Samyra Gomes Furtado

Biogeography of epiphytic Angiosperms in the Brazilian Atlantic forest, a world biodiversity hotspot

Abstract This study aims to analyse the available distributional data about epiphytic Angiosperms of the Brazilian Atlantic forest (BAF) in order to define geographic distribution patterns, areas of higher species richness and endemism, and locate knowledge gaps regarding the epiphytic flora. Thus, we seek to enhance the knowledge of the biogeography of these species and highlight priority areas for their conservation. Distribution data from literature and collections housed in 51 herbaria were compiled and submitted to analyses of richness (species count per distribution grid), similarity and parsimony analysis of endemicity. The regions of higher richness and endemism, chiefly in Rio de Janeiro and Espírito Santo, overlap with those found for trees and animal groups, while the location of some areas of endemism coincide with the supposed existence of Pleistocene forest refuges in Brazil’s Northeastern and Southeastern regions. The Doce River seems to be responsible for the division of the Angiosperm epiphytic flora into north and south sectors of the BAF. In addition, the existence of a discontinuity named here as ‘Falha de Conde’ (Conde’s Gap) situated in the northern corner of the State of Bahia was highlighted. Such gap divides the north sector of the BAF into two segments. It was also found that the hydrographic basins influence the delimitation of those areas. Subsampling of parts of the range leads to information gaps that need to be addressed by further data collection to ensure an improved understanding of the biogeographic relation between some of the regions, and also to fully clarify their delimitation.

Cactaceae na Serra Negra, Minas Gerais, Brasil

As part of the floristic studies of the Serra Negra, located at the southern end of the Minas Gerais in Zona da Mata region and included in the Mantiqueira mountain range, this study of the family Rubiaceae comprises 26 genera and 48 species. The most diverse genus is Psychotria, with 12 species, followed by Borreria (5), Coccocypselum (4), Manettia (3), Margaritopsis (2) and Palicourea (2), while Alseis, Amaioua, Bathysa, Chomelia, Cordiera, Coussarea, Coutarea, Diodia, Emmeorhiza, Faramea, Galianthe, Galium, Guettarda, Hillia, Hindsia, Ladenbergia, Posoqueria, Remijia, Rudgea and Schizocalyx are representaded by a single species each. Psychotria pallens was found for the first time in Minas Gerais, and a new locality for narrow endemic and endangered Hindsia ibitipocensis, known until now only for the Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca. Identification keys, descriptions, illustrations and comments on the taxonomy, ecology and distribution of the species are provided. Key-words: “Campo rupestre”, Atlantic Forest, Serra da Mantiqueira. Rubiaceae da Serra Negra, Minas Gerais, Brasil1 Rubiaceae of Serra Negra, Minas Gerais, Brazil Juliana Amaral de Oliveira, Fatima Regina G. Salimena & Daniela Zappi Rodriguesia 65(2): 471-504. 2014 http://rodriguesia.jbrj.gov.br 1 Monografia de conclusao de curso da primeira autora. 2 Escola Nacional de Botânica Tropical, Programa de Pos-graduacao em Botânica, R. Pacheco Leao 2040, 22460-030, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil. 3 Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Inst. Ciencias Biologicas, Depto. Botânica, 36036-330, Juiz de Fora, MG, Brasil 4 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, England, U.K./Gardens by the Bay, 18 Marina Gardens Drive, Singapore. Autor para correspondencia: jujumaral@yahoo.com.br Introducao Rubiaceae Juss. e considerada uma das maiores familias entre as angiospermas, com cerca 640 generos e aproximadamente 13.500 especies (Govaerts et al. 2011). No Brasil, ocorrem 120 generos e 1.367 especies, destacando-se como uma das principais da flora brasileira e um importante elemento em todos os dominios geograficos do pais (Barbosa et al. 2013). Na Serra Negra, trata-se de uma das familias com maior riqueza de especies, sendo superada apenas por Orchidaceae, Asteraceae, Melastomataceae e Myrtaceae (Salimena et al. 2013). A familia pode ser facilmente reconhecida por apresentar folhas simples, inteiras, opostas ou verticiladas; estipulas interpeciolares; e flores geralmente diclamideas, (2‒3)4‒5(6‒7)-meras, com calice gamossepalo, corola gamopetala, androceu isostemone, com estames alternipetalos e epipetalos, ovario infero e um disco nectarifero geralmente presente acima do ovario. Apesar de ser uma familia extremamente importante na flora de Minas Gerais, para o estado ha apenas os trabalhos de Campos et al. (2006), para a Flora de Grao Mogol, area de campo rupestre 472 Oliveira, J.A., Salimena, F.R.G. & Zappi, D. Rodriguesia 65(2): 471-504. 2014 localizada na Serra do Espinhaco; Silveira (2010), para os campos rupestres da Serra da Canastra; e Pereira et al. (2006), abrangendo uma area de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual Submontana na Zona da Mata Mineira. A Serra da Mantiqueira e uma das maiores e mais importantes cadeias montanhosas do sudeste brasileiro, abrangendo parte dos estados do Espirito Santo, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro e Minas Gerais. Abriga 20% dos remanescentes da Mata Atlântica mineira (Costa & Herrmann 2006). A Serra Negra integra o corredor sudeste do Complexo da Mantiqueira, considerada uma regiao prioritaria para a conservacao da biodiversidade de Minas Gerais, devido a elevada riqueza e grau de endemismo de especies da sua fauna e flora (Drummond et al. 2005). Estudos floristicos na Serra Negra comprovaram uma elevada diversidade, reunindo mais de 1.030 especies de fanerogamas (Salimena et al. 2013) e 210 especies de pteridofitas (Souza et al. 2012). Em apenas um de seus ambientes, uma mata de grota de ca. 0,9 ha, foram amostradas 157 especies de plantas vasculares nao-arboreas (Menini Neto et al. 2009). O presente trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar o estudo taxonomico da familia Rubiaceae na regiao da Serra Negra, contribuindo para o conhecimento desta familia na Serra da Mantiqueira e no estado de Minas Gerais.

