See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283158104 Plant distribution in freshwater wetlands of the Brazilian subtropical highland grasslands Article in Brazilian Journal of Botany · March 2016 DOI: 10.1007/s40415-015-0226-y CITATIONS READS 4 370 3 authors: Tatiana Lobato de Magalhães Roseli Lopes da Costa Bortoluzzi Autonomous University of Queretaro Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina 39 PUBLICATIONS 103 CITATIONS 39 PUBLICATIONS 352 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Adelar Mantovani Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina 101 PUBLICATIONS 1,288 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Demography and genetics of natural populations of Ilex paraguariensis St. Hil. in different management conditions in the South of Brazil View project Ecossistema em restauração florestal versus Ecossistema de referência ecológica: utilização de indicadores ecológicos em áreas de preservação permanente na região do Planalto Sul Catarinense View project All content following this page was uploaded by Tatiana Lobato de Magalhães on 24 July 2018. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Braz. J. Bot DOI 10.1007/s40415-015-0226-y Plant distribution in freshwater wetlands of the Brazilian subtropical highland grasslands 1 1 Tatiana Lobato de Magalhaes • Roseli Lopes da Costa Bortoluzzi • Adelar Mantovani1 Received: 8 May 2015 / Accepted: 1 October 2015 Ó Botanical Society of Sao Paulo 2015 Abstract Wetlands are heterogeneous environments that Keywords Aquatic macrophytes Á Banhados Á harbor several species. In spite of playing a key role in Biodiversity conservation Á Inner and outer zones Á aquatic ecosystems, macrophytes are the most neglected Protected areas group in limnological studies. In the Brazilian subtropical highland grasslands, freshwater wetlands occur intermin- gled with native grasslands. Our objective was to assess Introduction species richness and variation in floristic composition along transects. We sampled 324 units to compare floristic Wetlands represent an interface between aquatic and ter- similarity between and within areas based on non-metric restrial systems, as they harbor species adapted to both multidimensional scaling (NMDS). We recorded plants of environments and have high biodiversity (Baptista et al. 40 families, 88 genera, and 133 species, out of which 17 2012). Their biota includes endangered, endemic, and eco- are endangered. The richest families were Poaceae, nomically important species (Pott and Pott 2000). Although Cyperaceae, and Asteraceae. The life forms found included freshwater wetlands cover only 0.01 % of the Earth’s sur- amphibious, emergent, and fixed submerged types. The face, they harbor approximately 10 % of all animal species NMDS pointed to dissimilarity between and within areas. and 1 % of all described vascular plant species (Balian et al. We observed the formation of two zones. In the outer zone, 2008). Approximately 20 % of tropical South America is we detected seven indicator species and 17 exclusive spe- estimated to be occupied by freshwater wetlands, including cies. In the inner zone, we detected five indicator species flooded forests and grasslands (Junk 1993). Brazil has one of and 29 exclusive species. Our study suggests that wetlands the largest hydrologic networks in the world, which includes are species-rich, heterogeneous environments characterized permanent, seasonal, lacustrine, and fluvial aquatic ecosys- by different zones. The knowledge of biodiversity and tems (Bove et al. 2003). presence of indicator species is key to the elaboration of Aquatic environments are usually heterogeneous (San- strategies for the restoration and conservation of freshwater tamaria & Van Vierssen 1997). This heterogeneity is wetlands. associated with water filtering and retention and also with plant species diversity (Junk 2002). In spite of playing a key role in aquatic ecosystems, by providing food and habitat for many organisms (Balian et al. 2008), aquatic macrophytes are the most neglected group in limnological studies (Esteves 1998). In general, they are species with broad geographic distribution (Santamaria and Van Viers- & Tatiana Lobato de Magalhaes sen 1997) that have different levels of flooding tolerance. [email protected] Adaptations to aquatic environment determine the life form of aquatic macrophytes and may explain the formation of 1 Graduate School in Plant Production, Santa Catarina State University, Av. Luis de Camo˜es, 2090, Lages, different ecological niches in wetlands (Rocha and Martins Santa Catarina, Brazil 2011). 