Aims: The herb-shrub flora has been widely neglected in science and conservation policy throughout the world, so that this biodiversity component remains largely unknown. The objective of this study was to elucidate the spatial patterns of species richness and phytogeographic regions of the Cerrado herb-shrub flora, and to estimate the percentage of areas with high species richness that is still covered by natural vegetation and is located in protected areas or priority areas for conservation. Location: Central Brazil and surrounding territories.Methods: To estimate the pattern of species richness we produced species distribution models (SDMs) for 5362 species using botanical records combined with 17 least correlated environmental variables. All SDMs were tested against a biascorrected null model and the 5039 significant SDMs were stacked to generate the pattern of botanical richness. The resulting presence-absence matrix was subjected to a partitioning around medoids (PAM) cluster analysis to delineate phytogeographic regions.Results: The pattern of species richness indicated that highest levels of richness are in the central-south and west parts of the Cerrado. The study recognized two floristically distinct clusters at the core of the Cerrado region, and seven additional regions that share floristic elements with the two core clusters. Many areas with high levels of modelled species richness are located outside protected and priority areas for conservation. Conclusions:We recognized patterns of regional variation, reflected in the phytogeographic division. Furthermore, we show that the current protected areas in Brazil do not effectively protect high richness areas of the herb-shrub flora.

Vereda (Brazilian palm swamp) is a poorly known savannic phytophysiognomy that occurs on moist soils with high herb-shrub fl oristic richness. Th is study aimed to document the herb-shrub species of veredas of the Estação Ecológica Serra Geral do Tocantins -EESGTO, and compare this fl ora with other veredas in Brazil. Furthermore, we assessed the similarity of the herb-shrub flora of the studied veredas with that of inventories of other savannas and grasslands in order to evaluate whether veredas possess an exclusive fl ora. Ordination analysis was performed to understand the fl oristic relationship among these areas. We recorded 213 species, 105 genera and 49 families at EESGTO, including fi ve new fl oral records for the Cerrado and 78 for the state of Tocantins. Th e fl oristic similarity among veredas at EESGTO and the other sites was low. For all sites, a total of 1,324 species were recorded, of which 342 were unique to veredas and 187 unique to moist grasslands (campos limpos úmidos). After reviewing databases, 14.3 % of these species remained exclusive to veredas and moist grasslands. Th e ordination analysis indicated a gradient in fl oristic composition from wet to dry phytophysiognomies. In conclusion, we recognize a fl ora that distinguishes veredas from other Cerrado phytophysiognomies.

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