Abstract Detail

Plant life in Neotropical rocky outcrops

Vidal Jr., João de Deus [1], Pereira de Souza, Anete [1], Koch, Ingrid [2].

Landscape composition, marginality, and climatic stability roles on the patterns of woody plant endemism in the Cerrado.

Although various theories have been proposed to explain the outstanding endemism of plants in the Cerrado, four hypotheses about the mechanisms of diversification and distribution are most supported: (1) plateau/valley, (2) stable/unstable climate, (3) core/peripheral distribution, and (4) soil fertility. The first argues that plateaus harbor more ancient lineages than valleys and therefore present higher endemism. The second theory suggests that climatic stable environments maintained more paleoendemic species. The third scenario attributes the distribution of endemism to gradients of conditions available to locally adapted species and predicts higher endemism in nuclear than in marginal areas. The last theory suggests that lower fertility soils account for higher endemism due to the habitat specialization of its species. We compared endemism patterns with the predictions of each theory and mapped the endemism using records of 311 plant species of the Cerrado and applied spatial analysis and distribution models to summarize the importance of each predictor. We identified 28 areas in which the higher endemism was concentrated and presented a map of its distribution. Endemism is correlated with climate stability, elevation, and marginality, which supported the plateau/valley, core/peripheral, and stable/unstable hypotheses. We propose that plateaus are more stable climatic environments, and this characteristic along with their elevation and centrality predicts endemism. We concluded that most of the endemism is concentrated in overlapping areas of stability, which are concentrated in higher elevation central regions. Soil fertility was not linked to endemism. We recommend that central plateaus in the Cerrado require special attention in conservation.

1 - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Department of Genetics, Avenida Cândido Rondon, 400, Campinas, Sao Paulo, 13083-875, Brazil
2 - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Department of Plant Biology, Avenida Cândido Rondon, 400, Campinas, Sao Paulo, 13083-875, Brazil

Keywords:
Cerrado
Ecology
SDM
Refugia
OCBILs
Macroecology
Biogeography.

Presentation Type: Colloquium Presentations
Session: COL08, Plant life in Neotropical rocky outcrops
Location: Virtual/Virtual
Date: Friday, July 31st, 2020
Time: 10:15 AM
Number: COL08001
Abstract ID:74
Candidate for Awards:None