Checklist of Angiosperms of a Cerrado Environmental Protection Area in the State of Maranhão, Brazil: floristic composition and new occurrences

Abstract

This study presents an updated checklist of angiosperms from the Inhamum Municipal Environmental Protection Area (IMEPA), municipality of Caxias, a strategic area for understanding the Cerrado flora in the State of Maranhão, Brazil. The data presented provides information on the most representative taxa, number of collections, physiognomies of occurrence, life forms, endemicity to Brazil, new records for the State and a floristic similarity analysis with other Cerrado areas in this State. A total of 16 field excursions were carried out from January 2018 to June 2019, with random collections of fertile specimens made mostly on trails. We found 228 species of angiosperms distributed in 148 genera and 50 families. The most representative family was Leguminosae, with 54 species and 33 genera. Cyperus (Cyperaceae) was the most representative genus with seven species. A total of 40 species are endemic to Brazil, and ten are new occurrences for the State of Maranhão. The similarity analysis showed that the composition of angiosperm species from IMEPA is closer to that from the Buriti do Meio Environmental Protection Area, another conservation unit located in the same mesoregion within the State of Maranhão. Nonetheless, low similarity values were recorded, demonstrating an exclusive local richness in the analyzed areas. This study contributed to the knowledge of the Cerrado flora from the State of Maranhão, filling in the Cerrado diversity gaps in Northern Brazil.

Malvaceae em fragmentos de Cerrado na cidade de Caxias, Maranhão, Brasil

“…No Nordeste os trabalhos taxonômicos voltados à família concentram-se principalmente nos estados da Bahia (Lima & Conceição 2016;Lima et al 2019), Paraíba (Figueredo et al 2020, Souza et al 2020 e Pernambuco (Brandão et al 2017). No Maranhão, há trabalhos com Malvaceae em levantamentos florísticos de Angiospermas e/ou descrição de novos registros e ampliação de ocorrência (Costa et al 2017, Nascimento et al 2020, Sousa et al 2022, porém, o estado carece de levantamentos exclusivos da família.…”

A comprehensive checklist of the angiosperms of a Cerrado fragment reveals outstanding species richness in the state of Maranhão, Brazil

“…Despite the high potential of Maranhão to be among the most biodiverse states in Brazil due to its geographical position and variety of habitats, knowledge gaps place it among the least known, especially regarding its flora [20]. Maranhão is considered under-sampled compared to other states, but several floristic surveys have been carried out [21][22][23][24][25][26][27], many new species have been described [28][29][30], and new records have been reported [31][32][33][34] in the last ten years, demonstrating the floristic diversity of the state which still needs to be cataloged.…”

Fragmentos de Caatinga são florística e estruturalmente similares?

“…Esses impactos sobre a vegetação vêm provocando a perda da diversidade de espécies. Os estudos florísticos e fitossociológicos vêm contribuindo com informações valiosas a respeito do estado de conservação dos fragmentos florestais e sobre a distribuição das plantas, auxiliam no planejamento e no manejo dos recursos florestais (Nobrega et al, 2020;Morais, Araújo e Conceição, 2021;Sousa et al, 2021).…”