Spatial distribution of Araceae on phorophytes in different areas of submontane rainforest, Santa Catarina Island (SC), Southern Brazil

Abstract

Araceae is well represented in Brazil but there are few studies on spatial distribution of species on phorophytes. Aiming to analyze vegetation variations, four different areas of submontane rainforest were studied: bottom of valley (BV); middle slope (MS); mountaintop (M); and rocky mountaintop (RM) in Santa Catarina Island, southern Brazil. To study the aroids, the quadrant points method with 60 phorophyte sampled by area was used. Each phorophyte was divided in 2-m-height intervals to obtain the vertical distribution. Eight species of aroids belonging to four genera were recorded, among which Anthurium Schott and Philodendron Schott were the most representative. Species richness, Shannon diversity, and evenness index were the highest in MS and the lowest in RM. The most similar areas were MS and M (J = 0.88). Most species of aroids showed low horizontal and vertical frequency; however, the aroids were present in 35.4 % of the phorophytes surveyed; 60 % of families and 50 % of phorophyte species sampled; and 8.9 % of the height intervals sampled. The occurrence of the species in the strata close to the ground and intermediates may be related to the prevalence of nomadic vine species. Species of aroids showed no specificity for host tree.

Epiphyte-phorophyte relationships: assessing the differences between Seasonal Semideciduous and Swamp Forests in Southeastern Brazil1

“…This species is almost absent in SSF. The prevalence of the secondary hemiepiphytes in the lower strata caused by Araceae (Rogalski et al 2016) supports the observed vertical distribution found here.…”

“…The diversity of vascular epiphytes are known to vary at both local (ter Steege & Cornelissen 1989, Arévalo & Betancur 2004, Kersten et al 2009, Joanitti 2013) and on a large scale (Gentry & Dodson 1987, Nieder et al 1999, Breier 2005, Leitman et al 2015. Their distribution might follow ecological gradients, both horizontally -among different vegetation types and phorophytes (Benavides et al 2011) -and vertically, exhibiting variations on the same phorophyte, from the floor to the canopy (ter Steege & Cornelissen 1989, Nieder et al 1999, Rogalski et al 2016. These distribution changes occur mainly due to the humidity that increases from the canopy to the ground, and to the luminosity and wind that follow the opposite way (Benzing 1995).…”

“…Fontoura et al 2009, Alves et al 2008, Silva et al 2010, and between vegetation types (e.g. Kersten et al 2009, Joanniti 2013, Rogalski et al 2016, Padilha et al 2017. The Seasonal Semideciduous Forest (SSF) and Swamp Forest (SF) are two forest types of the Atlantic Forest Domain that can show contiguous occurrence and differences in some of the features responsible for vascular epiphytes diversity and distribution, such as humidity, especially because of the waterlogged soil in the SF (Ivanauskas et al 1997.…”

Plants in the clouds: vascular epiphytes of Pedra Azul, a mountain top in Espírito Santo, Southeastern Brazil

“…The hemiepiphytes were represented by few species in the PA, in agreement with the low representativity of families with a great prevalence of this habit, such as the Araceae, corroborating the previous data on vascular epiphytes at high altitudes or in rocky outcrop habitats (Alves & Menini Neto 2014;Couto et al 2016;Furtado & Menini Neto 2016;Rogalski et al 2016).…”

“…About 80 % of the vascular epiphytes are concentrated in the greatly diversified Orchidaceae family, resulting in the significant taxonomic importance of this family in this synusia (Kersten 2010;Zotz 2013bZotz , 2016. The low representativity of the Araceae family in high-altitude habitats is expected in the Neotropical Region (Krömer et al 2005;Ortiz et al 2019), and the Atlantic Forest (Menini Neto et al 2009;Rogalski et al 2016), with a better contribution in lowland forests (Coelho 2010), mainly in the Amazon (Irume et al 2013;Obermuller et al 2014).…”