Conservation assessment of an extremely restricted bromeliad highlights the need for population-based conservation on granitic inselbergs of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Ilha do Fundão, Rio de Janeiro 21941-617, Brazil;2. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro, R. Pacheco Leão 915, Rio de Janeiro 22460-030, Brazil;3. Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora, Departamento de Biologia, Campus Universitário Martelos, Juiz de Fora 36036-900, Brazil;4. Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca, R. Voluntários da Pátria 30, Valença 27600-000, Brazil;5. Embrapa CNPGL, R. Eugênio do Nascimento 610, Juiz de Fora 36038-330, Brazil;1. School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia;2. Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia;3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia;4. Micro/Nanophysics Research Laboratory, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC 3000, Australia;1. Statistics Department, Universidade Federal do Amazonas, 69077-000, Manaus, AM, Brazil;2. Statistics Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, Brazil;1. Corporate Research and Development, IHI Corporation, 1 Shin-Nakahara, Isogo, Yokohama, Kanagawa 235-8501, Japan;2. Department of Electrical Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto-Daigaku-Katsura, Nishikyo, Kyoto 615-8510, Japan;1. AGES, Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Vienna, Austria;2. Microbiology Service Division, HPA, London, UK;3. Serum Statens Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark;4. Institute of Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Dresden, Germany;1. School of Electronic Information Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, PR China;2. Center for Optical Imagery Analysis and Learning (OPTIMAL), State Key Laboratory of Transient Optics and Photonics, Xi׳an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi׳an 710119, PR China;3. School of Electronic Engineering, Tianjin University of Technology and Education, Tianjin 300222, PR China |
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| Abstract: | Inselbergs support highly specialized vegetation with many endemic species. Here we studied by an integrated approach a rare and threatened species from Brazilian inselbergs. Pitcairnia encholirioides (Bromeliaceae) is included in the Red Book of Brazilian Flora, in the ‘Endangered’ category. Only one single population on unprotected private property was known at the beginning of our study. We studied several life-history traits including clonal growth, reproductive biology, seed germination and cryopreservation, and genetic diversity. Pitcairnia encholirioides has the phalanx type of clonal growth strategy. Its self-incompatible flowers are successfully pollinated by hummingbirds. However, less than 5% of clonal fragments produced flowers. Seeds can be wind-dispersed, but most of them are dispersed by gravity and fall close to the mother plant. The percentage and speed of germination were significantly affected by different temperatures, water potential, and red:far-red light ratios, although more than 80% of seeds germinated under optimal physiological conditions. The genetic diversity was very low (Hsp = 0.09) and the population was highly structured (ΦST = 0.51). The combination of dispersal mode and environmental conditions seems to be the main factor leading to the rarity of P. encholiroides. Low genetic diversity combined with small population size and low reproductive capacity suggest that the species is highly susceptible to environmental disturbance. Similarly to P. encholiroides, many species from Brazilian inselbergs are restricted to only a few localities. For more widely distributed species, a higher genetic diversity among populations has been consistently detected. The pattern of low gene flow of many species with small distributions highlight the importance of population-based conservation strategies for such taxa the areas of occurrence of which being naturally fragmented at inselberg sites. We discuss some strategies that may help in conservation of such species. |
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| Keywords: | Clonal plants Endangered species Endemism Rarity |
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