Biogeografia, conservação e sinopse taxonômica de Gesneriaceae na Serra da Mantiqueira, Região Sudeste do Brasil

Abstract

Serra da Mantiqueira (SM) is a mountainous complex, located in the Southeastern Region of Brazil, encompassing part of the states of Espírito Santo (ES), Minas Gerais (MG), Rio de Janeiro (RJ) e São Paulo (SP). This region integrates the Atlantic forest domain, which abridges one of the greatest biodiversity of the planet. Despite the land occupation, mainly for farming exploitation, there are some regions with well conserved vegetation and astonishing richness and diversity. Gesneriaceae have pantropical distribution and are herbs, shrubs or subshrubs, perennial or annual, with approximately 3,500 species distributed in 150 genera. This family was used in this study as a model to understand the geographical delimitation and floristic of SM, and was evaluated regarding distribution, richness and conservation in this area. The data was obtained from available online databases (SpeciesLink, ReFlora and Jabot), as well as from the personal databasse of the family specialist, from, consultation to specialized literature, herbaria visits in the southeastern Region and by collecting plants in the field inside and outside conservation units (CUs) of SM. Species description and comments about distribution, taxonomy, ecology and conservation, as well as an identification key are provided. The biogeographical analyses of distribution and richness were produced using the software Q-GIS 2.18, by delimiting the area and selecting grid squares of 0.5° x 0.5°. The similarity analyses between the grid squares and UCs of the SM were obtained with the software PAST v.3 in order to recognize floristic groups to understanding the relationship between the regions of the SM. The extension of occurrence and area of occupation of the species were obtained from the GeoCAT tool for definition of conservation status of the species endemic to SM. We recorded 53 native species (spp.) distributed in eight genera. Minas Gerais was the richest state (44 spp.), followed by ES (35 spp.), RJ (15 spp.) and SP (13 spp.). The richest regions are in the “Zona da Mata” of Minas Gerais and mountainous region of ES. The similarity analyses showed that these areas share several species, and also corroborate the classical division of the SM in two portions, North and South, although both present floristic peculiarities. We recorded 14 species endemic to the SM, distributed in the states of ES and MG, all threatened with extinction due to restricted distribution, small populations and/or anthropogenic impact. Thus, the present study contributes to a better understanding the geographical delimitation of the Serra da Mantiqueira, and suggests that mountainous region of ES are geologically and floristically part of the SM. These data also reinforce the need of conservation of the SM environment, which is very important to maintenance of the species.