Floristic, frequency, and vegetation life-form spectra of a cerrado site

We used Raunkiaer's system to classify in life-forms the vascular plants present in 12 random 25 m2 quadrats of a cerrado site. The study area is covered by cerrado sensu stricto and is located in the Valério fragment, at about 22 degrees 13'S and 47 degrees 51'W, 760 m above sea level, in the Itirapina Ecological and Experimental Station, São Paulo State, southeastern Brazil. The floristic spectrum considers the life-form of each species, while in the frequency spectrum, each species is weighted by its frequency. The vegetation spectrum does not consider the species at all, but only the individuals in each life-form class. In the floristic spectrum, the most represented life-forms were the phanerophytes and the hemicryptophytes, as in other cerrado sites. This spectrum differed significantly from Raunkiaer's normal spectrum, mainly due to under-representation of therophytes and over-representation of phanerophytes. The floristic and frequency spectra were similar, but both differed from the vegetation spectrum. We recommend the floristic spectrum when working at larger scales and a description of the phytoclimate is wanted. The vegetation spectrum is preferable when working at smaller scales and wanting a quantitative description of the physiognomy. The frequency spectrum is not recommended at all.