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A comprehensive checklist of vascular epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest reveals outstanding endemic rates.

ABSTRACT: Knowledge of the geographic distribution of plants is essential to underpin the understanding of global biodiversity patterns. Vascular epiphytes are important components of diversity and functionality of Neotropical forests but, unlike their terrestrial counterparts, they are under-represented in large-scale diversity and biogeographic analyses. This is the case for the Atlantic Forest - one of the most diverse and threatened biomes worldwide. We provide the first comprehensive species list of Atlantic Forest vascular epiphytes; their endemism patterns and threatened species occurrence have also been analyzed. A list with 2,256 species of (hemi-)epiphytes - distributed in 240 genera and 33 families - is presented based on the updated Brazilian Flora Checklist. This represents more than 15% of the total vascular plant richness in the Atlantic Forest. Moreover, 256 species are included on the Brazilian Red List. More than 93% of the overall richness is concentrated in ten families, with 73% represented by Orchidaceae and Bromeliaceae species alone. A total of 78% of epiphytic species are endemic to the Atlantic Forest, in contrast to overall vascular plant endemism in this biome estimated at 57%. Among the non-endemics, 13% of epiphytic species also occur either in the Amazon or in the Cerrado - the other two largest biomes of Brazil - and only 8% are found in two or more Brazilian biomes. This pattern of endemism, in addition to available dated phylogenies of some genera, indicate the dominance of recent radiations of epiphytic groups in the Atlantic Forest, showing that the majority of divergences dating from the Pliocene onwards are similar to those that were recently reported for other Neotropical plants.

SUBMITTER: Freitas L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4743015 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A comprehensive checklist of vascular epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest reveals outstanding endemic rates.

Freitas Leandro L Salino Alexandre A Neto Luiz Menini LM Elias Almeida Thaís T Mortara Sara Ribeiro SR Stehmann João Renato JR Amorim André Marcio AM Guimarães Elsie Franklin EF Coelho Marcus Nadruz MN Zanin Ana A Forzza Rafaela Campostrini RC

PhytoKeys 20160112 58

Knowledge of the geographic distribution of plants is essential to underpin the understanding of global biodiversity patterns. Vascular epiphytes are important components of diversity and functionality of Neotropical forests but, unlike their terrestrial counterparts, they are under-represented in large-scale diversity and biogeographic analyses. This is the case for the Atlantic Forest - one of the most diverse and threatened biomes worldwide. We provide the first comprehensive species list of ...[more]

PMID: 26884706

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Project description:Aim:Habitat reduction in fragmented landscapes provides an opportunity to study the biogeographic patterns that drive changes in diversity in poorly studied metacommunities. In this study, colonization-extinction dynamics were indirectly evaluated through the analysis of the species-area relationship and the nestedness of vascular epiphytes and climbing plants in 30 swamp forest fragments. Location:Coast of the Araucanía Region in Chile. Taxon:Vascular epiphytes (16 species, mainly Pteridophytes) and climbing plants (15 species). Methods:We used the database in Pincheira-Ulbrich et al. (New Zealand Journal of Botany, 54, 2016, 458), where 904 trees were sampled and a total abundance of 41,097 fern fronds and 3,098 climbing stems were reported. For the species-area relationship, a simple linear regression model (SLR) and two models that consider the spatial autocorrelation of species richness among fragments, generalized least squares (GLS) and simultaneous autoregressive model (SAR), were compared. For the species nestedness, the nestedness measure based on overlap and decreasing fills (NODF) and weighted nestedness metric based on overlap and decreasing fill (WNODF) indexes were used on presence-absence and abundance matrices, respectively. These matrices were sorted by area size and distance from the largest fragment and then contrasted with the probability distribution of a randomized null model based on 10,000 simulations. Results:The results showed that the area size had a significantly positive effect on epiphyte species richness, while spatial autocorrelation played a fundamental role in explaining the richness of climbing plants. Both metacommunities had a general nestedness structure in terms of species incidence, which was determined first by area size and secondly by isolation. Main conclusions:Our results indicate that local colonization processes determined by species' dispersal capacities could be the predominant mechanism for the spatial configuration of climbing plant species composition. On the other hand, selective extinction determined by patch size could characterize the spatial structure of epiphyte species' composition.

Project description:Historically, macroecology and microecology have diverged with regard to the niche concept. A better understanding of functioning ecological systems, however, depends on an integrative approach to this concept at different spatial scales. A mixed approach, merging macro- and microscale by validating ecological niche modeling (ENM) with the results of in situ experiments and environmental data collection was used to understand if areas identified by ENM as highly suitable for adult palms are also adequate for seedling establishment. Syagrus weddelliana's (Arecaceae) distribution range falls within the Atlantic Rain Forest, and more specifically Serra dos Órgãos region (Rio de Janeiro state), southeastern Brazil. The following steps were performed: (a) ENM to delimit the area of occurrence of S. weddelliana and locate experimental areas; (b) a seed sowing experiment in areas with presence or absence of the species in areas of high or low environmental suitability at 36 experimental stations; and (c) characterization of each microhabitat which was related back to the macroscale results of ENM. Evidence of biotic and abiotic limitations was found for S. weddelliana distribution. Areas of higher suitability had lower seed predation rates and, consequently, higher seed germination rates. On the other hand, areas with low environmental suitability at the macroscale were divided into two types: areas with microhabitat similar to that of areas with high environmental suitability that had some germination despite high predation and areas with different environmental conditions that had no germination and high predation rates. Seedlings and adults had different abiotic requirements. Microhabitat conditions were more important for the initial establishment of S. weddelliana than macroclimatic variables. This finding demonstrates that macro- and microecological information works in a complementary way to a better understanding of the distribution of S. weddelliana.

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A comprehensive checklist of vascular epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest reveals outstanding endemic rates.

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A comprehensive checklist of vascular epiphytes of the Atlantic Forest reveals outstanding endemic rates.

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