Vascular flora of Serra do Japi Biological Reserve, Jundiaí, southeastern Brazil

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Vascular flora of a cerrado sensu stricto remnant in pratânia, state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil

The Cerrado (Brazilian savanna) has suffered massive destruction in recent years, mainly due to the expansion of agricultural areas. Many remnants of this vegetation are still poorly studied. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to carry out a floristic survey in a remnant of Cerrado in the municipality of Pratânia, central-west region of state of São Paulo, southeastern Brazil. In total, 120 species (38 families, 88 genera) were registered. The families with greater richness were: Fabaceae (23 species), Asteraceae (15), Myrtaceae (10), Malpighiaceae and Rubiaceae (seven each) and Bignoniaceae (five). The shrub component was predominant in the study area representing 37.5% of the recorded species. A comparison among eight Cerrado areas showed greater similarity between areas with similar altitude. © 2010 Check List and Authors.

Richness and similarity of the Cerrado vascular flora in the central west region of São Paulo state, Brazil

This study aims to characterize and compare three Cerrado areas (one cerradão and two cerrado sensu stricto areas) in Patrânia, São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil, concerning the floristic composition. In total, 250 taxa were found belonging to four species of pteridophytes, one species of an exotic gymnosperm and 243 species of angiosperms. Differences in species number and proportion of the woody and herbaceous components were observed among the three Cerrado areas. The similarity analysis revealed that the cerradão seems quite peculiar, showing low similarity level with the cerrado sensu stricto areas contiguous to it, being more similar to other cerradão areas located in nearby municipalities. © 2012 Check List and Authors.

Crystalline rock outcrops in the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil: Vascular flora, biological spectrum, and invasive species

We studied the vegetation of two crystalline rock outcrops in the Atlantic Forest of northeastern Brazil. We recorded typically rupicolous species, which are rare or classified as extremely endangered, such as Aechmea guainumbiorum, found exclusively in one of the study sites. In both areas there was a predominance of therophytes over other life-forms, in contrast to observations made in rock outcrops of the southern Atlantic Forest. Therophytes also stood out in other rock outcrops at similar latitudes as our study site, regardless of the surrounding vegetation. Plants of other life-forms had significantly lower richness and showed adaptations to drought, such as succulent stem, pseudobulbs, dense pilosity, and underground storage organs. Our results suggest that invasive species may modify the vegetation of crystalline rock outcrops, as they change the number of species of all life-forms in comparison between sites. Hence, our results present the biological identity of these rupicolous habitats, which are marginal to forests, and point to the need for conserving them, in order to protect the Atlantic Forest's biodiversity. © 2013 Botanical Society of Sao Paulo.

Flora vascular não-arbórea do Parque Estadual de Porto Ferreira, SP, Brasil

Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Biologia Vegetal) - IBRC

Vascular plant diversity and climate change in the alpine zone of the Lefka Ori, Crete

The aim of this study is to analyse the vascular flora and the local climate along an altitudinal gradient in the Lefka Ori massif Crete and to evaluate the potential effects of climate change on the plant diversity of the sub-alpine and alpine zones. It provides a quantitative/qualitative analysis of vegetation-environment relationships for four summits along an altitude gradient on the Lefka Ori massif Crete (1664-2339 m). The GLORIA multi-summit approach was used to provide vegetation and floristic data together with temperature records for every summit. Species richness and species turnover was calculated together with floristic similarity between the summits. 70 species were recorded, 20 of which were endemic, belonging to 23 different families. Cretan endemics dominate at these high altitudes. Species richness and turnover decreased with altitude. The two highest summits showed greater floristic similarity. Only 20% of the total flora recorded reaches the highest summit while 10% is common among summits. Overall there was a 4.96 degrees C decrease in temperature along the 675 m gradient. Given a scenario of temperature increase the ecotone between the sub-alpine and alpine zone would be likely to have the greatest species turnover. Southern exposures are likely to be invaded first by thermophilous species while northern exposures are likely to be more resistant to changes. Species distribution shifts will also depend on habitat availability. Many, already threatened, local endemic species will be affected first.

Diversity of vascular plants growing on walls of a Brazilian city

City walls are very specialized environments, conditioned by human activities. There is little information about plants that invade human-made habitats, and no study done in Brazil with plants growing up on walls. The aim of the present study was to survey the wall vascular flora of a Brazilian city, comparing the diversity found in its downtown and neighborhoods. Fieldwork was done in Jundiaí, São Paulo State, where data was collected in downtown and in five neighborhoods. In each place, three transects of 1 km were established and every plant individual was registered. Twenty-eight species were identified, all of them on the downtown transect and most also on the neighborhood transects. Five species were the most frequent, although none were dominant. The diversity indicies of the six transects were not significantly different, with an overall diversity of H′ = 2.93. © Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2006.

