Abstract
Abstract With 119 species distributed in 19 genera, most species of the subtribe Lychnophorinae are endemic to the Espinhaço Range in central eastern Brazil. This region is characterized especially by the campos rupestres, a grassland mosaic associated with vegetation on rock outcrops, which display a high level of endemism. The present work aims to identify distribution patterns, collection density, species richness and research bias in collections. Ten geographic distribution patterns were identified: Chapada Diamantina, Chapada dos Veadeiros and adjacent mountains, Pico da Aliança, Extension of the Espinhaço Range, Central-South Arc of Minas Gerais, Espinhaço Range and Brasília Arc, Campos Rupestres and Restinga, Chapada Diamantina and Caatinga, Northwest-Southeast Diagonal and East Triangle. Other Angiosperm families present similar distribution, mainly in the Espinhaço Meridional, where higher collecting efforts are present. Species richness is higher in sites with higher collection intensity, however, the northeast of Goiás shows the opposite pattern. Spearman correlation analysis shows a strong correlation between collection density and species richness, with an exponential asymptotic model that is quite significant for the total variation of species richness. The cluster analysis presented five clusters correlated with five distribution patterns in Lychnophorinae.
Highlights
The study of species distribution patterns significantly contributes to understanding the dynamics of species establishment, indicating its possible causes and consequences through the knowledge of factors that limit or contribute to their development (Brown & Lomolino 2006)
Distribution patterns The distribution patterns of subtribe Lychnophorinae (Fig. 1) described in this work demonstrate that 74% of the species are endemic to the Espinhaço Range, mainly in Espinhaço Meridional among different mountains and regions
Almost all species of Lychnophorinae are endemic to Brazil, with the exception of Eremanthus mattogrossensis Kuntze and E. rondoniensis MacLeish & H.Schumach., occurring in Brazil and Bolivia, Centratherum cardenasii H.Rob. that occurs only in Bolivia and C. punctatum (Fig. 7), with a large distribution in several tropical countries
Summary
The study of species distribution patterns significantly contributes to understanding the dynamics of species establishment, indicating its possible causes and consequences through the knowledge of factors that limit or contribute to their development (Brown & Lomolino 2006). Several phytogeographic studies have been continuously developed in Brazil to answer questions about species distribution, evolutionary behavior in relation to biogeographic barriers, location of areas harboring unique species composition, and others that contribute to scientific knowledge (Harley 1995; Giulietti et al 1997; Rapini et al 2002; Fiaschi & Pirani 2008; Echternacht et al 2011; Alves et al 2014; Silveira et al 2016; Magenta et al 2017; Morellato & Silveira 2017; Zappi et al 2017).
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