Levantamento florístico das angiospermas na Estação Ecológica Estadual Wenceslau Guimarães, Bahia, Brasil

Abstract

The Brazilian Atlantic Forest, despite being the best studied Brazilian phytogeographic domain in terms of flora, still has many areas that lack ecological information or even floristic inventories. Thus, this work aimed to characterize the angiosperm flora of the rainforest of the Wenceslau Guimarães State Ecological Station (EEEWG), located in the southeast of the state of Bahia. Five expeditions were carried out to the EEEWG between 2011 and 2013, all fertile material was collected, identified and deposited in the Recôncavo da Bahia Herbarium (HURB). 471 species were collected, distributed in 241 genera and 84 families. The most representative families in terms of number of species were Rubiaceae (52 species), followed by Melastomataceae (36 species), Fabaceae (33 species), Myrtaceae (31 species), Asteraceae (29 species), Orchidaceae (26 species) and Bromeliaceae (21 species ). The predominant genera were Psychotria, Miconia, Myrcia, Solanum, Eugenia, Piper and Begonia. In addition to the floristic list, relevant information on endemism, conservation and type of habit of the species. Species endemism for the EEEWG was approximately 40%, with the occurrence of new species for Bahia and the Atlantic Forest. Furthermore, the survey revealed the occurrence of five new species and 16 new records for the state of Bahia. Around 3% of species are on the list of threatened species in Brazil. The predominant habits found were arboreal (30.7% of species) and shrubby (19.5% of species). The data presented here prove that despite collection efforts in the Atlantic Forest being higher than in other biomes, floristic data are poorly sampled. These data highlight the importance of floristic surveys in remaining areas of the Atlantic Forest in the state of Bahia, as well as the importance that protected areas have for maintaining the biodiversity of these forest remnants.