Arnildo Pott

Features and conservation of the Brazilian Pantanal wetland.

The Pantanal is a 140,000 km2 sedimentary floodplain in western Brazil and one of the largest wetlands in the world. The main landscapes and phytophysiognomies, according to flood origin, are briefly described and some of the characteristic plant species are mentioned: (a) river flood (1–5 m) on clayey eutrophic soils with gallery forests, pioneer forests and scrub, Tabebuia and Copernicia parks, seasonal swamps, grasslands and oxbow lakes; and (b) rain flood (10–80 cm) mainly on dystrophic sandy soils (72% of the total area) with savanna (“cerrado”) grasslands and woodlands, with or without ponds. Regulating factors of the vegetation such as wet-and-dry cycle and management are considered. Dynamics of the vegetation, in particular the aquatic types, are shortly depicted. The role of grazing for conservation is discussed, and we suggest that 200 years of cattle ranching apparently did not cause major changes in the vegetation, except turning tall grass into short swards, as the domestic herd found a nearly empty niche. However, severe threats to the flora and fauna of the Pantanal originate outside the floodplain. Siltation of the Taquari river is pointed out as the worst environmental problem, changing the hydrology (wet-and-dry to wet), fauna and flora, e.g. eliminating riparian forest.

Medicinal plants used by the Kaiowá and Guarani indigenous populations in the Caarapó Reserve, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil

This ethnobotanical survey carried out with the Kaiowa and Guarani populations in the Caarapo Reserve (Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil) showed that 34 plant species of 22 families with medicinal properties, are used for treating diverse pathologies. Local names in Portuguese and Guarani are provided, along with therapeutic indications, modes of preparation, and a description of the plant parts used. These folk-medicine plants have been mostly used for the treatment of influenza, abdominal pain, fever and rheumatism, and for wound healing.

Checklist das macrófitas aquáticas do Pantanal, Brasil

The Pantanal, being a wetland, is a favorable environment for the development of many aquatic plants. This list of aquatic macrophytes of the Pantanal was made based on field collections, deposited at Herbarium CPAP (EMBRAPA), COR (Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul), CH (Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso) and K (Kew), to support regional floristic surveys. Until present, 242 species were listed, distributed within 106 genera and 54 families. The most numerous families were Poaceae (22 species) Cyperaceae(17), Leguminosae and Scrophulariaceae(14), Alismataceae and Onagraceae(13), Pontederiaceae (11), Lentibulariaceae(10), Characeae(9), Lemnaceae, Malvaceae andNymphaeaceae(8). The majority of other families has one or two species each. The life form spectrum includes 39% emergent plants, 28% amphibious, 11,5% rooted floating, 8% free floating, 8% rooted submerged, 3,8% free submerged and 1,7% epiphytes. The most important genera in number of species are Nymphaea, Utricularia, Echinodorus, Ludwigia, Polygonum, Aeschynomene, Cyperus, Eleocharis and Bacopa.

Sobrevivência e crescimento inicial em campo de espécies florestais nativas do Brasil Central indicadas para sistemas silvipastoris

This work aimed to evaluate the rate of survival and the initial development of eleven native tree species established in existing pastures of Brachiaria brizantha at the Beef Cattle Center (Campo Grande, MS). The soil is a dystrophic clay Dark- Red Latosoil. The seedlings were planted in 16 rows, with 10 m between rows and 4 m between plants in a row. It was used a completely randomized design with four replicates. Each row contained at least one seedling of all the trees evaluated. A repeat was composed of four rows. The Tukey test (P=0,05) showed significant differences between the survival means, indicating that the seedling container and ecological succession groups (pioneer, early secondary, late secondary and climax) affected the results. The highest survival rates were found for the ipe (Tabebuia impetiginosa), caroba (Jacaranda cuspidifolia) and aroeira (Myracrodruon urundeuva). The highest rates of relative growth (P=0,05) in 12 months were observed for chico-magro (Guazuma ulmifolia), caroba (J. cuspidifolia) and canafistula (Peltophorum dubium). The growth rates of the pioneer species were higher (P=0,05) than the more advanced ecological groups in the successional scale (late secondary and climax). The differences increased over the time and during rainy season (P=0,05). The results indicated the use of three species to be established in the existing pasture of the Cerrado (savannahs), considering the increments in height, stem diameter and survival rate: chico-magro (G. ulmifolia), caroba (J. decurrens) and canafistula (Peltophorum dubium). The three species belong to the initial successional group.