Florística vascular não arbórea de um fragmento de floresta estacional semidecidual no munícipio de Analândia - SP

Pós-graduação em Ciências Biológicas (Biologia Vegetal) - IBRC

Distribution and species diversity of plant communities along transect on the Northeastern Tibetan plateau

The distribution and species diversity of plant communities along a 600 km transect through the northeastern Tibetan Plateau (32 degrees 42'-35 degrees 07' N, 101 degrees 02'-97 degrees 38' E) with altitudes from 3255 to 4460 m are described. The transect started from the Youyi Bridge of Banma through Dari, Maqin and Maduo to Zaling Lake. The data from 47 plots along the transect are summarized and analyzed. The mean annual temperature, the mean annual rainfall and the length of growing season decreases from 2.6 to -4.5 degrees C, from 767.2 to 240.1 mm, from 210 to 140 days, respectively, along the transect from the southeastern Banma to northwestern Zaling Lake. The number of vascular plant species recorded in 47 plots is 242 including 2 tree, 34 shrub, 206 herb species. Main vegetation types on the transect from southeast to northwest are: Sabina convallium forest, Picea likiangensis forest, Pyracantha fortuneana + Spiraea alpina shrub, Hippophae neurocarpu shrub, Sibiraea angustata + Polygonum viviparum shrub, Stellera chamaejasme herb meadow, Potentilla fruticosa + Salix obscura + Carex sp. Shrub, Kobresia capillifolia meadow, P. froticosa + Kobresia humilis shrub, Caragana jubata + S. obscura shrub, Kobresia tibetica meadow, Kobresia pygmaea meadow, K. pygmaea + Stipa purpurea steppe meadow, Stipa purpurea steppe. Plant richness and diversity index all showed a decreasing trend with increasing of elevation along transect from southeast to northwest. Detailed information on altitudinal ranges and distribution of the alpine vegetation, vascular flora and environments over the alpine zone at northeastern Tibetan Plateau provides baseline records relevant to future assessment of probable effects of global climate changes.

Contribution to the knowlegde of Galician xenoflora (NW Iberian Peninsula, Spain).

Information on 12 exotic plants of diverse interest for the Galician flora are presented. All of them were collected in Ribeira council (SW of the A Coruña province). The total includes 8 novelties at a regional level (Aeonium haworthii, Aloe mitriformis, Brugmansia × candida, Nephrolepis cordifolia, Osteospermum ecklonis, Pelargonium capitatum, Sedum mexicanum, Sparaxis tricolor), and 2 provincial novelties. In addition, information on two taxa hardly mentioned in the literature on Galician vascular flora is also included. All the cited specimens are deposited at the SANT Herbarium.

Phytogeographic characterization of Gran Canaria Island (Canary Islands-Spain)

Studies on the flora and fauna of the Canary Islands show that this Archipelago is one of the planet’s diversity hot spots. However, an analysis of the differences in the phytogeographic characteristics of each of the islands that make up this Archipelago is lacking. This article focuses on the phytogeographic characterization of the island of Gran Canaria. This island exhibits geological and climatic characteristics resulting in a rich vascular flora, including endemic species and genera that are significantly different from the other islands of the Archipelago. These differences are verified through statistical analysis of the existing similarity between the floras of the members of the Canary Islands. This study also analyses the subdivision of Gran Canaria Island, indicating that there are three well-differentiated areas on the island itself. Finally, this study argues that these areas, themselves, should be considered biogeographic sectors.

Biodiversidade da Reserva Florestal de Recreio do Pinhal da Paz

Dissertação de Mestrado, Biodiversidade e Biotecnologia Vegetal, 4 de Fevereiro de 2016, Universidade dos Açores.

Is it appropriate protective figure "Plant Micro-Reserves" to protect tree species? The example of Betula pendula subsp. fontqueri in "La Garganta de los Caballeros" (Ávila)

The figure of protection "micro-reserves" was created in the Region of Valencia (ANONYMOUS, 1994) with the aim of protecting endangered plant species. This is one of the areas of greatest floristic richness and uniqueness of the western Mediterranean. In this area rare, endemic or threatened vascular flora has a peculiar distribution: they appear to form small fragments spread over the entire region (LAGUNA, 1994; LAGUNA, 2001) The protection of every these small populations of great scientific value has significant challenges. It doesn´t try to protect every species that set out in Annex IV of the by then existing Law 4 / 1989 (repealed in 2007), or to protect to the most ecological level with the creation of Natural Protected Area but an intermediate level: the plant community of small size. According to the decree: “as Micro-Reserve will be declared the natural parcels of land under 20 hectares that contain a high concentration of rare plants, endemic, threatened or of high scientific interest” (ANONYMOUS, 1994) . Of course, the statement of an area as micro-reserve carries certain prohibitions that are harmful to the vegetal community

Census, reproductive biology, and germination of Astragalus gines-lopezii (Fabaceae), a narrow and endangered endemic species of SW Spain

Astragalus gines-lopezii Talavera, Podlech, Devesa & F.M.Vázquez (Fabaceae) is a threatened endemic species with a distribution restricted to a very small area in Badajoz Province (Extremadura Region, SW Spain) and only 2 populations are known. This species was catalogued in the ?Endangered? category in the 2008 Red List and the 2010 Threatened Spanish Vascular Flora List. Despite its status as an endangered species, at present very little is known about the distribution, census, and reproductive biology of this species. In this study we have carried out an exhaustive census of A. gines-lopezii , and we have evaluated the production of flowers, fruits, and seeds and the existence or not of intra- and interpopulation variability in seed germination. Results have highlighted the high reproductive capacity of this species on the basis of a high production of flowers, fruits, and seeds. Mechanical scarification of seeds was effective for increasing germination. Thus, initial germination (22%?60%) was increased to 97%?99% when seeds were rubbed with sandpapers. A high intra- and interpopulation variability in seed germination was found in this species. A. gines-lopezii produces seeds with different degrees of physical dormancy, varying this grade among different individuals within a population.