Abstract
Aiming to enrich the knowledge about the flora of savannas, this paper studied the composition and structure of the bryophyte community of Park Savanna areas in Marajó Island - PA. Biological material was collected within 60 100-m2 plots equally distributed in the dry season of 2016 and the rainy season of 2017 in five Park Savanna areas (SP-I to SP-V). The composition, density, richness and diversity of species and presence of indicator species were compared between the sampled areas and seasons. The species were classified according to the substrates colonized and ecological groups of light tolerance. Significant differences in SP-V indicated that the area was the main factor influencing the composition of bryophytes (p: 0.0001), with five indicator species. There were also significant differences in density (p = 0.0001168) and richness (p = 0.0001317) of bryophytes between seasons (p-value = 0.3393; p-value = 0.04065; p: 0.1081). There was a predominance of generalist (25 spp.) and corticolous (728 individuals) species, which were widely distributed in the sampled areas. Therefore, the structure of the bryophyte communities was not influenced by seasonality, and this indicates that these plants are adapted to the environmental conditions.
Highlights
Brazilian savannas (Cerrado) are predominantly distributed in the Central Plateau region, forming the second largest neotropical biome and considered one of the biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities (Myers et al 2000, Rios et al 2016)
Rainfall occurs throughout the year in the Amazon, but two rain periods can be distinguished: one rainiest season influenced by the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), and another dry season, with undefined dry season (Fisch et al 1998)
The results were expected that the composition would not be influenced by seasonality, considering that most bryophytes are perennial with life cycles with more than one year and live both wet and dry seasons several times (Geissler 1982)
Summary
Brazilian savannas (Cerrado) are predominantly distributed in the Central Plateau region, forming the second largest neotropical biome and considered one of the biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities (Myers et al 2000, Rios et al 2016). Savannas are ecosystems influenced by high light intensity and drought events, which increase the chances of spread of fires (Hoffmann et al 2012). Microclimatic conditions such as luminosity, temperature, humidity, and pH act as environmental filters that can determine the structure of bryophyte communities (Weibull & Rydin 2005, Bello et al 2010, Smith & Stark 2014, Santos et al 2014). Desiccation tolerant bryophytes are common in savannas (Visnadi & Vital 1989), since only the best adapted species settle in these areas (Kürschner 2004, Kürschner & Parolly 2005, Pardow & Lakatos 2013)
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