Climbers: flora of the Caiua Ecological Station and an identification key for the vegetative species of Northern Parana State/Trepadeiras: floristica da Estacao Ecologica do Caiua e chave de identificacao vegetativa para especies do Norte do Estado do Parana

• Published in: Acta scientiarum. Biological sciences 2012-04, Vol.34 (2), p.217
• Main Authors: Carneiro, Juliana de Souza, Vieira, Ana Odete Santos
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Subjects: Deciduous forests; Plants
• ISSN: 1679-9283
• DOI: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v34i2.5892

Climbers are highly represented in tropical forests and are of great ecological importance, having been identified as one of the key factors that differentiate tropical forests from temperate rainforests. This paper presents the climber species of the Caiua Ecological Station (EECAIUA) in the City of Diamante do Norte, Parana State; the Station is located in a submountainous seasonal semideciduous forest (SSF) and is situated on the edge of the Paranapanema river. We found 17 families, 44 genera and 53 species of vines. The five families with the greatest number of species jointly accounted for 57% of the total species found. Herbaceous vines occurred less frequently than did lianas. When considering the climbing strategy used by the species, the graspers were the most diverse, followed by those that had tendrils (scramblers) and climbers. An identification key based on vegetative characters of families found in other parts of northern Parana was created for the families of this location.