Abstract

OLIVEIRA, Ana Cláudia Pereira de; PENHA, Alessandra dos Santos; SOUZA, Raquel Franco de  and  LOIOLA, Maria Iracema Bezerra. Floristic composition of a savanna community in Rio Grande do Norte, northeastern Brazil. Acta Bot. Bras. [online]. 2012, vol.26, n.3, pp. 559-569. ISSN 0102-3306.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-33062012000300006.

In the municipality of Rio do Fogo (in 1976) a savanna community was registered by radar that, until now, has not been studied in loco. Some questions were asked about this community: Is this area Cerrado, floristically? What is the phytogeography of plant species in this community? Do rare, endemic or endangered species occur in this community? To answer these questions a floristic inventory, from August 2007 to September 2009, was performed in 400 ha of this region. The data indicated that of the 94 species recorded, 73 are associated with Cerrado, 69 also with Caatinga, 60 with Atlantic Forest, 47 with Amazonian forest, 14 with the Pantanal and 11 with the Pampa flora. Thirty-nine species are first listed for Rio Grande do Norte (RN); Stylosanthes gracilis Kunth (Fabaceae) and Aristida laevis (Nees) Kunth (Poaceae) are first records for the Northeast of Brazil. Aspilia procumbens Baker (Asteraceae) showed a restricted distribution in the state and is listed as critically endangered. Stilpnopappus cearensis Hobber is listed as vulnerable to extinction. It was concluded that this area can be floristically classified as Cerrado, which points to a key area for conservation.

Keywords : key areas; biodiversity; conservation; savanna.