Assessing the effectiveness of protected areas for the conservation of ferns and lycophytes in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais

Abstract

This assessment uses ferns and lycophytes as indicators for testing the effectiveness of the Protected Areas in Minas Gerais state, in southeastern Brazil. Using samples mainly from collections made by the authors since 2004 and additional materials deposited in many herbaria, we have compared species occurrence records inside and outside Protected Areas using proportion tests and rarefaction curves. We recorded 35 families, 136 genera and 707 species of ferns and lycophytes in Minas Gerais. The total number of species is estimated to be 779.420 (±19.534 SE) in this state. Inside the Protected Areas, the number of species tends to be higher than outside, and this relationship is even more pronounced when considering only the threatened species. When we used rarefaction curves, Protected Areas also showed higher species richness not only for all species but also for species on the Minas Gerais list of threatened plants. Although there is a need for increasing the Protected Areas in the state, so that the 78 species recorded only outside them are included, the Protected Areas are still an important tool for the conservation of ferns and lycophytes. Policies for the creation of Protected Areas to protect the highest number of species and hence increase the importance of those territories for conservation must be based on evidence.