Patterns of diversity and gaps in vascular (hemi-)epiphyte flora of Southwestern Amazonia

Abstract

Vascular epiphytes are common in tropical forests and represent a considerable part of the biodiversity in Southwestern Amazonia. The aim of this study was to determine the floristic composition, patterns of species richness, and geographical distribution and knowledge gaps (collection effort) of the epiphytic vascular flora of the Brazilian State of Acre. We analyzed the database of the Flora of Acre and found a total of 331 species and 32 families of angiosperms and ferns. Almost half of the epiphytic flora of Acre (48% of species) occurs only in Northern Brazil. Of the total species, 56% are restricted to Amazonia. The distribution of the number of collections of epiphytes is concentrated in a few locations in the state and there is a positive correlation between the number of collections of epiphytes and the general index of collection density. The low and unequal sampling effort of epiphytes across the State, the high proportion of specimens identified at best to genus, and the still steep species/sampling curve indicates that the true diversity of epiphytes in Southwestern Amazonia is expressively higher than recorded thus far. This highlights the need for efforts specifically focused on documenting under-represented taxonomic groups as well as more thorough inventory of the canopy flora in this region of Amazonia.

Composição florística das epífitas vasculares em duas fisionomias vegetais no município de Botucatu, estado de São Paulo, Brasil

“…Os espécimes férteis coletados em campo foram preparados e herborizados conforme métodos propostos por Fidalgo & Bononi (1984), e os materiais testemunhos incorporados no acervo do Herbário Rioclarense (HRCB), do Instituto de Biociências da UNESP, campus Rio Claro. Além disso, com o objetivo de melhorar os registros, quando encontrados estéreis foram mantidos em cultivo até o período fértil e, posteriormente submetidos aos processos de identificação e herborização (Breier 2005;Obermüller et al 2014).…”

Species Richness and Abundance of Low-Trunk Herb Epiphytes in Relation to Host Tree Size and Bark Type, Eastern Amazonia

“…The ecological knowledge about vascular epiphytes in Brazilian Amazon in currently still incipient, with a modest number of studies carried out in the biome (POS; SLEEGERS, 2010;MEDEIROS;JARDIM, 2011;IRUME et al, 2013;KOCH et al, 2013;JARDIM, 2012JARDIM, , 2013JARDIM, , 2014OBERMULLER et al, 2014). Epiphytic plants are important components of the tropical forest ecosystem and understanding their relationship with environment, including tree hosts, may help to predict their occurrence and to plan their conservation.…”

Epífitas vasculares da mata de restinga da Praia do Sul, Ilha Grande, RJ, Brasil

“…Araceae apresenta elevada riqueza em florestas de baixas altitudes (Krömer et al 2007), como as florestas de baixada e submontana, que formam um contínuo com as florestas de restinga da RBEPS, permitindo que um grande número de espécies dessas formações seja encontrado nas matas de restinga da área. Resultados semelhantes para a comunidade de epífitas foram registrados nas florestas da Amazônia brasileira e colombiana (Benavides et al 2005;Irume et al 2013;Pos & Sleegers 2010;Obermuller et al 2014;Quaresma & Jardim 2014).…”

“…1999). No domínio Amazônico destacam-se Araceae e Orchidaceae como as famílias de maior riqueza de espécies (Benavides et al 2005;Irume et al 2013;Pos & Sleegers 2010;Obermuller et al 2014;Quaresma & Jardim 2014), enquanto no domínio Atlântico sobressaem Orchidaceae e Bromeliaceae na maioria dos levantamentos (e.g., Kersten 2010).…”