Floristic inventory of a zone of ecological tension in the Atlantic Forest of Northeastern Brazil

Abstract

The Serra de Itabaiana National Park, Sergipe, is situated in a transition area between Atlantic Forest and the Caatinga and is considered by the Ministério do Meio Ambiente to be extremely important for the conservation of the Atlantic Forest flora. The paucity of floristic information from Sergipe state and areas of ecological tension motivated this floristic survey in the only National Park in the state. Botanical collections were made from 2006 to 2009, in six expedictions, by means of random walking. A total of 552 species distributed in 99 families of angiosperms and one gymnosperm were found. Of the species collected, 187 occurred in shrubby-herbaceous, 304 in shrubby, and 247 in arborescent physiognomy, with 23 common to all physiognomies. Leguminosae (41 spp.), Cyperaceae (40 spp.), Poaceae (38 spp.), Orchidaceae (30 spp.), Euphorbiaceae (27 spp.), Rubiaceae (24 spp.), Melastomataceae (21 spp.) and Bromeliaceae (20 spp.) were the richest families. The study revealed the presence of species in common with the Caatinga, Cerrado, Seasonal Forest, campo rupestre, restinga, tabuleiro and areas of ecological tension, corroborating floristically the classification of the locality as an area of ecological tension and reasserting its importance for the conservation of biodiversity.

Floristic survey of the Mata do Junco Wildlife Refuge, Capela, Sergipe State, Brazil

“…The number of species and families found for the Mata do Junco Wildlife Refuge was higher than three of four surveys analyzed in the Atlantic rainforest of the State of Sergipe (table 3) with similar sampling efforts (Vicente et al 2005, Dantas et al 2010, Mendes et al 2010.…”

“…Considering the high probability that no native populations of Caesalpinia echinata Lam currently exist in Sergipe State (Rocha 2010), we believe that this collected individual was cultivated. The most representative families (Fabaceae, Cyperaceae and Poaceae) were also those with the greatest richness in the study by Mendes et al (2010) in the Serra de Itabaiana National Park, Agreste region of the State of Sergipe (table 3). Moreover, they were also the most representative families in some fragments of Atlantic rainforest of the State of Pernambuco (AlvesAraújo et al 2008).…”

“…In order to verify the floristic similarity between the study site and other areas of Atlantic rainforest (Alves-Araújo et al 2008, Mendes et al 2010, Amazonas & Barbosa 2011 and with areas of Caatinga (Ferreira et al 2013, Silva et al 2013, we generated a dendrogram obtained from a binary matrix (presence/absence) with the distribution of the species recorded in the papers analyzed using the unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) based on the Sørensen coefficient in the Past 2.17 software (Hammer et al 2013).…”

“…Currently, there are few studies of the Atlantic rainforest in the State of Sergipe (Landim & Siqueira 2001, Vicente et al 2005, Mendes et al 2010, Dantas et al 2010, Lucena et al 2010, Souza-Alves et al 2014. Nevertheless, recent studies have shown the importance of Atlantic rainforest fragments in Sergipe, such as its high richness of plants (Mendes et al 2010 and the conservation of endemic species of fauna (Souza-Alves et al 2014).…”

“…Nevertheless, recent studies have shown the importance of Atlantic rainforest fragments in Sergipe, such as its high richness of plants (Mendes et al 2010 and the conservation of endemic species of fauna (Souza-Alves et al 2014).…”