ABSTRACT
Serpentine soils are those holding at least of 70% iron-magnesium compounds, which make life intolerable for many species. Although plant's adaptation to environmental toughness is widely studied in tropics, virtually nothing is known about Brazilian serpentine flora. Our aim was to bring up and characterize the serpentine flora in Bom Sucesso, Minas Gerais state, Brazil. We performed expeditions utilizing rapid survey sampling method to identify the arboreal compound in the area. Plants within circumference at breast high (CBH) up to 15,7 cm were included in our study. A specialist identified all the individuals to species level. We found 246 species located in 59 botanical families. Fabaceae, Myrtaceae and Melastomataceae were the most representative families in the area. Serpentine areas usually present a few species capable to survive to adverse conditions, contrasting the high number found in our study. To our knowledge, this is the first floristic survey in serpentine areas in the neotropics, reinforcing the need for more studies about plant diversity in those areas. It seems that serpentinites is not the key factor influencing plant diversity in the neotropics. The high diversity found in our study strengthens serpentine areas as a place for conservation concern.
Subject(s)
Asbestos, Serpentine/classification , Data Collection , Iron CompoundsABSTRACT
Our objective was to evaluate the floristic and structural relationships between Canga tree communities and other vegetation types inserted in the physiognomic units set, in order to test the hypothesis that these communities have unique characteristics due to their specific environmental conditions. For this, we compared the structural and floristic attributes of Canga vegetation with adjacent semideciduous seasonal forest, Savanna and ecotone areas, evaluating the similarity in its behavior. Our results demonstrate the existence of distinct relationships among vegetation types in relation to different perspectives, related to macro-scale environmental attributes and to the phytogeographic context. In general, Canga tree vegetation has its structure associated with open vegetation types, such as the Cerrado (Savanna) and its composition associated with forest vegetation types, constituted by a community with specific ecological characteristics. Our results suggest the presence of ferruginous soils as a factor that contributes to environmental and ecological heterogeneity in vegetation matrices.
Nosso objetivo foi avaliar as relações florísticas e estruturais entre comunidades arbóreas de Canga e outros tipos vegetacionais inseridos no conjunto de unidades fisionômicas para testar a hipótese de que estas comunidades apresentam características singulares devido às suas condições ambientais especificas. Para isso, comparamos atributos estruturais e florísticos deste tipo vegetacional com outras adjacentes tais como floresta estacional semidecídua, Cerrado e áreas ecotonais, avaliando a similaridade em seu comportamento. Nossos resultados demonstram a existência de relações distintas entres os tipos vegetacionais com relação às diferentes perspectivas, relacionadas à atributos ambientais de macro escala e ao contexto fitogeográfico. No geral, vegetação de canga tem sua estrutura associada a tipos vegetacionais de menor porte como Cerrado e sua composição associada a tipos vegetacionais florestais, consistindo em uma comunidade com características ecológicas específicas. Nossos resultados sugerem a presença de solos ferruginosos como um fator que contribui para a heterogeneidade ambiental e ecológica em matrizes vegetacionais.