Abstract
ABSTRACT We present a summary of floristic variation and distribution of richness of tree and tree-like taxa (i.e., freestanding plants that reach at least 3m in height) in Brazil. We investigated composition patterns throughout phytogeographic domains and vegetation types based on 698,490 occurrence records obtained from the NeoTropTree (NTT) database, and used rarefaction and extrapolation methods to compare species richness. We delimited areas of high taxa richness in Brazil by applying the Geographic Interpolation of Endemism method. There are 9,108 tree species catalogued in NTT for Brazil, but our extrapolations indicate that the total could reach 9,525 species. Predominantly forested domains showed the greatest richness of taxa with the Amazon domain having the highest number of exclusive taxa. Fabaceae and Myrtaceae were the most represented families. The richest vegetation types were Rain Evergreen Forest and Seasonally Semideciduous Forest. Distribution patterns of richness in Brazil and among its domains were found to be controlled by different spatial scales for each taxon. Transition zones had high species richness. The patterns found here can help to identify priority areas for biodiversity conservation in Brazil.
Highlights
The great diversity of natural environments in Brazil comprises a monumental degree of biodiversity at the level of families, genera and species (BFG 2015)
We investigated composition patterns throughout phytogeographic domains and vegetation types based on 698,490 occurrence records obtained from the NeoTropTree (NTT) database, and used rarefaction and extrapolation methods to compare species richness
The country possesses a great diversity of climates, which contributes to the occurrence of various vegetation types, such as Rain Evergreen Forest, Seasonally Evergreen Forest, Seasonally Semideciduous Forest, Seasonally Deciduous Forest, Tropical Savanna and Semi-Arid Savanna, among others (IBGE 2004)
Summary
The great diversity of natural environments in Brazil comprises a monumental degree of biodiversity at the level of families, genera and species (BFG 2015). A total of 32,086 native species of angiosperms have been recorded for Brazil, with trees representing a larger proportion in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest (BFG 2015). The territory occupied by Brazil encompasses most of the remaining areas of Tropical Rainforest, Tropical Seasonally Forest (including Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest) and Tropical Savanna (Pennington et al 2006; 2009; Fiaschi & Pirani 2009) in the world, and comprises six major phytogeographic domains: Amazon, Atlantic Forest, Cerrado, Caatinga, Pampa and Chaco. The Amazon, comprising, for the most part, the largest humid tropical forest in the world, and seasonal forests and savannas (Ab’Sáber 2003), is the largest domain in Brazil, accounting for about 40 % of its territory (Coutinho 2016). The Amazon domain has suffered environmental deterioration for years, and is currently experiencing an alarming increase in degradation, with deforestation alerts in April 2019 for areas totaling 1,055.3 km (DETER/INPE 2019)
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