Alien plants from Paraíba (NE-BR): a survey based on secondary data

Abstract

Currently, alien plants are the second largest loss of biodiversity in the world, second only to direct human exploitation. Therefore, this work aimed to identify in the literature in the literature and databases the exotic and invasive plants occurring in the state of Paraíba, in order to complement the information on these non-native species for the state. Therefore, it was necessary to prepare a general list of species, as well as autoecological information and evaluation of the degree of floristic similarity between the sampled areas. Floristic data were obtained through scientific articles from indexed academic journals and available on virtual platforms. We survey 265 species, distributed in 23 botanical families. The floristic similarity analysis indicated clusters that were not very similar to each other, revealing that these floras, even though they are in close areas, form distinct floristic compositions. The regression analysis also revealed that the similarities between the evaluated areas did not present a significant relationship with the geographic distance. In general, the exotic flora of Paraíba consists mainly of Poaceae, Asteraceae and Fabaceae, as the most representative components. This flora, in general, is composed of species with wide geographic distribution and predominance of autochoric dispersion. Through the results, one can demonstrate the importance of floristic surveys as an important mechanism for understanding the exotic flora of an ecosystem, in addition to providing essential bases for subsequent studies.