SIMILARIDADE FLORÍSTICA ENTRE TRECHOS DE FLORESTA ESTACIONAL SEMIDECIDUAL DO CORREDOR DE BIODIVERSIDADE SANTA MARIA - PR

The function of Biodiversity Corridors is to maintain and restore connectivity between forest fragments remains. Santa Maria Biodiversity Corridor, in PR state, aims to connect Iguaçu National Park to the riparian forest of the Itaipu reservoir, through the implementation of reforestation areas between remnants of Seasonal Semidecidual Forest. This study aimed to evaluate the diversity of tree species and the floristic similarity between the areas of native secondary forests and reforested areas of different ages. We compared the density values, diversity, evenness, and floristic composition from five study areas, and the similarity was evaluated by Jaccard and Bray-Curtis distance. In two hectares, we found 2,328 individuals of 134 species and 39 families. The floristic similarity grouped the native secondary forests, which are best preserved, and the reforested areas in different groups. The 11 exotic species found in reforested areas were not observed in the most preserved areas. So, the managament of them should be encouraged in order to protect the remaining Seasonal Semidecidual Forest.Os Corredores de Biodiversidade têm a função de manter e restabelecer a conectividade entre fragmentos florestais remanescentes. O Corredor de Biodiversidade Santa Maria - PR visa conectar o Parque Nacional do Iguaçu à mata ciliar do reservatório de Itaipu, através da implantação de áreas de reflorestamento entre fragmentos remanescentes de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual. Este trabalho objetivou avaliar a diversidade de espécies arbóreas e a similaridade florística entre áreas de florestas nativas secundárias e de reflorestamentos em diferentes idades. Compararam-se a densidade, a diversidade, a equabilidade e a composição florística dos cinco fragmentos e a similaridade foi avaliada pelos índices de Jaccard e de distância de Bray-Curtis. Em dois hectares amostrados, foram encontrados 2328 indivíduos, distribuídos em 134 espécies e 39 famílias. A similaridade florística agrupou as florestas secundárias nativas mais preservadas e as áreas com reflorestamento em grupos distintos. As 11 espécies exóticas encontradas nas áreas de reflorestamento não foram observadas nas áreas mais preservadas e, portanto, o manejo das mesmas deve ser incentivado, como medida de preservação dos fragmentos nativos remanescentes de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Pervasive gaps in Amazonian ecological research

Biodiversity loss is one of the main challenges of our time,1,2 and attempts to address it require a clear understanding of how ecological communities respond to environmental change across time and space.3,4 While the increasing availability of global databases on ecological communities has advanced our knowledge of biodiversity sensitivity to environmental changes,5,6,7 vast areas of the tropics remain understudied.8,9,10,11 In the American tropics, Amazonia stands out as the world's most diverse rainforest and the primary source of Neotropical biodiversity,12 but it remains among the least known forests in America and is often underrepresented in biodiversity databases.13,14,15 To worsen this situation, human-induced modifications16,17 may eliminate pieces of the Amazon's biodiversity puzzle before we can use them to understand how ecological communities are responding. To increase generalization and applicability of biodiversity knowledge,18,19 it is thus crucial to reduce biases in ecological research, particularly in regions projected to face the most pronounced environmental changes. We integrate ecological community metadata of 7,694 sampling sites for multiple organism groups in a machine learning model framework to map the research probability across the Brazilian Amazonia, while identifying the region's vulnerability to environmental change. 15%–18% of the most neglected areas in ecological research are expected to experience severe climate or land use changes by 2050. This means that unless we take immediate action, we will not be able to establish their current status, much less monitor how it is changing and what is being lost

Native species indicated for degraded area recovery in Western Paraná, Brazil

Colonization in the State of Paraná has culminated in the devastation of large forest areas in the entire State. Degraded area recovery programs have emphasized the utilization of native species, but often the species indicated for local reforestation areas are unknown, as those areas are little known floristically. This study aimed to survey native species indicated for reforestation of areas in the Western region of the State of Paraná, classify those species as pioneer, secondary, or climactic, and indicate places of occurrence of matrices where seeds of those species could be collected. Bibliographic surveys in the specialized literature and research in the Herbarium Museu Botânico Municipal de Curitiba (MBM) and Herbarium of Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (UNOP) were conducted to identify potential species for degraded area recovery in the study of Western region of Paraná. In all, 115 species were selected, of which 22 are pioneer, 73 are secondary, and 20 are climactic. The bibliographic surveys suggests that pioneer species are the most indicated for the initial processes in the degraded areas recovery, while secondary and climactic species play a major role in area enrichment

Structure and floristic diversity of remnant semideciduous forest under varying levels of disturbance

