Check List 13(1): e19645, doi: 10.15560/13.1.2043
Floristic composition of a Neotropical inselberg from Espírito Santo state, Brazil: an important area for conservation
expand article infoDayvid Rodrigues Couto‡, Talitha Mayumi Francisco§, Vitor da Cunha Manhães|, Henrique Dias Machado|, Mirian Cristina Alvarez Pereira|
‡ Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil§ Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro, Brazil| Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Brazil

Corresponding author: Dayvid Couto ( dayvidcouto@hotmail.com )

© 2017 Dayvid Couto, Talitha Francisco, Vitor Manhães, Henrique Machado, Mirian Pereira.
This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Citation: Couto D, Machado H, Francisco T, Manhães V, Pereira M (2017) Floristic composition of a Neotropical inselberg from Espírito Santo state, Brazil: an important area for conservation. Check List 13(1): 2043. https://doi.org/10.15560/13.1.2043
Open Access
Abstract
Our study on granitic and gneissic rock outcrops on Pedra dos Pontões in Espírito Santo state contributes to the knowledge of the vascular flora of inselbergs in southeastern Brazil. We registered 211 species distributed among 51 families and 130 genera. Orchidaceae, Bromeliaceae and Polypodiaceae were the most representative families. Concerning vegetative habit, herbs were predominant and about the preference for substrates, holorupicolous species and epiphytes were most speciose. The richest rocky habitat type was woody thicket, with 122 exclusive species. In total, 27 of the species registered in our study are cited on official lists of endangered plant species from Espírito Santo state and Brazil. In addition, two new records of angiosperms for Espírito Santo flora and two new species were recorded for the area. Our data demonstrates the importance of the area for conservation of unique biodiversity that serves as a sanctuary for a rich rupicolous flora composed of endemic and endangered species, some of which are new to science.
Keywords
Atlantic Forest, conservation; diversity; rocky outcrops; taxonomy