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12,500+ and counting: biodiversity of the Brazilian Pampa

2023; International Biogeography Society; Volume: 15; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.21425/f5fbg59288

1948-6596

Bianca Ott Andrade, William Dröse, Cassiana Alves de Aguiar, Elisa Teixeira Aires, Diego Janisch Alvares, Rosa Lía Barbieri, Cláudio José Barros de Carvalho, Marie Luise Carolina Bartz, Fernando Gertum Becker, Glayson Ariel Bencke, Anelise Beneduzi, Jorge Bernardo Silva, Betina Blochtein, Ilsi Iob Boldrini, Piter Kehoma Boll, Juçara Bordin, Rosa Mara Borges da Silveira, Márcio Borges Martins, Camila Bosenbecker, João Alberto Leão Braccini, Bruna Marmitt Braun, Rosângela Brito, George Gardner Brown, Henrique Mallmann Büneker, Cristiano Roberto Buzatto, Adriano Cavalleri, Sônia Zanini Cechin, Patrick Colombo, Reginaldo Constantino, Cíntia Fernanda da Costa, Marina Schmidt Dalzochio, Marcelo Gehlen de Oliveira, Rafael Antunes Dias, Luana Amaral dos Santos, Adriane da Fonseca Duarte, Juliano Lessa Pinto Duarte, Jaqueline Durigon, Mayara Escobar Da Silva, Priscila Porto Alegre Ferreira, Talita Ferreira, Juliano Ferrer, Viviane Gianluppi Ferro, Carla Suertegaray Fontana, Marcelo Duarte Freire, Thales Renato Ochotorena de Freitas, Daniel Galiano, Marinês Garcia, Tiágo Gomes dos Santos, Lucas Roberto Pereira Gomes, Felipe Gonzatti, Marco Silva Gottschalk, Gustavo Graciolli, Camille Eichelberger Granada, Martin Grings, Pablo Santos Guimarães, Ingrid Heydrich, Samanta Iop, João André Jarenkow, Patrícia Jungbluth, Márcia Isabel Käffer, Lucas Augusto Kaminski, Diego Costa Kenne, Frederico Dutra Kirst, Tiago Kütter Krolow, Rodrigo Ferreira Krüger, Bruno Busnello Kubiak, Ana María Leal-Zanchet, Daniel Loebmann, Dióber Borges Lucas, Elaine Lucas, André Luís Luza, Iberê Farina Machado, Bruno Madalozzo, Renan Maestri, Luiz Roberto Malabarba, Raúl Maneyro, Marco Antonio Tonus Marinho, Roberta Marques, Kimberly S. Marta, Diego Da Silveira Martins, Giovana Da Silva Martins, Thiago Rambo Martins, Anderson Santos de Mello, Ramon Luciano Mello, Milton de Souza Mendonça, Ana Beatriz Barros de Morais, Felipe Ferraz Figueiredo Moreira, Leonardo Felipe Bairos Moreira, Luciano de Azevedo Moura, Michelle Helena Nervo, Ricardo Ott, Patrícia Paludo, Luciane Maria Pereira Passaglia, Eduardo Périco, Erika Sant'Anna Petzhold, Mateus Marques Pires, Jean Lucas Poppe, Fernando Marques Quintela, Mateus Raguse-Quadros, María João Ramos Pereira, Samuel Renner, Felipe Barbosa Ribeiro, José Ricardo Inácio Ribeiro, Everton Nei Lopes Rodrigues, Patrícia Elesbão da Silva Rodrigues, Helena Piccoli Romanowski, Tatiana Petersen Ruschel, Suelen Da Silva Alves Saccol, Marcoandré Savaris, Fernanda Schmidt Silveira, Hermes José Schmitz, Ana Emília Siegloch, Ricardo Russo Siewert, Pedro Joel Silva da Silva Filho, Aline G. Soares, Alexandre Somavilla, Patrícia Sperotto, Márcia Regina Spies, Flávia Pereira Tirelli, Alexandro Marques Tozetti, Laura Verrastro, Cleusa Vogel Ely, Ândrio Zafalon Da Silva, Caroline Zank, Edison Zefa, Gerhard E. Overbeck,

Species Distribution and Climate Change

Knowledge on biodiversity is fundamental for conservation strategies. The Brazilian Pampa region, located in subtropical southern Brazil, is neglected in terms of conservation, and knowledge of its biodiversity is fragmented. We aim to answer the question: how many, and which, species occur in the Brazilian Pampa? In a collaborative effort, we built species lists for plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi that occur in the Brazilian Pampa. We included information on distribution patterns, main habitat types, and conservation status. Our study resulted in referenced lists totaling 12,503 species (12,854 taxa, when considering infraspecific taxonomic categories [or units]). Vascular plants amount to 3,642 species (including 165 Pteridophytes), while algae have 2,046 species (2,378 taxa) and bryophytes 316 species (318 taxa). Fungi (incl. lichenized fungi) contains 1,141 species (1,144 taxa). Animals total 5,358 species (5,372 taxa). Among the latter, vertebrates comprise 1,136 species, while invertebrates are represented by 4,222 species. Our data indicate that, according to current knowledge, the Pampa holds approximately 9% of the Brazilian biodiversity in an area of little more than 2% of Brazil’s total land. The proportion of species restricted to the Brazilian Pampa is low (with few groups as exceptions), as it is part of a larger grassland ecoregion and in a transitional climatic setting. Our study yielded considerably higher species numbers than previously known for many species groups; for some, it provides the first published compilation. Further efforts are needed to increase knowledge in the Pampa and other regions of Brazil. Considering the strategic importance of biodiversity and its conservation, appropriate government policies are needed to fund studies on biodiversity, create accessible and constantly updated biodiversity databases, and consider biodiversity in school curricula and other outreach activities.