Campos de altitude do Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio, Minas Gerais, Brasil: composição florística, fitogeografia e estrutura da vegetação

Abstract

The Parque Estadual da Serra do Papagaio (PESP) is located in the southern portion of Serra da Mantiqueira, south of Minas Gerais and represents a large expanse of altitudinal vegetation formations with altitudes that reach 2.350 m. The aim of this work was to carry out the floristic survey of the PESP altitude fields (campos de altitude), their phytogeographic relationships with other rural areas of Southern and Southeastern regions of Brazil, and to analyze the vegetation structure along an altitudinal gradient. Monthly expeditions were carried out between May 2015 and October 2016 for the collection of botanical material and the realization of phytosociological inventories. The line intercept method was used to evaluate the vegetation structure. Were inventoried nine areas covering three altitudinal ranges between 1.650 m and 2.050 m. In order to analyze the phytogeographic relations, were selected 14 localities of Brazil South and Southeast. Quantitative and qualitative similarities analyzes were carried out. In addition, the diversity index (H') were calculated for each altitudinal range in order to evaluate the formation of groups related to altitude. The first chapter presents the floristic composition of the PESP altitude fields, where 276 species, 159 genera and 48 families of angiosperms were found, with Asteraceae being the richest family (58 spp.) and Baccharis the most representative genus (12 spp.). Eleven species are in some threatness category and two species were considered endemic to the PESP. The phytogeographic analyzes showed a great floristic dissimilarity between the 14 localities analyzed, indicating that the formations are unique and require special attention for conservation. The second chapter presents the distribution of the species along an altitudinal gradient. 96 species were found in the sampled lines, with Poaceae (64.3%), Melastomataceae (11.3%) and Asteraceae (8.7%) being the families with the highest coverage values. The diversity of Shannon (H') for each altitude showed a similar pattern in the spatial distribution of species, while the similarity analyzes demonstrated a strong grouping of the areas located in common altitudinal bands, elucidating the importance of the conservation of altitude fields for the maintenance of the biodiversity of the high altitude flora.