Floristic and ecological characterization of habitat types on an inselberg in Minas Gerais, southeastern Brazil

Abstract

Inselbergs are granitic or gneissic rock outcrops, distributed mainly in tropical and subtropical regions. Th ey are considered terrestrial islands because of their strong spatial and ecological isolation, thus harboring a set of distinct plant communities that diff er from the surrounding matrix. In Brazil, inselbergs scattered in the Atlantic Forest contain unusually high levels of plant species richness and endemism. Th is study aimed to inventory species of vascular plants and to describe the main habitat types found on an inselberg located in the state of Minas Gerais, in southeastern Brazil. A total of 89 species of vascular plants were recorded (belonging to 37 families), of which six were new to science. Th e richest family was Bromeliaceae (10 spp.), followed by Cyperaceae (seven spp.), Orchidaceae and Poaceae (six spp. each). Life forms were distributed in diff erent proportions between habitats, which suggested distinct microenvironments on the inselberg. In general, habitats under similar environmental stress shared common species and life-form proportions. We argue that fl oristic inventories are still necessary for the development of conservation strategies and management of the unique vegetation on inselbergs in Brazil.

Spatial distribution and associated flora of Alcantarea nahoumii, a vulnerable endemic species to rocky outcrops of the Serra da Jibóia, Bahia, Brazil

“…When prospecting the area to start the study, we observed only one clump of P. sargentianum, which was no longer found during the survey. The families found with the greatest richness were the same ones found in rocky outcrops, both those associated with the Atlantic Forest Phytogeographical Domain (Queiroz et al 1996;Paula et al 2017) and the Caatinga Phytogeographical Domain (Conceição & Giulietti 2002;Conceição & Pirani 2005;Conceição et al 2007). …”

Composição florística de um inselberg no semiárido paraibano, nordeste brasileiro

“…Ainda sobre as monocotiledôneas, Orchidaceae, uma das maiores famílias de angiospermas, não foi registrada na área, o que corrobora com o observado para outros inselbergs das mesorregiões do Sertão (Sousa 2014;Lucena et al 2015) e da Borborema no estado da Paraíba (Machado-Filho 2011). Contrastando com o observado em listas florísticas produzidas para ambientes rochosos das mesorregiões do Agreste paraibano (Almeida et al 2007b;Porto et al 2008;Silva et al 2010) e pernambucano (Gomes & Alves 2010), assim como nas mesorregiões do Sertão e da Zona da Mata pernambucana (Pessoa & Alves 2014), bem como para inselbergs do domínio fitogeográfico da Mata Atlântica (Gomes & Sobral-Leite 2013;Pessanha et al 2014;Costa et al 2015;Couto et al 2017;Paula et al 2017;Pena & Alves-Araújo 2017).…”

Solanum hydroides (Solanaceae): a prickly novelty from the land of the sugar loaves, central Brazilian Atlantic Forest

“…During a floristic inventory of one inselberg located in the Brazil´s South-Eastern region (de Paula et al 2017) and after more extensive herbaria revision by the authors, an undescribed Solanum species was revealed. It belongs to the group that comprises prickly plants with stellate trichomes [Solanum subg.…”