Synopsis of Orchidaceae from Serra do Urubu: an area of montane forest, Pernambuco State, Brazil

Abstract

This study provides a survey of Orchidaceae species in an area of montane Atlantic Forest in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil. The study area comprises two conservation units (RPPN Frei Caneca and RPPN Pedra D’Anta), forming together the Serra do Urubu, which is located in the border of the Borborema plateau. Orchidaceae is represented in this study area by 81 species and 50 genera. Epidendrum L. (10 spp.) and Habenaria Willd. (four spp.) are the most representative genera. The subtribes Laeliinae (22 spp.) and Pleurothallidinae (14 spp.) together represent about half of the number of species. The high number of orchid species distinguishes Serra do Urubu as one of the richest areas for the family in the Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil. Our study also provides 18 new records of species to Pernambuco as well as reporting on about 40% of the species and 60% of the genera cited to the State. Campylocentrum pernambucense, Cattleya labiata, Cattleya granulosa, Phragmipedium sargentianum and Zygostates bradeiare cited as endangered, 14 species are endemic to the Atlantic Forest, and other seven have distributions restricted to northeastern Brazil. All these facts reinforce the importance of this area as well as management strategies for the conservation of Orchidaceae.

An updated checklist reveals strong incongruities with previous studies: insights after revisiting a regional orchid list

“…correspond to about 46 % of the species. Representatives of Laeliinae make up a large part of the orchid flora in the Neotropics (Van den Berg 2000) and have been pointed out as the most representative orchid subtribe in other studies in northeastern Brazil (Pessoa & Alves 2015;Monteiro et al 2012). Habenaria has been found to be the most species-rich in areas of Cerrado, such as in the Federal District (Batista & Bianchetti 2003), and Catasetum is especially diverse in the transition zone between Amazon and Cerrado, as pointed out by Petini-Benelli (2012) for the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso.…”

Serra do Urubu, a biodiversity hot-spot for angiosperms in the northern Atlantic Forest (Pernambuco, Brazil)

“…In this sense, the family Bromeliaceae has 17 genera and 41 species occurring in the area which represents 85% of the genera and 40% of the species recorded for Pernambuco (Forzza et al 2015). In turn the Serra do Urubu supports 61.5% of the genera and 39% of the species of Orchidaceae occurring in the state of Pernambuco (Barros et al 2015;Pessoa and Alves 2015b) and harbors 26.4% of all species of Myrtaceae recorded in the state. Other families of less floristic relevance also have a significant portions of their biodiversity in Pernambuco preserved in the Serra do Urubu.…”

“…Based on the Lista de Espécies da Flora do Brasil (2015) and local floras (Sales et al 1998;Ferraz and Rodal 2008;Almeida-Júnior et al 2009;Gomes and Alves 2010;Amorim and Alves 2012a, 2012b, 2012cAmorim et al 2012;Chagas 2012;Alves et al 2013;Buril 2013;Oliveira and Alves 2013;Sampaio 2013;Viana and Barbosa 2013;Costa-Lima 2014;Pereira 2014;Pessoa and Alves 2015b), it was found that 25 spp. (about 3% of the total cataloged for the Serra do Urubu) are new records for the state of Pernambuco.…”

“…The classification of families, name of the species, abbreviations of authors, geographical distribution and of extreme biological importance and is considered a priority area for conservation of the flora of the Atlantic Forest domain (Martinelli 2007). The area has been the subject of many studies showing great diversity of birds (Roda 2002;Bencke et al 2006), frogs (Santos and Carnaval 2002), lycophytes and ferns , Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae (Leme and Siqueira-Filho 2006;Siqueira-Filho and Felix 2006;Pessoa and Alves 2015b), and even new taxa to science (Carnaval and Peixoto 2004;Chautems et al 2005;Leme and SiqueiraFilho 2006;Amorim andAlves 2012a, 2015;Costa-Lima and Alves 2013;Giacomin et al 2013;Gregório et al 2014;Pessoa and Alves 2015a;Sobral 2013).…”

First record of Eurystyles actinosophila (Barb. Rodr.) Schltr. in the Central-West region of Brazil and notes on distribution of Eurystyles and Lankesterella (Orchidaceae, Spiranthinae) in Brazil

“…The herborized material was compared with collections of UB, CEN, HEPH and IBGE herbaria (acronyms according to Thiers 2021), as well as with other materials on the Specieslink (2021) platform. We consulted the specialist literature to assist in the species' identification: Burns-Balogh et al (1985), Miller and Warren (1996), Salazar and Dressler (2001), Menini Neto et al (2004a, 2004b, CRIA (2005), Górniak et al (2006), Abreu and Menini Neto (2010), Pessoa and Alves (2015), Vieira and Barros (2017). Furthermore, protologues were consulted at the Biodiversity Heritage Library (www.biodiversitylibrary.org) and at Botanicus (www.botanicus.org).…”