Floristic influence of Amazonian Lowland Dense Rain Forest on the pioneer vegetation with marine influence, Restinga of Pará state, Brazil

Dário Dantas Do Amaral,Ely Simone Cajueiro Gurgel,Wendell Vilhena De Carvalho,Lia Tôrres Do Amaral,Salustiano Vilar Costa Neto,João Ubiratan Moreira Dos Santos,Maria De Nazaré Do Carmo Bastos

doi:10.1590/2175-7860202172093

Dário Dantas Do Amaral, Ely Simone Cajueiro Gurgel + Show 5 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/2175-7860202172093

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Abstract

Abstract The coastal region of the municipalities of Curuçá and Maracanã, on the northeastern coast of Pará, shelters a valuable biological heritage, the last two remnants of Dense Rain Forest on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. On the Ipomonga Island (Curuçá) and at the Marieta Beach (Maracanã), the Lowland Dense Rain Forest is notable for its abrupt contact with the pioneer formation with marine influence, called as Restinga. This geomorphological interface favors floristic connectivity between different ecosystems. The research objective was to evaluate, through vegetation inventories, whether these forests remnants, about Lowland Dense Rain Forest, are sources of dispersal of woody species in Restinga. A total of 189 species were recorded in 50 botanical families with the greatest richness corresponds to the dense forest (67 species). Of this flora, 46 species (24%) were common to both vegetation typologies, with 18 species considered new occurrences in Restinga of the Amazonian coastal plains. The floristic affinities founded support the effect of Lowland Dense Rain Forest acting as the source for propagule dispersion over the pioneer formation with marine influence (Restinga), mostly dispersed by animals (zoocory).

Highlights

The recent geological origin of the coastal plains afford the absence of endemic plant species in the pioneer formation with marine influence (Restinga) given the lack of sufficient time for speciation to have occurred in them (Scarano 2002)
In the coastal plains of southern and southeastern Brazil, the stands of Restinga vegetation are associated to the Atlantic Forest domain and they are defined in various different ways depending in the context in which the association is being addressed (Scarano 2001; Scherer et al 2005; Fiaschi & Pirani 2009; Scarano 2009)
Most of the species that were only found in the Lowland Dense Rain Forest were big tree species, like Aspidosperma desmanthum, Bertholletia excelsa, Brosimum guianense, Caryocar villosum, Couratari guianensis, Diplotropis purpurea, Dipteryx odorata, Hymenaea courbaril, Peltogyne paniculata, Pouteria macrophylla, Simarouba amara, Tachigali glauca, Terminalia amazonia, Thyrsodium spruceanum, Trattinnickia rhoifolia and Virola sebifera

Summary

Introduction

The recent geological origin of the coastal plains afford the absence of endemic plant species in the pioneer formation with marine influence (Restinga) given the lack of sufficient time for speciation to have occurred in them (Scarano 2002). The strongest influence on the flora composition of those restinga is attributed to the Atlantic Forest (Freire 1990; Zickel et al 2007; Sacramento et al 2007; Santos Filho et al 2011, 2013, 2015). The flora of these lowland vegetation in the coastal plains is characterized by high endemism (about 41% of total species) and one of the most susceptible to vanish in with the global warming (Stehmann et al 2009)

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