Flora das cangas da Serra dos Carajás, Pará, Brasil: Apocynaceae

Abstract

The Serra de Carajás, located in the southeastem region ot the state of Pará, is one of the most important mineral provinces in Brazil. The region exhibits a set of vegetation formations with a predominance of dense ombrophylous forest and ferrugmous fields called canga. The vegetation in the canga is a peculiarity of the region of Carajás within the Amazon biome occurring in isolated areas generally high in the mountains. Apocynaceae is well represented in Brazil; however, there are scarce and occasional studies that cite occurrence for Serra dos Carajás with few records and herbarium collections. In that context, the present study aimed to do a taxonomic treatment for the species of Apocynaceae present in the Carajás National Forest and Campos Ferruginosos National Park, with emphasis on the taxa from the "cangas". In addition, we also prepared a list of the species of Apocynaceae from the Serra dos Carajás geographic distribution date provided and conservation status according to the IUCN criteria. During the project, a survey of vouchers incorporated in the herbaria BHCB, IAN, INPA, MG, RB and HCJS was carried out and collection expeditions were carried out in the study area. Twenty three species were confirmed, distributed in 12 genera in the vegetation of Cangas da Serra dos Carajás. Marsdenia bergii and Matelea microphylla are endemic to the region, presented in Chapter I of the paper. Our results in an updated list of 32 species occurring in all regions of the Serra dos Carajás with three new records: one from Brazil and two from from state of Pará.