ANÁLISE DA COBERTURA DE DUAS FITOFISIONOMIAS DE CAATINGA, COM DIFERENTES HISTÓRICOS DE USO, NO MUNICÍPIO DE SÃO JOÃO DO CARIRI, ESTADO DA PARAÍBA

the study was carried out in two environments of caatinga, located in the experiment station of UFPB, in the county of Sao Joao do Cariri, PB (7o24"S; 36o32"W). It was installed 12 plots of 10x20m, distributed at random on each areas characterized as:. Area I - Bush-tree caatinga in good state of conservation, and Area II - Bush caatinga in advanced state of degradation. On each plot it was sampled all the individuals with BHS (Basis Height Circumference) 10cm. In Area I it was sampled 563 individuals, belonging eight families and 15 species, while in the Area II it was sampled only 356 individuals, four families and six species. The families Euphorbiaceae, Caesalpinaceae and Apocynaceae were highlighted in number of individuals. The species with the biggest IVI, in decreasing order, in Area I were Croton sonderianus Mull. Arg., Caesalpinia pyramidalis Tul., Aspidosperma pyrifolium Mart. and Jatropha mollissima Mull. Arg.; and in Area II, following the same order: Jatropha mollissima, Caesalpinia pyramidalis, Aspidosperma pyrifolium and Croton sonderianus. The largest difference between the area could be realized by the density which was reduced from 2.359 ind.ha -1 in area I to 1.470 ind.ha -1 in area II. Such results show the poverty on the soil vegetation cover and the fragility of degraded caatinga, making urgent the adaptation of special care to on intervention on these areas.