Plantas medicinais comercializadas no Mercado Municipal de Campo Grande-MS

The aim of this paper was the survey of the medicinal plants most used from Campo Grande population and commercialized in the Mercado Municipal of Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. The survey was performed in 2002 and 2003 by interviewing and revealed 117 species. Thirty four species were acquired, and of those 22 were identified. Of those ten are only typical of the Cerrado, like as: Curatella americana, Guazuma ulmifolia, Maclura tinctoria, Stryphnodendron obovatum etc. The most mentioned families were Asteraceae, Moraceae, Sterculiaceae and Leguminosae. The most used part of the plant is the leaf, mainly prepared as infusion. These folk-medicine plants have been mostly used for wound healing and the treatment of rheumatism. The species are used for treating diverse pathologies. Data obtained showed that most of the species (65.2%) did not have any pharmacological study to confirm the popular indication. Only eight species (34.8%) had some activity confirmed in the literature.

Composição Botânica da Dieta de Bovinos em Pastagem Nativa na Sub-Região da Nhecolândia, Pantanal

This study aimed to identify the botanical composition of the diet of cattle extensively raised on native grasslands in the Pantanal wetland through the fecal microhystological technique, on a characteristic area of the subregion of Nhecolândia, from October/97 to September/99, and to verify the variation as affected by month, season, year and physiological condition of cows. A set of 726 microhystological slides was prepared, each slide being an observational unit. Based on distribution of maximum occurrence values of each species/slide and in the quantis, the species were classified into four main groups: 1- principal (max >20.0%); 2- medium superior (12.3% <max<=20.0%); 3- medium (6.7<max<=12.3%); 4-occasional (max<+6.7%). These groups represented 11%, 14%, 25% and 50% of the identified species, respectively. A split-plot in distinct time was adjusted envolving each effect (month, season) and its interactions with physiological condition and hydrological year. For all studied groups there were no significant effects of physiological condition of cows and no interaction of physiological condition with period and year on the mean composition of the diet. There were significant effects of season and year for all groups, however, the interaction season x year was significant only for the occasional group.

Analyses of the Headspace Volatile Constituents of Aerial Parts (leaves and stems), Flowers and Fruits of Bidens gardneri Bak. and Bidens sulphurea (Cav.) Sch.Bip. Using Solid-Phase Microextraction

Abstract The present study describes the volatile composition of aerial parts (leaves and stems), flowers and fruits from Bidens gardneri and Bidens sulphurea. The first species is widely distributed in Pantanal (Brazil) and is a traditional medicinal plant, while the second species is widely distributed throughout Brazil. In all analyses, observed were constituents like bicycloelemene, α-copaene, β-caryophyllene, germacrene D, bicyclogermacrene and others. However, some compounds were identified only in one part of the plants analyzed. These results indicated some differences in the composition of the plants studied and they were in agreement with data of literature.

Essential Oil of Elyonurus muticus (Sprengel) O.Kuntze (Gramineae)

Abstract Twelve compounds were identified by GC/MS in the essential oil of Elyonurus muticus leaves, native in the Brazilian Pantanal. Spathulenol (18.6%), β-caryophyllene (17.9%) and camphene (11.5%) were the major components found in the oil.

Aquatic macrophytes of Northeastern Brazil: checklist, richness, distribution and life forms [with erratum]

Aquatic plants have great influence on the structure and dynamics of aquatic ecosystems, thereby contributing considerably to biodiversity. In Brazil, knowledge of the biodiversity of aquatic macroflora is still limited. We present a checklist of aquatic macrophytes occurring in the northeastern region of Brazil through a bibliographic search. We recorded a total of 412 species, 217 genera and 72 families. The most representative families were Cyperaceae (70 species), Poaceae (38), Fabaceae (27) and Asteraceae (20). The States with highest number of species were Pernambuco (370), Bahia (360), Ceara (267) and Paraiba (261). The best-represented life forms were amphibious (193 species) and emergent (100). The aquatic flora of Northeastern Brazil exhibits high species richness; however, there is a scarcity of records of aquatic macrophytes for the States of Alagoas, Rio Grande do Norte, Maranhao, Sergipe and Piaui.

Volatile constituents of Hyptis crenata Pohl (Labiatae) native in Brazilian Pantanal.

Abstract Fifteen compounds were identified in the essential oil of Hyptis crenata Pohl, which was analyzed by GC/MS. The main oil components were α-pinene (15.5%), β-pinene (10.5%), camphor (17.3%), and β-caryophyllene (10.7%). The volatile concetrate isolated from the distillation water contained 1,8-cineole (11.9%), camphor (37.3%) and β-caryophyllene (14.7%).