Ferns and lycophytes of the Cerrado State Park, Paraná, Brazil

Abstract

We present a checklist of the ferns and lycophytes from the Cerrado State Park, Jaguariaíva, Paraná, Brazil. This region represents the southernmost limit of Cerrado vegetation in Brazil. The park is located along the Devonian Escarpment, one of the most iconic geological formations in southern Brazil. The remnants of Cerrado in Paraná are relics of a colder and drier climate that occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum, about 5,600 years ago. They are now surrounded by natural grasslands and Araucaria Forest, which is typical of southern Brazil. We recorded 112 species (102 ferns and ten lycophytes), from 51 genera and 16 families. Ten species were first recorded in the Devonian Escarpment, and Ctenitis bigarellae and Tryonia areniticola are rare. None of the species are endemic to the Cerrado and most are typical of the humid forests of Eastern Brazil. We provide notes and illustrations for all species.

Ferns and Lycophytes from the Estação Ecológica Serra Geral do Tocantins: a contribution to the flora of the Jalapão, Brazil

“…1), predominantly in the understory, where pteridophytes occupy several microenvironments. A predominance of pteridophytes in wet forests (Mata de galeria and Mata cCiliar) has been reported in other studies in the Cerrado (Colli et al 2004;Fernandes et al 2022;Kreutz et al 2016;Miguez et al 2013;Nunes & Labiak 2021). Compared to those studies, the species number reported here is relatively low, considering the expanded size of the EESGT.…”

“…The lower species richness in the Cerrado, which is dominated by open habitats under a seasonally dry climate, reflects the ecological preference of most pteridophyte groups for moist and forested areas. Nevertheless, many species can be found in wet environments associated with water bodies, such as gallery forests and swamps (Colli et al 2004;Fernandes et al 2022;Kreutz et al 2016;Miguez et al 2013;Nunes & Labiak 2021). On the other hand, some dry-adapted lineages have successfully colonized open habitats of the Cerrado, such as species of Anemia (Hietz 2010;Mickel 2016), a genus especially diverse in Central Brazil (Mickel 2016).…”