Species composition, diversity, and vegetation structure in a gallery forest-cerrado sensu stricto transition zone in eastern Mato Grosso, Brazil

ABSTRACTWe investigated the existence of an ecotone in the species composition, diversity and vegetation structure in the transition between gallery forest and cerrado sensu strictoin central Brazil. We tested two hypotheses: 1) a ecotone can be found between gallery forest and cerrado; 2) a gradient exists in the species composition of the cerrado. We established three parallel transects of 5 m × 350 m running between gallery forest and cerrado, which were divided into subplots of 5 m × 10 m, perpendicular to the margin of the Bacaba stream in Nova Xavantina (Mato Grosso, Brazil). We identi...