Abstract
The purpose of this study was to update the floristic inventory found in the Upper Paraná River floodplain. Floristic surveys were performed from February 2000 through March 2008, as part of the Brazilian Long-Term Ecological Research Program (PELD/CNPq-Site 6). The material collected was identified from 774 species, 442 genera, and 116 families. The ten families with high species richness were Leguminosae, Poaceae, Rubiaceae, Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Myrtaceae, Cyperaceae, Solanaceae, Sapindaceae, and Orchidaceae, which contributed to 46.1% of the total number of species. Genera with high richness were Solanum, Cyperus, Panicum, Eugenia, Tillandsia, Serjania, Casearia, and Polygonum, which together contributed to 10.2% of the total number of species. These data, combined with information published in 1997, recorded 955 species, 575 genera, and 128 families. These organisms were from several riparian environments and were distributed as herbs, shrubs, trees, climbers and epiphytes. Panicum maximum, Pennisetum purpureum, Ricinus communis, and Urochloa decumbens are considered weeds due to the wide distributions determined for these species. The results presented herein suggest the need to further investigate the control of these potential weed species.
Highlights
Floristic inventories provide fundamental information regarding the composition of flora in a given area
A total of 774 species were identified, which belonged to 442 genera and 116 families
Leguminosae presented the highest richness at 13.4% of the species (Faboideae was dominated with 59 species among subfamilies)
Summary
Floristic inventories provide fundamental information regarding the composition of flora in a given area. The construction of a database and supporting materials, which are primarily in the form of exsiccatae housed in herbaria, and the availability of these data form a basis for the advancement of other studies, such as taxonomy, ecology, geographical distribution, or reforestation of degraded areas. The biodiversity of Brazilian organisms is among the most diverse in the world, but only 15-20% of the species are presently identified (Brasil, 2002). A total of approximately 60,000 plant species are estimated to inhabit Brazil (Harley and Giulietti, 2004). J. Biol., 69(2, Suppl.): 735-745, 2009 little is known regarding this flora and, the functioning of the associated ecosystems and the potential in both ecological and economic terms, ecosystem sustainability
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