Aims We offer a first classification of South Brazilian grasslands (Campos Sulinos) based on quantitative vegetation data and describing grassland types in terms of dominant and indicator species. Location South Brazilian grasslands (Paraná, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul states). Methods We described vegetation plots in 167 sampling units throughout the region using a stratified nested design, totalizing 1,502 1 m² quadrats. We classified vegetation using cluster analysis based on Bray–Curtis dissimilarities, establishing three vegetation types and ten subtypes. We conducted indicator species analysis within the resulting subtypes, and for all possible combinations of subtypes. Results In the cluster analyses, a clear separation of poorly drained grasslands from the drier sites appeared. Further, a clear distinction between grasslands in the South Brazilian highland region, situated in the Atlantic Forest biome, and the grasslands of the Pampa biome, to the south, emerged, reflecting climatic and management differences. Highland grasslands showed lower species cover dominance, while in the Pampa, Paspalum notatum clearly was the most important species and the abundance of exotic species was higher. Conclusions Our study provides the first classification of South Brazilian grasslands based on quantitative vegetation data recorded in a standardized sampling design. The data support the division of grasslands into the main phytogeographic units of the region (Brazilian biome classification). Grasslands in these two regions also differ in terms of species dominance pattern (higher dominance in Pampa grasslands, likely also due to higher grazing levels) and in terms of conservation state (low presence of exotic species in highland grasslands). Our results are important for conservation policies, which can now consider the presence of different grassland types in different region, but more data will be necessary for a more detailed classification that considers different abiotic features in more detail.

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The shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora.

The biodiversity loss resulting from rising levels of human impacts on ecosystems has been extensively discussed over the last years. The expansion of urban areas promotes drastic ecological changes, especially through fragmentation of natural areas. Natural grassland remnants surrounded by an urban matrix are more likely to undergo disturbance events. Since grassland ecosystems are closely related to disturbances such as fire and grazing, grassland plant communities, pollinators, and their interaction networks may be especially sensitive to urban expansion, because it promotes habitat fragmentation and modifies disturbance regimes. This work evaluated the effect of the level of urbanization and recent history of fire disturbance on grassland plants communities and plant-floral visitor mutualistic networks. We sampled plant communities and floral visitors in 12 grassland sites with different levels of urbanization and time since the last fire event. Sites with higher levels of urbanization showed higher values for plant species richness, floral visitor richness, and network asymmetry. All sampled networks were significantly nested (with one exception), asymmetric, and specialized. In addition, all networks presented more modules than expected by chance. The frequency of fire disturbance events increased with the level of urbanization. Since grassland ecosystems depend on disturbances to maintain their structure and diversity, we inferred that the history of fire disturbance was the mechanism behind the relationship between urbanization and our biological descriptors. Our findings highlight the importance of small and isolated grassland remnants as conservation assets within urban areas, and that the disturbance events that such sites are submitted to may in fact be what maintains their diversity on multiple levels.

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