Diversity, vertical structure and floristic relationships of vascular epiphytes in an urban remnant of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Abstract

-(Diversity, vertical structure and floristic relationships of vascular epiphytes in an urban remnant of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest). This study was conducted in a fragment of montane seasonal semi-deciduous forest (Minas Gerais State) with a history of anthropogenic disturbance. Our goals were to characterise the composition, structure and floristic diversity of vascular epiphytes and to investigate the floristic similarities of the community with other areas of urban seasonal forests in Brazil. We sampled 61 phorophytes with 47 epiphytic species. The richest families were Bromeliaceae (seven) and Polypodiaceae (seven). The most common ecological category was accidental holoepiphytes with 21 speciesan unprecedented result for the Neotropical region. The Shannon index was 2.95 and the Pielou evenness index 0.77, showing a relatively high diversity with a few dominant species and numerous rare species. Similarity analyses showed a longitudinal gradient and strong influence of the distance from the ocean on floristic relationships as well as influence of dense ombrophilous forests on the composition of the vascular epiphytes of the surveyed area. Keywords: accidental holoepiphytes, biodiversity hotspot, multivariate analyses, taxonomic diversity, urban forest RESUMO -(Diversidade, estrutura vertical e relações florísticas de epífitas vasculares em um remanescente urbano da Floresta Atlântica brasileira). Este estudo foi realizado em um fragmento de floresta estacional semidecidual montana (Minas Gerais) com histórico de perturbação antrópica. Os objetivos foram caracterizar a composição, estrutura e diversidade florística das epífitas vasculares e investigar a similaridade florística da comunidade com outras áreas de florestas estacionais urbanas no Brasil. Foram amostrados 61 forófitos e registradas 47 espécies de epífitas. As famílias mais ricas foram Bromeliaceae (sete) e Polypodiaceae (sete). A categoria ecológica mais comum foi a de holoepífitas acidentais com 21 espécies -um resultado inédito na Região Neotropical. O índice de Shannon foi 2,95 e o índice de uniformidade de Pielou foi 0,77, mostrando diversidade relativamente alta com certa dominância de poucas espécies, enquanto as espécies raras foram numerosas. Análises de similaridade mostraram gradiente longitudinal e forte influência da distância do oceano sobre as relações florísticas, assim como influência das florestas ombrófilas densas sobre a composição das epífitas vasculares na área estudada. Palavras-chave: análises multivariadas, diversidade taxonômica, floresta urbana, holoepífitas acidentais, "hotspot" de biodiversidade

Diversity of Vascular Epiphytes in Urban Green Areas of Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil

“…Billbergia horrida was a species that stands out for its high occurrence in one of the green areas studied (Parque Halfeld) and was also recorded within tens of meters away in the Catedral area (Figure 1), however, this species was not found in other areas. Even though it was noted that this species occurs frequently in cultivated trees and fragments of semideciduous secondary forest associated with the Botanical Garden of the UFFJ, near the central region of this municipality (Marques, 2016;Santana et al, 2017).…”

Vascular epiphytic component of “Brejo de altitude” in northeastern Brazil: floristic composition and phytosociological structure

“…For our region, accidental epiphytes were the second most representative group. In most studies carried out in Brazil, this second position is occupied by facultative epiphytes, but in studies carried out in disturbed areas, this situation may be altered (SANTANA et al, 2017).…”

Vascular epiphytes on licuri palms (Syagrus coronata (Mart.) Becc.) in a toposequence: Caatinga conservation indicator species

“…Adaptations appeared in the Pliocene/ Pleistocene, when there was a restriction of water and light (Benzing 1989). Epiphytes are defined as plants that live on others, without emission of haustorial structures on the host, taking advantage of places of accumulation of moisture and organic matter to develop, while obtaining water and nutrients out of the soil (Zotz 2013;Santana et al 2017).…”

“…Epiphyte species have important ecological functions such as supplying fruits, nectar, pollen grains, and shelter for numerous animal species, as well as acting as water reservoirs and maintaining moister microclimate and increasing biomass (Adibah and Ainuddin 2011;Quaresma et al 2017). Besides performing these relevant ecosystem functions, they are considered bioindicators of the degree of conservation or disturbance of an area (Santana et al 2017). In general, plants supporting epiphytic species are called phorophytes and are not specific in terms of epiphyte occurrence (Bataghin et al 2017).…”

“…(Silva et al 2006) and licuri palm epiphytism (Oliveira et al 2015;Castro et al 2016), but these studies only identify the list of epiphytic species without ecological data. Studies of epiphytic plants are more abundant in humid tropical and subtropical regions (Castro et al 2016), such as the Atlantic Forest (Menini Neto et al 2009;Mania and Monteiro 2010;Leitman et al 2014;Santana et al 2017). Therefore, based on data from Flora do Brasil (2020, cont.…”