Cactaceae in the Serra Negra, Minas Gerais, Brazil

The taxonomic study of Cactaceae in Serra Negra, Minas Gerais is presented. The family is represented in the area by five genera and nine species: Arthrocereus melanurus subsp. magnus, Hatiora salicornioides, Lepismium houlletianum, Opuntia monacantha, Rhipsalis elliptica, R. floccosa subsp. pulvinigera, R. juengeri, R. lindbergiana and R. pilocarpa. The first and last species are considered threatened for the State of Minas Gerais. It must be highlighted that Arthrocereus melanurus subsp. magnus was known previously only from the Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca and the present data resulted on an expansion of its known distribution area. Conservation of not yet protected areas like Serra Negra is very important, because their unique assemblage of species is constantly damaged by frequent and disorganized tourism and illegal plant collection. Local forest and natural fields are being further degraded as they are transformed into pasture land, and the threats faced by many species continue to grow. Identification keys, descriptions, illustrations, taxonomic and ecologic comments are provided for the species treated.The taxonomic study of Cactaceae in Serra Negra, Minas Gerais is presented. The family is represented in the area by five genera and nine species: Arthrocereus melanurus subsp. magnus, Hatiora salicornioides, Lepismium houlletianum, Opuntia monacantha, Rhipsalis elliptica, R. floccosa subsp. pulvinigera, R. juengeri, R. lindbergiana and R. pilocarpa. The first and last species are considered threatened for the State of Minas Gerais. It must be highlighted that Arthrocereus melanurus subsp. magnus was known previously only from the Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca and the present data resulted on an expansion of its known distribution area. Conservation of not yet protected areas like Serra Negra is very important, because their unique assemblage of species is constantly damaged by frequent and disorganized tourism and illegal plant collection. Local forest and natural fields are being further degraded as they are transformed into pasture land, and the threats faced by many species continue to grow. Identification keys, descriptions, illustrations, taxonomic and ecologic comments are provided for the species treated.

