Abstract
Amazonia is one of the most diverse biomes worldwide, and, as well as luxuriant forest, it includes mountain areas which, despite their small surface area, display fascinating endemism. In these regions, the specificity of edaphic factors is mirrored by a highly specialised, isolated flora adapted to survive adverse conditions. The Serra dos Carajás in the Brazilian state of Pará is one of world’s largest iron ore reserves. Known locally as canga, this ironstone formation occupies an area of 115.9 km2, and supports campo rupestre of canga vegetation on outcrops that are mostly in the Floresta Nacional de Carajás (FLONA of Carajás) and Parque Nacional dos Campos Ferruginosos (PNCF). The recent publication of the Flora of the cangas of Carajás lists 856 species of seed plants and 186 species of ferns and lycophytes. This project assessed the canga endemic species growing in the region, and further expeditions guided by SDM were carried out in order to ascertain their distribution outisde the area. Departing from an initial list of 58 putative endemics, the final list comprises 38 species of vascular plants (c. 4% of the local flora). These are distributed in 31 genera and 22 families, including three monotypic genera: Carajasia (Rubiaceae), Monogereion and Parapiqueria (Asteraceae). From these, 24 are classified as Rare Species for Brazil and seven as Highly Restricted Endemic (EEO < 100 km2). An illustrated account is provided, as well as further SDM to detect other possible areas of distribution based on the studied species. The knowledge generated is aimed at directing appropriate conservation plans for the area.
Highlights
Biodiversity loss, mainly attributed to habitat change and over-exploitation, pollution and invasive species (Marchese, 2015), demands urgent strategies to protect native species
The presence of endangered, endemic and rare taxa in conjunction with species diversity is used to define Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) or Important Plant Areas (IPAs) around the globe, many of them focusing on tropical mountains (Harold & Mooi, 1994; Eken et al, 2004; Kasecker et al, 2009; Darbyshire et al, 2017)
We aim to i) establish a baseline of the edaphic endemism and investigate the rarity of these plant species occurring in the CRC at Carajás; ii) assess these plant species in the Serra dos Carajás using Species Distribution Modelling (SDM); iii) considering endemism and high biodiversity are not always positively correlated (Lamoreux et al, 2006), we investigate this aspect in the CRC of Carajás; and iv) develop a basis to guide multi-disciplinary research towards protecting endemic and rare species in the CRC of Carajás and worldwide
Summary
Biodiversity loss, mainly attributed to habitat change and over-exploitation, pollution and invasive species (Marchese, 2015), demands urgent strategies to protect native species. The presence of endangered, endemic and rare taxa in conjunction with species diversity is used to define Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) or Important Plant Areas (IPAs) around the globe, many of them focusing on tropical mountains (Harold & Mooi, 1994; Eken et al, 2004; Kasecker et al, 2009; Darbyshire et al, 2017). Efforts to combine IPAs with zoological groups (Important Bird Areas) to evidence KBAs have been carried out for some countries in Europe (Melovski et al, 2012) The flora of these areas is often unique and represents a highly relevant reserve of biodiversity for the global prioritization of conservation efforts (Kier et al, 2005; Merckx et al, 2015). In Brazil, the recognition of 752 KBAs by Kasecker et al (2009) highlights 149 areas within the Amazon Rainforest biome, where the Serra dos Carajás is evidenced as a KBA with basis on 10 locally found rare species
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