In Brazil, grassland ecosystems of the Pampa are restricted to Rio Grande do Sul State (RS) and constitute the largest temperate natural grassland in the world. There are no recent data to indicate how much of these fields was lost in the state, but excursions made in recent years have pointed to a high conversion of native fields into crops. This situation has alerted to the intensification of biodiversity loss and the biological impoverishment of these fields. In view of the above, this study characterizes plant diversity in fields of the southern and western portion of RS. The study was based on publications of recent years that indicate the problems that effectively threaten this diversity. Pampa fields are natural and have a great diversity, constituting a considerable genetic heritage, ensuring the provision of ecosystem services to human populations. The few bioprospecting studies on species from these fields suggest that much remains to be discovered and that actions need to be taken to inhibit field destruction. These fields have never been treated as priority areas for conservation, but it is our commitment to reverse this transformation and destruction.
In Brazil, Froelichia tomentosa (Mart.) Moq. has records of occurrence in Rio Grande do Sul (RS) and Bahia, however, in the former there are indications that its populations are extinct. In the RS, the records are restricted to the region of sandy- fields. In this region, biodiversity has been threatened by advances in agriculture and forestry that intensified in the sandy patch process. Therefore, this work aimed to describe the morphoanatomy and ultrastructure of the leaf blade in Froelichia tomentosa, seeking to correlate leaf characteristics to the environmental conditions. Individuals from different populations in the sand- fields (Pampa biome) were sampled. Leaf blade analyzes were performed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (MET) and optical microscopy (MO). The following anatomical features were verified: epidermis with trichomes and stomata in the adaxial and abaxial surface, compact mesophyll, aquiferous hypodermis, Kranz anatomy, and numerous plastoglobules and peroxisomes. The presence of these characters may be related to the adaptation of this species to environment. In addition, we highlight the necessity to create conservation units in the sand-fields region, in order to preserve species as well as that of the present study.
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