Vascular epiphytic flora of a high montane environment of Brazilian Atlantic Forest: composition and floristic relationships with other ombrophilous forests

Only a few studies regarding vascular epiphytes have been conducted in mixed ombrophilous forests (MOF) in Serra da Mantiqueira, a mountainous environment in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest, where the relationships of epiphytic flora with other physiognomies are unknown. This study aimed to survey the epiphytes of a MOF remnant located in Serra da Mantiqueira, and to analyze the floristic relationships with ombrophilous forests of the Southern and Southeastern regions of Brazil. The checklist was compared with 51 other areas composed of ombrophilous forests and/or ecotones with other physiognomies using UPGMA (with Sorensen index), and canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). We recorded 138 species, and Orchidaceae and Polypodiaceae were the richest families (51 and 23 species, respectively). The UPGMA showed the importance of physiognomy and elevation in the floristic relationships, and CCA reinforced the influence of elevation, in addition to the shortest distance to the ocean and minimum annual temperature; however, in this analysis, the physiognomies showed little influence on the relationships. The epiphytic flora of MOF of Southern and Southeastern regions of Brazil has different relationships compared with the data available for shrubs and trees, suggesting a greater importance of phorophytic species than geographical distance and, to some extent, environmental variables.

Diversity high up: a cloud forest of the Serra da Mantiqueira as a vascular epiphyte hotspot

The diversity of montane environments is dictated by a variety of environmental conditions. Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca is located in the Serra da Mantiqueira, between ~1,000–1,800 m, and harbors approximately 300 ha of cloud forests. The composition of vascular epiphytes was determined by analyzing data from expeditions conducted between July 2014 and July 2015, and specimens deposited at herbaria. The 224 species were distributed into 82 genera of which Pleurothallis s.l. was the richest (13 spp.) and 23 families of which Orchidaceae was the richest (87 spp.). This richness corresponds to approximately 9.5% of the vascular epiphytic flora of the Atlantic Forest concentrated in an area that comprises 0.00085% of this phytogeographic domain, which represents one of the largest diversities ever sampled in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. This fact is more relevant given that 13 species are threatened at the country level and 23 at the state level.

Diversity, vertical structure and floristic relationships of vascular epiphytes in an urban remnant of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

ABSTRACT - (Diversity, vertical structure and floristic relationships of vascular epiphytes in an urban remnant of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest). This study was conducted in a fragment of montane seasonal semi-deciduous forest (Minas Gerais State) with a history of anthropogenic disturbance. Our goals were to characterise the composition, structure and floristic diversity of vascular epiphytes and to investigate the floristic similarities of the community with other areas of urban seasonal forests in Brazil. We sampled 61 phorophytes with 47 epiphytic species. The richest families were Bromeliaceae (seven) and Polypodiaceae (seven). The most common ecological category was accidental holoepiphytes with 21 species - an unprecedented result for the Neotropical region. The Shannon index was 2.95 and the Pielou evenness index 0.77, showing a relatively high diversity with a few dominant species and numerous rare species. Similarity analyses showed a longitudinal gradient and strong influence of the distance from the ocean on floristic relationships as well as influence of dense ombrophilous forests on the composition of the vascular epiphytes of the surveyed area.Keywords: accidental holoepiphytes, biodiversity hotspot, multivariate analyses, taxonomic diversity, urban forestRESUMO - (Diversidade, estrutura vertical e relacoes floristicas de epifitas vasculares em um remanescente urbano da Floresta Atlântica brasileira). Este estudo foi realizado em um fragmento de floresta estacional semidecidual montana (Minas Gerais) com historico de perturbacao antropica. Os objetivos foram caracterizar a composicao, estrutura e diversidade floristica das epifitas vasculares e investigar a similaridade floristica da comunidade com outras areas de florestas estacionais urbanas no Brasil. Foram amostrados 61 forofitos e registradas 47 especies de epifitas. As familias mais ricas foram Bromeliaceae (sete) e Polypodiaceae (sete). A categoria ecologica mais comum foi a de holoepifitas acidentais com 21 especies - um resultado inedito na Regiao Neotropical. O indice de Shannon foi 2,95 e o indice de uniformidade de Pielou foi 0,77, mostrando diversidade relativamente alta com certa dominância de poucas especies, enquanto as especies raras foram numerosas. Analises de similaridade mostraram gradiente longitudinal e forte influencia da distância do oceano sobre as relacoes floristicas, assim como influencia das florestas ombrofilas densas sobre a composicao das epifitas vasculares na area estudada.Palavras-chave: analises multivariadas, diversidade taxonomica, floresta urbana, holoepifitas acidentais, “hotspot” de biodiversidade