Floristic diversity of an urban protected area of Atlantic Forest in Northeast Brazil: Dois Irmãos State Park, Pernambuco

• Published in: Rodriguésia 2024, Vol.75
• Main Authors: Nascimento, Ladivania Medeiros do, Aguiar, Maria Manuela Bandeira de, Rodrigues, Lúcia dos Santos, França, Pedro Henrique Tavares de, Chagas, Marcos Antônio das, Melo, Vitória Larissa Moreira, Lins-e-Silva, Ana Carolina Borges
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: checklist; floristic richness; inventory; PPBio
• ISSN: 0370-6583; 2175-7860
• DOI: 10.1590/2175-7860202475075

Abstract A floristic inventory was prepared for the Dois Irmãos State Park (PEDI, Recife, PE, Brazil), one of the most significant Atlantic Forest remnants (1,158 hectares) and an essential urban protected area in the Brazilian Northeast. The inventory included monthly field collections (2014-2015, 2017-2018) in a PPBio Program RAPELD module, searches in the INCT - Virtual Herbarium and literature, followed by a careful taxonomic review, including avascular and vascular plants. Species were assigned to a category for their habitats, habits, life forms, origin, extinction risk status, and substrate type. Overall, 992 species were registered (515 genera, 140 families). The Angiosperms comprised 887 species (110 families), of which 65% were woody species: 370 (41.7%) trees, six palm trees (0.7%), 146 (16.5%) shrubs, 56 (6.3%) climbers; and 309 (35%) were herbaceous plants. The most important angiosperm families were Fabaceae (90 species), Poaceae (54 spp.), Rubiaceae (47 spp.), Myrtaceae (35 spp.), Cyperaceae and Melastomataceae (32 spp. each). Forty-four species of ferns and lycophytes (15 families) were recorded; Pteridaceae (12 spp.), Thelypteridaceae (6 spp.), and Polypodiaceae (5 spp.) were the richest. We registered 61 species (14 families) of avascular plants, of which Lejeuneaceae (23 spp.), Calymperaceae (9 spp.) and Sematophyllaceae (7 spp.) exhibited the highest richness. We found 13 threatened species, such as Canistrum aurantiacum (Bromeliaceae) and Ocotea odorifera (Lauraceae). Our results confirm that the PEDI holds a high floristic richness in comparison to other checklists from this Atlantic Forest region. This highlights the importance of the Dois Irmãos State Park as a unique and valuable natural resource, and the need for more conservation efforts to protect this area. Resumo Neste trabalho, foi compilada a lista florística do Parque Estadual de Dois Irmãos (PEDI, Recife, PE, Brasil), um dos mais significativos remanescentes de Mata Atlântica (1.158 ha) do Nordeste brasileiro e uma importante área protegida urbana. O inventário incluiu coletas de campo mensais (2014-2015, 2017-2018) em um módulo RAPELD do Programa PPBio, além de consulta ao INCT - Herbário Virtual e pesquisa bibliográfica, seguida de criteriosa revisão taxonômica, e incluiu plantas não vasculares e vasculares. As espécies foram classificadas de acordo com os seus habitats, hábitos, formas de vida, origem, risco de extinção, e tipo de substrato. No total, foram registradas