Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

How Rich is the Flora of Brazilian Cerrados?

1999; Missouri Botanical Garden; Volume: 86; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2307/2666220

2162-4372

Antônio Alberto Jorge Farias Castro, Fernando Roberto Martins, Jorge Yoshio Tamashiro, George John Shepherd,

Plant and animal studies

On reading accounts of floristic studies on cer-component have been rare m Brazil ( M.inl..\-in i X rados in Brazd, one rapidly comes to realize that Martins, 1993).Comparing the non-woody compothe majority of authors, either implicitly or explic-nent in different localities in Brazil, Mantovani itly, consider the eerrado flora to be well kno.ii i ;>,.;;• louud a local richness that varied between to have low richness.| ,,r example.Ui/./ini il'>( r> species in the Sena Dourada (state of Goia\s) 1971) estimated around 600 species and a little and 640 in the municipality of Lagoa Santa (state over 200 genera for the whole eerrado arboreal and of Minas Gerais).In an area of 343.42 ha of a cershrubby flora, but Heringer et al. (1977) cited 193 rado in the Reserva Bioldgica de Moji Guacu (state arboreal and shrubby species an, I confirmed |, ss ,|' > » |' , , \| , ,' \| r r i r i~ , \')'K\) loiind than 150 genera.Even recent studies (e.g.. Leitao 403 species of non-woody angiosperms.The her- Filho, 1992; Ratter et al., 1997) have estimated the haceoiis-siihshmbln angiosperm flora of the cermimber ol ai boreal shrubby spc< ie-for the cerra-ratios therefore appeal-lo be richer than the ardos as being around 800. Eiten (1990) has been boreal-shrubby flora, but its richness varies with one of the few authors to suggest that the thick-physiognomy (Mantovani, 1987).stemmed arboreal-shrubby Mora contains more than It can also be argued that the maximum physi-1000 species and that the denser physiognomies ognomic and floristic expression, together with may reach more than I -"> arboreal and shrubby maximum spatial continuity, should occur in the species per hectare.Castro (1994; see Ratter et al., "nuclear" (Labouriau, 1966), "central" (Rizzini, 1997) made an extensive survey of the literature in 1963), or "core" (Eiten, 1972; Ferri, 1977a) areas.order to gather support for the idea that the arboreal An implication of tins reasoning is that marginal and shrubby flora ol fhe Brazilian ee.rados is much and disjunct areas (Ratter et al., 1988a) should richer than previously assumed.have a relatively impoverished flora in comparison It could be argued that as the cerrados consist to the nuclear area, although they may be suppleot physiognomies that are predominantly grass-merited In floristic elements Irom the siiWiriding lands, the greatest llorislie richness should be en-vegetation formations (Eiten, 1972; Fcrnandes & countered in the non-woody (herbaeeoiis-subshnib-Bezerra, 1990; Rizzini, 1963).These elements, ie vegetation.Surveys of this which occur preferentially in other formations and 1 Kesearel, was developed ,., the Cur-,..].