
Reptiles: 20 species
Freshwater fish: 07 species;
Mammals: 24 species.
PLANT COVERAGE (summary)
The vegetation of the island is composed of:
Freshwater marsh;
Dense Sub-montane Ambrófila Forest . Present at the Miguel Hill, and on Whale
Hill.
Secondary vegetation. Present in the areas of human intervention - are the
capoeira, capoeirinha and coppices;
Pioneering vegetation with marine influence formation. They are communities of
plants that receive the direct influence of the ocean. They are on the beaches,
dunes and cliffs.
About
Ilha do Mel, generic reports on the rich flora, fauna and key human aspects were
presented by Figueiredo (1954), bringing important information, despite the
limitations of time when the work was done. Studies on the vegetation of the
island are well underway, with the first results presented by BIDA et al.
(1986), Silva et al. (1989) and BRITEZ et al. (1989).
The vegetation and flora of Ilha do Mel began to be systematically studied from
1985 through its floristic, this work has always been accompanied by extensive
observations and descriptions of the different environments of occurrence of
plant species. The first results of this study were presented in the National
Botanical Congress held annually by the Botanical Society of Brazil (Bida et
al., 1986, Silva et al. 1989; BRITEZ et al., 1989).
More detailed studies of the vegetation of the coastal plain of Ilha do Mel
began in 1988, covering the structure and floristic composition of two types of
forest characteristic of much of the island, basically conditioned by the
characteristics of soil drainage, depth of water table and ground topography.
Part of the results of these studies can be found in Silva (1990) and Silva et
al. (1993).
In 1991 began another study addressing the floristic composition and community
structure of two areas of the coastal plain of Ilha do Mel, and aspects of
mineral cycling, phenology and regeneration of the most important of the
communities studied. This work resulted from a project entitled "Comparison of
the structure and operation of two configurations s plant of the coastal plain
of Ilha do Mel, Paranaguá, PR". The data is still being processed and
interpreted, and preliminary results presented in the conference in 3rd
Symposium on ecosystems of the Brazilian Coast, held in April / 1993 in Serra
Negra, SP. It should be noted that the data in this study was used in a
dissertation, conducted at the Department of Soil Science, Federal University of
Parana (BRITEZ, 1994) and part of an integrated doctoral thesis, in progress,
linked to the Department of Botany, University of Campinas, also including
structural and floristic studies in different vegetation types of the coastal
plain of Ilha do Mel.
These studies have, to some extent, confirmed the heterogeneity of vegetation
types occurring on the coastal plain, commonly referred to as "restinga" (Araujo
& Henriques, 1984; ARAÚJO, 1987; WAECHTER, 1990; ARAÚJO, 1992). However, the
explanations for this diversity, involving the interactions between vegetation
and the abiotic environment, and among the elements of the vegetation, are still
unclear. (continues here)
Ricardo Miranda de Britez
Biologist, Dr., MSc., Graduate in Forestry / SCA / UFPR,
Email: rmbritez@netpar.com.br
Sandro Menezes Silva
Biologist, Dr., Department of Botany / SCB / UFPR,
Email: menezes@garoupa.bio.ufpr.br
Research conducted by and courtesy of Sandro Menezes da Silva and
Ricardo Miranda de Britez
- Botany Department - UFPR (Federal University of Paraná)
All Rights Reserved © 2009 Sandro Menezes da Silva and Ricardo Miranda de Britez
Translated by Charles A. Principe.
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