Plant communities on ironstone outcrops: a diverse and endangered Brazilian ecosystem |
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Authors: | Claudia M Jacobi Flávio F do Carmo Regina C Vincent João R Stehmann |
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Institution: | 1.Depto. Biologia Geral – ICB,Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais,Belo Horizonte,Brazil;2.ESALQ,Universidade de S?o Paulo,Piracicaba,Brazil |
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Abstract: | Mountain areas are recognized centres of endemism and diversity on account of their isolation and altitudinal diversity. In
tropical regions, mountain tops usually stand as islands of xeric vegetation among mesophytic assemblages. Unlike the vegetation
growing on other rock outcrops lithologies, such as inselbergs (granite/gneiss) or campos rupestres (quartz/arenite), ironstone outcrop plant communities still lack systematic studies in Brazil. These outcrops (locally known
as canga) share most of the characteristics of other rock outcrops, such as isolation and edapho-climatic harshness, but differ in
that they are the object of opencast mining, and thus subjected to irrecoverable degradation. In addition, they are expected
to harbour metal-tolerant and hyperaccumulator plant species. A botanical survey of two ironstone outcrop locations in the
most important mining region of southeastern Brazil, the Iron Quadrangle, revealed a high within-site (138 and 160 species
per site), and between-site diversity (only 27% of common species), totaling 64 families and 234 species among basal families
and eudicots (154 species), monocots (68 species), and ferns (12 species). Canga crusts are rich in dicots, several of which play an important role in community structuring, together with the more usual
monocot aggregations. Distinct plant communities are found associated to different microhabitats within the iron crust, depending
primarily on the amount of soil and moisture retention in the different microtopographies. The environmental uniqueness, high
diversity, lack of studies and rapid destruction of these ecosystems pose an immediate challenge for their conservation. |
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Keywords: | Biodiversity Canga Ferruginous rocky field Iron Quadrangle Opencast mining Quadrilátero Ferrífero |
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