123 T. L. de Magalhaes et al. The region of Brazilian subtropical highland grasslands and 324 sampling units. To assess the location of plants, we is locally known as campos de cima da serra. This region is set up inward transects, length = 30 cm (Fig. 1). We car- located between the states of Santa Catarina and Rio ried out the floristic inventory in 1 9 1 m sampling units Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, and harbors highly diverse arranged on the transects and systematically moved to the wetlands (Baptista et al. 2012) and endemic species (Iganci right and left of the central line of the transect. The et al. 2011). The wetlands of this region are locally known beginning of the wetland was delimited by the occurrence as banhados and occur intermingled with native grasslands of aquatic plants and the presence of hydromorphic soils. (Schaefer-Santos et al. 2013). They are very common in the We photographed plants in the field, collected, and region and, sometimes, occur associated with forest frag- identified them, and later deposited the vouchers in the ments, forming a heterogeneous mosaic. Wetlands are Lages Herbarium (LUSC) at the Santa Catarina State systems of conservation concern (Baptista et al. 2012). University. We identified plant species by consulting the However, they are susceptible to anthropogenic action specialized literature and specialists in different taxonomic (drainage, damming, and burn), especially due to the groups. Then, we confirmed species identification in her- expansion of agriculture and livestock farming in the baria of southern Brazil: Barbosa Rodrigues Herbarium region. Information on vegetation biodiversity and spatial (HBR), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Herbar- distribution in those wetlands is fundamental for the ium (ICN), and Federal University of Santa Catarina Her- establishment of conservation strategies, as well as for barium (FLOR). Nomenclature followed the Species List planning their sustainable use. Hence, our objective was to of the Brazilian Flora (Lista de Espe´cies da Flora do Brasil assess species richness and variation in floristic composi- 2014). The classification of life forms of aquatic macro- tion along transects in three wetlands located in the phytes followed Irgang et al. (1984): amphibious (lives on Southern Plateau of Santa Catarina, within the Brazilian the bank and tolerates dry seasons), emergent (is rooted to subtropical highland grasslands. the substrate with a vegetative/reproductive part emerging from the water), epiphyte (grows on another plant), fixed Materials and methods floating (floats on the surface, but is rooted in the sub- strate), fixed submerged (a submerged plant, rooted in the The region of the Brazilian subtropical highland grasslands substrate), free floating (floats on the surface, but is not belongs to the Atlantic Forest (Iganci et al. 2011, Boldrini rooted in the substrate), and free submerged (is submerged, et al. 2009). Its altitudes vary between 800 and 1600 m but not rooted in the substrate). We analyzed species a.s.l. The local vegetation is predominantly composed of conservation status from two perspectives: extinction risk grasses and classified as campos de altitude (montane grasslands), but also includes remnants of a mixed rain- forest, also known as arauca´ria forest. The average tem- peratures in winter and summer are 10.5 and 17.5 °C, respectively, and the climate is classified as a subtropical, type Cfb in the Ko¨ppen system. The average annual rainfall of 1600 mm is evenly distributed throughout the year (Andrade et al. 2008, INMET 2014). The banhados, classified as wetlands by several bota- nists, occur within natural grasslands and are considered permanently protected areas (Santa Catarina 2009). The predominant soils in these wetlands are Gleysols and Organosols, which are hydromorphic soils, typical of areas with water saturation that retain large deposits of organic matter (Almeida et al. 2007). We selected three wetlands areas: Area 1, in Bom Jardim da Serra (28°1905400S– 49°4004600W; 1213 m a.s.l.); Area 2, in Lages, locality of Coxilha Rica (28°1701800S–50°3204600W; 989 m a.s.l.); and Area 3, in Painel (27°5900800S-50°0505800W; 1252 m a.s.l.). The three study areas are located within private properties, where natural grasslands occur, and the water depth in the wetlands varies between 0–20 cm. Data collection was carried out in January and February 2012 (blossom season). In total, we sampled 12 transects Fig. 1 Example of the inward transect 123 Plant distribution in freshwater wetlands of the Brazilian subtropical highland grasslands and species listed as indicators of preserved environments. and Juncus L. (four species). The life forms found among We analyzed the conservation status of each species based aquatic macrophytes were amphibious (91 species), emer- on the National Official List of Threatened