Phytogeographical meta-analysis of the caatinga biome

• Grant number: 09/14266-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Start date: March 01, 2010
• End date: August 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Phytogeography
• Principal Investigator: Fernando Roberto Martini
• Grantee: Marcelo Freire Moro
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 11/22498-5 - Phytogeographical meta-analysis of the caatinga biome, BE.EP.DR

Abstract

The caatingas are a complex of phytophysiognomies characterized by short, deciduous trees and shrubs in the Brazilian semi-arid region. For long time the caatingas have been considered as having little endemism and diversity in a flora subordinated to the Atlantic forest and/or Argentine Chaco. Although a synthesis about their flora is still missing, recent investigations have shown that the caatingas have a considerable richness in species and endemism even on genus level. Also, the caatingas seem to have two great nuclei of floristic diversity: one associated with cristalin terrains, the other with sedimentar terrains. Studies have suggested that the critalin nucleus is associated with the flora of the Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest (SDTF), which occupied large extension of the South American continent during the Pleistocene. Nowadays the SDTF occurs in disjunctions, one of them being the caatingas on cristalin terrains. On the other hand the flora of the caatingas on sedimentar terrains has been postulated to originate from the South American xeric flora. Our goal is to investigate whether the caatinga flora would be organized in distinct floristic nuclei or would follow gradients presided by environmental variables, such as climate, soil, reliev etc. We will build a databank from the available literature, including theses and monographies and apply multivariate analysis. If the species ordinate according to distinct floristic groups, we will investigate the similarity of the floras in cristalin and sedimentary terrains in order to know their affinities to the SDTF or xeric flora. If the caatinga flora ordinate according to gradients, we will apply other multivariate analyses in order to know the environmental variables that are associated with the species distribution. We intend to produce a large databank encompassing all studies so far done in the caatingas, which can support the understanding of biogeographic variables associated with species distribution. Also, we will have a thorough floristic list, which can allow us to assess how rich the caatinga woody flora is and how many the endemisms are.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

MORO, MARCELO FREIRE; LUGHADHA, EIMEAR NIC; DE ARAUJO, FRANCISCA SOARES; MARTINS, FERNANDO ROBERTO. A Phytogeographical Metaanalysis of the Semiarid Caatinga Domain in Brazil. BOTANICAL REVIEW, v. 82, n. 2, p. 91-148, JUN 2016. (09/14266-7, 11/22498-5, 13/15280-9)

MORO, MARCELO FREIRE; LUGHADHA, EIMEAR NIC; FILER, DENIS L.; DE ARAUJO, FRANCISCA SOARES; MARTINS, FERNANDO ROBERTO. A catalogue of the vascular plants of the Caatinga Phytogeographical Domain: a synthesis of floristic and phytosociological surveys. PHYTOTAXA, v. 160, n. 1, p. 3+, FEB 19 2014. (09/14266-7, 11/22498-5)

DE OLIVEIRA, LUCIANA DOS SANTOS D.; MORO, MARCELO FREIRE; NIC LUGHADHA, EIMEAR M.; MARTINS, FERNANDO ROBERTO; DE MELO, ANDRE LAURENIO; ESSER, HANS-JOACHIM; SALES, MARGARETH F.. Hidden in the dry woods: Mapping the collection history and distribution of Gymnanthes boticario, a well-collected but very recently described species restricted to the dry vegetation of South America. PHYTOTAXA, v. 97, n. 1, p. 1-16, APR 30 2013. (09/14266-7, 11/22498-5)