Floristic and vegetation structure of a granitic grassland in Southern Brazil

Ferreira, Pedro Maria de Abreu; Müller, Sandra Cristina; Boldrini, Ilsi Iob; Eggers, Lilian

doi:10.1590/s0100-84042010000100004

Cited by 9 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…In such environments, a small group of stress-tolerant taxa can dominate the community, thus reducing diversity and evenness. Th e estimated evenness for our studied community was similar to the 0.87 and 0.86 found by Setubal (2009) andFerreira et al (2010), respectively, and higher than the 0.68 found by Boldrini et al (2008). Th e relatively similar diversity, evenness and overall richness among surveys conducted at diff erent sites within the Pampa biome provide further evidence that it constitutes a discrete ecological unit (Ferreira & Boldrini 2011).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 88%

“…Working in that same region, Ferreira & Setubal (2009) found higher diversity (H'=3.63) and lower richness (126). In a grassland community on predominantly shallow soils on a granite hill, also in southern Brazil, Ferreira et al (2010) found an H' of 4.5 and identifi ed 282 plant taxa. All of those studies were carried out on sites historically submitted to grazing, burning or both, although some of them are not managed at the present.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Floristic and vegetation structure of a grassland plant community on shallow basalt in southern Brazil

et al. 2013

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Few studies have adequately described the fl oristic and structural features of natural grasslands associated with shallow basalt soils in southern Brazil. Th is study was carried out on natural grazing land used for livestock production in the municipality of Santana do Livramento, in the Campanha region of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Th e aim of the study was to describe the fl oristic and structural diversity of the area. Th e fl oristic list obtained comprises 229 plant taxa from 40 botanical families, with a predominance of the families Poaceae (62), Asteraceae (28), Fabaceae (16) and Cyperaceae (12). Th e estimated diversity and evenness in the community were 3.00 and 0.874, respectively. Bare soil and rock outcrops accounted for 19.3% of the area, resulting in limited forage availability. Multivariate analysis revealed two well-defi ned groups among the sampling units. One group showed a high degree of internal aggregation, associated with deep soils, and was characterized by the presence of tussocks, whereas the other was less aggregate and was characterized by prostrate species growing on shallow soil. Ordination analysis indicated a gradient of moisture and of soil depth in the study area, resulting in diff erent vegetation patterns. Th ese patterns were analogous to the vegetation physiognomies described for Uruguayan grasslands. Overall, the grassland community studied is similar to others found throughout southern Brazil, although it harbors more winter forage species. In addition, the rare grass Paspalum indecorum Mez is locally dominant in some patches, behaving similarly to P. notatum Fl., a widespread grass that dominates extensive grassland areas in southern Brazil.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Floristic and vegetation structure of a grassland plant community on shallow basalt in southern Brazil

et al. 2013

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“…When compared to other grasslands formations of southern Brazil, the strikingly lower plant (Ferreira et al 2010), i.e. considerably higher numbers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Floristic and structural patterns in South Brazilian coastal grasslands

Menezes

Müller

Overbeck

2015

An. Acad. Bras. Ciênc.

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The natural vegetation of Southern Brazil's coastal region includes grasslands formations that are poorly considered in conservation policy, due to the lack of knowledge about these systems. This study reports results from a regional-scale survey of coastal grasslands vegetation along a 536 km gradient on southern Brazil. We sampled 16 sites along the coastal plain with 15 plots (1 m²) per site. All sites were grazed by cattle. We estimated plant species cover, vegetation height, percentage of bare soil, litter and manure, and classified species according to their growth forms. We found 221 species, 14 of them exotic and two threatened. The prostate grasses: Axonopus aff. affinis, Paspalum notatum and P. pumilum were among the most important species. Prostrate graminoids species represented the most important vegetation cover, followed by cespitose grasses. Vegetation height, bare soil, litter and manure were similar among all areas, highlighting the homogeneity of sampling sites due to similar management. In comparison to other grasslands formations in Southern Brazil, the coastal grasslands presented rather low species richness. The presence of high values for bare soil at all sampling sites indicates the need to discuss management practices in the region, especially with regard to the intensity of livestock grazing.

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“…Successive marine transgressions occurring from the Late Pleistocene created a mosaic of swamps, lakes and small patches of forest in the lowlands, isolating the granitic outcrops from the seashore sand‐dune vegetation (Seeliger, 1992) and constraining gene exchange with sand‐dune populations located within the BAF. Floristic inventories of these outcrops reveal a considerable proportion of endemic and rare species (Ferreira et al. , 2010), indicating that these granitic hills were refugial areas during marine transgression events for both forest and grassland species (Rambo, 1954a).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…, 2010), indicating that these granitic hills were refugial areas during marine transgression events for both forest and grassland species (Rambo, 1954a). Both the higher elevation and the presence of patches of exposed rocks and shallow soil allowed the presence of grassland and open scrub plant communities even during warmer and more humid periods, creating the mosaic of forest/grassland species currently observed (Rambo, 1954a; Ferreira et al. , 2010).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phylogeography and genetic differentiation along the distributional range of the orchid Epidendrum fulgens: a Neotropical coastal species not restricted to glacial refugia

Pinheiro

Barros

Palma‐Silva

et al. 2011

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim Phylogeographical studies in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest (BAF) have mostly included species associated with forest habitats, whereas taxa associated with grassland and sand-dune plant communities have so far been largely overlooked. This study examines the phylogeography of the orchid Epidendrum fulgens, which occurs on coastal sand dunes and granitic outcrops, in order to identify major genetic divergences or disjunctions across the range of the species and to investigate the genetic signatures of past range contractions and expansions.Location Southern and south-eastern seashore vegetation along the BAF biome, and granitic and arenitic outcrops that occur in the subtropical grassland plant communities located south of the BAF.Methods Nine nuclear and four plastid microsatellite loci were used to genotype 424 individuals from 16 populations across the distributional range of E. fulgens. For both sets of markers, we estimated genetic diversity and population differentiation, testing for a north-south gradient of genetic diversity. The plastid haplotype network and a Bayesian assignment analysis of nuclear markers were used to infer population structure. Past demographic changes were investigated using a coalescence approach.Results A deep disjunction was found between northern populations within the BAF and southern populations outside the BAF that occur on granitic and arenitic outcrops. Recent demographic reductions were detected in northern populations on coastal sands. Such demographic changes were not expected for those populations, as previous studies with forest species had found evidence of population expansion in the same areas. Higher genetic diversity was found in southern populations on granite, in contrast to patterns observed in previous studies of forest species. Main conclusionsThe results are consistent with the long-term persistence of E. fulgens. Bottlenecks were detected in populations from areas where population expansion events have been detected in other plant (and animal) species, suggesting that forest expansion after the Last Glacial Maximum played a role in the population fragmentation and decrease in genetic diversity in E. fulgens. A substantial genetic division in E. fulgens corresponds to the 'Portal de Torres', a region that demarcates the northern limits of subtropical grassland plant communities and the southern limits of the BAF.

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Floristic and vegetation structure of a granitic grassland in Southern Brazil

Cited by 9 publications

References 31 publications

Floristic and vegetation structure of a grassland plant community on shallow basalt in southern Brazil

Floristic and vegetation structure of a grassland plant community on shallow basalt in southern Brazil

Floristic and structural patterns in South Brazilian coastal grasslands

Phylogeography and genetic differentiation along the distributional range of the orchid Epidendrum fulgens: a Neotropical coastal species not restricted to glacial refugia

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