Montane seasonal wetlands: an inventory of its associated flora in Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca, southeast Brazil

Ludymila Viana Valadares Cruz,Fátima Regina Gonçalves Salimena,Luiz Menini Neto,Marco Otávio Dias Pivari

doi:10.1590/2175-7860202071097

Ludymila Viana Valadares Cruz, Fátima Regina Gonçalves Salimena + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/2175-7860202071097

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Abstract

Abstract The aim of the present study was to perform the floristic survey of the wetlands of the Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca (PEIB), comparing them regarding richness, floristic composition and life forms, based on monthly expeditions to collect vascular plants. Eighty-one (81) species were found in the moist grassland, most of them being endemic to Brazil and included in 55 genera and 21 families. The most representative families were Asteraceae (22 spp.), Melastomataceae (nine spp.), Xyridaceae (seven spp.), Poaceae and Orchidaceae (six spp. each), totalizing 62% of the sampled species. Twenty-seven (27) species were found in the seasonal pond, distributed in 23 genera and 11 families. Families with the highest specific richness were Poaceae (eight spp.), Cyperaceae and Asteraceae (five spp. each), totalizing 67% of the sampled species. There was a predominance of hemicryptophyte life form (nearly 43% of the moist grasslands and 63% of the seasonal pond) in both areas. The floristic analysis results showed great importance to conservation with 22% of species under some threatened category, 12 species endemics to Minas Gerais state and one new species of Cyperaceae. Furthermore, only five species occur in both wetland types (5.1% of the species richness).

Highlights

Mountain regions are hotspots of biological richness due to their environmental heterogeneity and isolation degree, providing support to understand ecological and evolutionary processes that affect ecosystem biodiversity (Körner 2004, 2007)
The Serra da Mantiqueira is one of the major mountain ranges in Brazil and includes high subtropical landscapes that are distributed along the borders of four states: Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, within the Atlantic Forest domain (Stehmann et al 2009)
Several studies have shown the floristic richness of the quartzite rock outcrops of Serra da Mantiqueira, and we highlight systematic surveys conducted in the regions of Ibitipoca and Serra Negra in Minas Gerais state (Forzza et al 2013; Salimena et al 2013)

Summary

Introduction

Mountain regions are hotspots of biological richness due to their environmental heterogeneity and isolation degree, providing support to understand ecological and evolutionary processes that affect ecosystem biodiversity (Körner 2004, 2007). The Serra da Mantiqueira is one of the major mountain ranges in Brazil and includes high subtropical landscapes that are distributed along the borders of four states: Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, within the Atlantic Forest domain (Stehmann et al 2009). Several studies have shown the floristic richness of the quartzite rock outcrops of Serra da Mantiqueira, and we highlight systematic surveys conducted in the regions of Ibitipoca and Serra Negra in Minas Gerais state (Forzza et al 2013; Salimena et al 2013). Brazil is still far from obtaining a detailed survey of its wetlands, which is a prerequisite for building a coherent national policy for sustainable management and protection of these areas, where a lack of national wetlands classification that considers hydrological conditions and plant communities is one of the fundamental problems (Nunes da Cunha et al 2015)

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