Angiosperm diversity in a Lowland Semideciduous Seasonal Forest in Pernambuco State, Brazil

Rafaela Alves Pereira-Silva,Jone Clebson Ribeiro Mendes,Sarah Maria Athiê-Souza,Leidiana Lima Dos Santos,Jorge Irapuan De Souza Barbosa,Ana Luiza Du Bocage,Beatriz Rayrana De Araújo Gama,Margareth Ferreira De Sales,Joésili Cristina Pereira De Oliveira

doi:10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2021-1223

Rafaela Alves Pereira-Silva, Jone Clebson Ribeiro Mendes + Show 7 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1676-0611-bn-2021-1223

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Abstract

Abstract: Angiosperm species growing in a fragment of Lowland Semideciduous Seasonal Forest in the Tapacurá Ecological Station (TES) in Pernambuco State (Brazil) were surveyed. Botanical collections to compose a species list were undertaken and these species identified by comparisons with specimens deposited in the HST, PEUFR and IPA herbaria, in addition to online database queries. A total of 479 species were identified, belonging to 81 families and 285 genera. The families with the largest numbers of species were Fabaceae (68), Rubiaceae (25), Malvaceae (20), Myrtaceae (20), Cyperaceae (19), Poaceae (19), Bromeliaceae (18), Euphorbiaceae (17), Asteraceae (16), and Sapindaceae (14), which together accounted for 49.27% of the total number of species. Great similarity was observed between our results and surveys of other lowland forests in northeastern Brazil, with the families Fabaceae, Rubiaceae, and Myrtaceae having the greatest species richness. This study added 44 new occurrences for Pernambuco State, demonstrating the richness and abundance of TES taxa and the importance of their conservation to the regional flora.

Highlights

Seasonal Semideciduous Forest is a vegetation type of the Atlantic Forest that extends since the south of Rio Grande do Norte state until the north of Rio de Janeiro, as well as important disjunctions occur in interior depressions such as those of the Pantanal in Mato Grosso state (IBGE 1992)
The forests there are exposed to two climatic regimes: a tropical regime with a period of intense rainfall that can reach ≤1600 mm/year, followed by severe drought; and a more subtropical regime with a dry period with cooler temperatures (IBGE 1992, Pennington et al 2000)
The station covers a total area of approximately 800 ha, with a predominance of Atlantic Forest surrounded by dry forest, “capoeiras’’, and anthropized areas of cottages or small farms that cultivate several commercial and/or exotic species such as jambolão (Syzygium sp.), palm (Elaeis guineenses L.), papaya (Carica sp.), coconut (Cocos nucifera L.), mango (Mangifera indica L.), and bananas (Musa sp.)

Summary

Introduction

Seasonal Semideciduous Forest is a vegetation type of the Atlantic Forest that extends since the south of Rio Grande do Norte state until the north of Rio de Janeiro, as well as important disjunctions occur in interior depressions such as those of the Pantanal in Mato Grosso state (IBGE 1992). The seasonal forests in northeastern Brazil occur in transition areas between the coastal Atlantic Forest and the inland Caatinga dryland vegetation, or in semiarid zones in mountain ranges (Cunha & Silva Júnior, 2014). Those forests formations are fragmented, discontinuously distributed, and are currently surrounded by sugar cane monoculture plantations (Saccharum officinarum L.) or urban areas, so that their biodiversity is continuously and severely threatened (Damasceno-Júnior et al 2009, Dias 2005, Pereira & Alves 2007). The Tapacurá Ecological Station (TES) is a conservation area conserving an Atlantic Forest remnant of predominantly seasonal semi-deciduous lowland forest (Almeida & Oliveira 2009). The station was established as an initiative of Professor João Vasconcelos Sobrinho as an Environmental Protection Area of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) in 1975 (CPRH 2019), at the “São Bento” Escola Superior de Agricultura (1917-1936) where the UFRPE was first established (being transferred to the city of Recife in 1938) (Almeida and Oliveira 2009)

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