First record of the exotic fern Pteris tripartita Sw. (Pteridaceae) for the Maranhão state, northeastern Brazil

Abstract

This study is the first record of the exotic fern species of Pteris tripartita Sw. (Pteridaceae) for the Maranhão state, northeastern Brazil. Here we present a description of the species, based on examined material and comments about its geographical distribution in the world and Brazilian states. Our data increases the knowledge of the number of change for: fern species recorded for the state, and help to delimit the geographical distribution pattern of this introduced species in the country, determining its invasive potential and possible impacts that it can cause to the native flora.

Geographic range extension of Rapatea paludosa Aubl. (Rapateaceae) to Maranhão state, northeastern Brazil

“…The conservation of the remaining forest areas in Maranhão is of utmost importance since successive anthropic impacts could compromise the existing natural areas, leading to in the disappearance of species, or even taxa unknown to science (Koch and Araújo-Silva 2014;Rodrigues et al 2017). As observed for R. paludosa, the conservation of forest fragments and systematic floristic surveys has resulted in new records for the flora of Maranhão and the filling of some knowledge gaps (Koch and Araújo-Silva 2014;Ferreira et al 2017Ferreira et al , 2018Guarçoni et al 2018aGuarçoni et al , 2018bSilva Junior et al 2018…”

Lycophytes and ferns of an Amazonian-Cerrado ecotone in Maranhão State, Northeastern Brazil: identification key and annotated list of taxa.

“…Ching is also naturalized and widely distributed in Brazil (Hirai et al 2016). Exotic species of ferns are commonly recorded in natural areas in the state of Maranhão (Silva Junior et al 2018;Silva Junior et al 2020), indicating human influence and the need for environmental monitoring because exotic fern species can negatively affect the native flora (Silva Junior et al 2018).…”

“…They carried out a floristic survey in the Sacavém Forest Reserve in São Luís and reported the occurrence of 35 species, all of which were new records for the state. Subsequent works recorded species already known for the flora of Maranhão, as well as species commonly found in anthropic sites (Conceição & Ruggieri 2010;Conceição et al 2015;Silva et al 2017;Silva Junior et al 2018).…”

The first register of the weed fern Pteris cretica var. laeta (Pteridaceae) in central Argentina

“…Some species, as Pteris cretica L., P. longifolia L., P. multifida Poir., P. tremula R. Br., P. tripartita Sw. and P. vittata L. are reported as invasive weeds in many parts of the world, being increasingly found in both, natural and urban areas in several countries possibly as a result of climate change (Wilkins & Salter, 2003;Mac Donald, Sellers, Langeland, Duperron-Bond & Ketterer-Guest, 2008;Robinson, Sheffield & Sharpe, 2010;Silva Junior, Fernandes & Ferreira, 2018). Pteris tremula, originally distributed in the Australasian South Pacific, was recently cited as established in Argentina, in diverse environments like marginal forest, Espinal forests, flooded scrublands and also disturbed habitats (Arana, Berrueta, Luna & Giudice, 2020).…”