Estudo palinológico de espécies selecionadas de musgos ocorrentes em diferentes fitofisionomias de Floresta Atlântica

Abstract

The Atlantic Forest, although fragmented, extends across several states in Brazil, and Minas Gerais stands out for including conservation areas. The Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca is one such area and is significant due to its high richness of moss species in different phytophysiognomies. Mosses are avascular, terrestrial, poikilohydric plants that exhibit various strategies for establishment and survival in terrestrial environments. These strategies are, especially, related to life form, growth direction, and spore morphology. Moss spores enable extensive dispersal and survival in terrestrial environments, particularly due to the special cell wall, the sporoderm, composed of pectic substances and sporopollenin. This work aimed to characterize, through light and scanning electron microscopy, the spores of 21 moss species occurring in the different phytophysiognomies of Parque Estadual do Ibitipoca, relating palynological characteristics to life form, growth direction, and the type of substrate on which the species occur, and to assess the correspondence of morphological results with the phytophysiognomies in which the species develop. The material studied belongs to the Herbarium Leopoldo Krieger collection. Spores were analyzed using light and scanning electron microscopy, following standard palynological techniques. Cluster analysis was employed to assess the relationship between phytophysiognomies and spore morphology. This study revealed that some palynological characteristics presented by species belonging to similar or different lineages are related to the adaptive strategies of the taxa analyzed in various environments.