The perturbation of Neotropical forests generates large disturbances in biological communities. The species that suffer least from the resulting habitat fragmentation are the pioneers, because they possess greater ability to inhabit disturbed environments. Therefore, it is expected that species diversity will be greater in areas subjected to intermediate disturbance, such as the opening of gaps, because a large number of pioneer species will develop and coexist with species of more advanced successional stages. This study aimed to compare two forest remnants that differed in size and disturbance intensity, in order to determine the effects of disturbances on species diversity and the size ratios of individual trees. This was accomplished with comparative analyses of diversity, richness and diameter ratios obtained for 10 plots at two semideciduous forest sites. We recorded a total of 85 species, of which 70 were in the private nature reserve Fazenda Santa Maria, 58 were in Iguaçu National Park, and 43 were at both sites. Diversity was greater in the more disturbed remaining forest, because this area showed higher species richness, which is in accordance with some premises of the intermediate disturbance theory. There was also an increase in the number of pioneer individuals, and the less disturbed area showed individuals with larger diameters, which is likely attributable to the removal of large individuals from the more disturbed area during the anthropogenic process of forest modification

Guia ilustrado de Leguminosae Juss. arboreas do Corredor de Biodiversidade Santa Maria - PR

Leguminosae representa uma das principais famílias em estudos florísticos e fitossociológicos. Tal riqueza pode ocasionar dificuldades na identificação, principalmente em coletas de amostras estéreis. O objetivo do presente estudo foi elaborar um guia ilustrado com dicas de campo, bem como uma chave de identificação, abordando as principais características vegetativas diagnósticas das Leguminosae arbóreas do Corredor de Biodiversidade de Santa Maria, o qual une a Faixa de Proteção do Lago de Itaipu ao Parque Nacional do Iguaçu. O corredor reúne vários remanescentes de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual do sudoeste do Paraná e áreas reflorestadas. Foram coletadas amostras em diferentes áreas do corredor, sendo três remanescentes florestais (Parque Nacional do Iguaçu, Reserva Legal da Fazenda São José, Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural da Fazenda Santa Maria), e duas áreas reflorestadas (Faixa Seca e Faixa de Proteção do Lago de Itaipu). As Leguminosae coletadas foram fotografadas ainda em campo, com câmera semiprofissional, registrando aspectos morfológicos vegetativos como tronco, ritidoma, coloração da casca interna e/ou alburno, presença de exsudato, formato dos folíolos, presença de acúleos, glândulas, nectários extraflorais, indumento e, quando presentes, estruturas reprodutivas. As amostras foram identificadas e adicionadas ao Herbário da Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (UNOP). Foram encontradas 29 espécies de Leguminosae, para as quais foi elaborado um guia com pranchas, ilustrando as principais características vegetativas diagnósticas, bem como uma chave dicotômica, a fim de auxiliar na identificação das espécies de Leguminosae presentes no sudoeste do Paraná. Características do tronco como ritidoma, casca interna e/ou alburno, formato e coloração dos folíolos, presença de exsudado, acúleos, indumento, nectários extraflorais ou glândulas foram de grande valia em campo, pois permitiram a identificação das espécies de Leguminosae do Corredor de Biodiversidade de Santa Maria

Relation between environmental factors and structure of Atlantic Forest fragments

Os arquivos aqui contidos são os dados de abundância das espécies e parâmetros do solo referentes aos dez fragmentos inventariados (sendo dez parcelas por fragmento) na região oeste do estado do Paraná, em área de Floresta Estacional Semidecidual. Aqui constam esses dados e o material suplementar do manuscrito: "Relation between environmental factors and structure of Atlantic Forest fragments" Arquivos: 1 - Matriz de abundância das espécies por parcela 2 - Parâmetros de solo por parcela 3 - Coordenadas de cada fragmento 4 - Material Suplementar contendo três tabelas e uma figura, sendo eles:     Appendix 1: Distances (m) between fragments (F) of Atlantic Forest (Seasonal Semideciduous Forest) sampled in the municipalities of Assis Chateaubriand and Toledo, west of the state of Paraná, Brazil.    Appendix 2: Comparison of the parameters for analyzed areas, as well as the values obtained in other studies conducted in forest remnant of Seasonal Semideciduous Forest in surrounding regions. Local, reference, sampled area in hectares (Area), circumference at breast height in centimeters (CBH) used as inclusion criteria and richness (R).    Appendix 3: List of shrubby-arboreal and arboreal species, and phytosociological parameters in ten fragments of Atlantic Forest (Seasonal Semideciduous Forest) sampled in the west of the state of Paraná. Abundance of individuals (Abund), absolute frequency (AF), relative values of frequency (RF), density (RDe) and dominance (RDo), cover value (CV) and importance value (IV).    Appendix 4: Histogram of the distribution of species abundance over the altitude gradient in ten fragments of Atlantic Forest in the west of the state of Paraná, Brazil. </p