Abstract
Biological knowledge is important for guidance of conservation polices. In the Cerrado, an extremely diverse biome, the last synthesis of floristic knowledge has more than ten years. To understand the progress on the information, our aim was quantify the tree species of the Cerrado, and assess their distribution. We compiled 167 inventories and rapid surveys of tree species, corresponding to 625 sites. We accessed the species distributions in the Brazilian biomes, and estimated the number of species in the savannas of Cerrado using four algorithms. We observed a greater local richness in more central regions of the biome, but due to high beta diversity, more peripheral regions presented a greater cumulative richness. The Atlantic Forest was the most important neighbouring biome, influencing the floristic composition of the Cerrado. The proportion of typical Cerrado species was 16%. The highest proportion of endemic species is possibly found in other life forms, and it is crucial that these species are included in inventories and floristic surveys. To guide new studies and help supplement the knowledge of the Cerrado's flora, we identified the main sampling gaps, located mainly in ecotonal regions, which are responsible for the largest number of species recorded in studies of the Cerrado.
Highlights
The occurrence of a certain taxon in a location and in a given period of time is the most elemental biological information (Sousa-Baena et al 2014), and is crucial to the study, management, and conservation of biodiversity (Boulinier et al 1998)
The highest proportion of endemic species is possibly found in other life forms, and it is crucial that these species are included in inventories and floristic surveys
To guide new studies and help supplement the knowledge of the Cerrado’s flora, we identified the main sampling gaps, located mainly in ecotonal regions, which are responsible for the largest number of species recorded in studies of the Cerrado
Summary
The occurrence of a certain taxon in a location and in a given period of time is the most elemental biological information (Sousa-Baena et al 2014), and is crucial to the study, management, and conservation of biodiversity (Boulinier et al 1998). We are considering as the Cerrado (in capital letter), all the extension delimited by IBGE (2004) and the small enclaves in other biomes. These studies have focused on the tree species of cerrado lato sensu, which includes fields, savannas and the wood savannas. The Cerrado was estimated to harbour between 1,000 and 2,000 species of trees and shrubs combined (Castro et al 1999) This number corresponds to more than 11% of the Cerrado’s biodiversity (Mendonça et al 2008), which makes this group highly relevant to the understanding of the biome’s patterns and processes. Vegetation has a major role in acting as a biodiversity surrogate when there is little data available for other taxonomic groups (Lombard et al 2003; Oliver et al 2004; Di Minin & Moilanen 2014; but see Stoms et al 2005)
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