Taxonomic diversity and composition of communities of vascular epiphytes: a case study in the Atlantic Forest of Southeastern Brazil

Abstract

The present project aims to inventory and analyze the vascular epiphytic flora in three Conservation Units of the Espírito Santo State, Southeastern Brazil, aiming to: a) know the taxonomic diversity and composition of the communities of vascular epiphytes in these Conservation Units; b) evaluate if the diversity and composition vary between different altitudinal ranges (ca. 400 to 1600 m); and c) evaluate if the composition and diversity are related to environmental factors related to altitude. There will be collected botanical material in the areas of Conservation Units, which are little collected and do not have any type of study like the proposed here,. We will try to keep in greenhouse any specimen collected sterile, to obtain plants in a fertile state, which will increase the quality and sample power of the study. This proposal requests resources for the execution of a research project as part of the Doctor grade thesis of Gabriel Mendes Marcusso, started in March 2017 in the Graduate Program in Biological Sciences (Plant Biology) of UNESP of Rio Claro. In terms of bibliographic production, in addition to the thesis, this proposal will also result in scientific articles in the area of floristics and phytogeography. This project will also include the collection of large numbers of specimens to be incorporated into the collection of Brazilian herbaria, contributing to the enrichment of the biological collections. (AU)