**3.2.2 Montane formation**

According to IBGE (1992), the altitudinal range of the Montane Araucaria Rainforest occurrence is between 400 and 1000 m a.s.l.. However, some authors, such as Leite & Klein (1990) and Roderjan et al. (2002), rightly argue that typical communities occur at altitudes higher than 800 m a.s.l. Below this altitudinal belt there is the beginning of the transition between the Montane Araucaria Rainforest and the Dense Atlantic Rainforest (on the east) or the Semideciduous Seasonal Forest (on the west).

The typical physiognomy is marked by the dominance of *Araucaria angustifolia*, standing out over a continuous canopy that reaches on average 25-30 m height. The continuous strata is characterized by *Ocotea porosa*, *Nectandra lanceolata, Matayba elaeagnoides, Casearia decandra*, *Podocarpus lambertii, Cinnamodendron dinisii, Sloanea lasiocoma, Campomanesia xanthocarpa, Cedrela fissilis, Nectandra grandiflora, Jacaranda puberula, Drimys brasiliensis, Ilex paraguariensis*  and *Lithraea brasiliensis*. Species of Myrtaceae and Monimiaceae prevail in the dominated strata. Ferns, especially *Dicksonia sellowiana,* are also common (Leite & Klein, 1990; Durigan, 1999; Roderjan et al., 2002; Rondon Neto et al., 2002; Cordeiro & Rodrigues, 2007).
