Floristics and characterization of the vegetation at Toca dos Urubus, Baependi, Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Abstract

Toca dos Urubus is located in Baependi municipality, Minas Gerais State, and belong the Alto Rio Grande region. The vegetation comprised a mosaic with cerrado, rocky grassland and seasonally dry tropical forest. A floristic survey was undertaking, restrict to vascular plants, and a descriptive characterization of vegetation is presented. A total of 403 species distributed in 260 genus and 77 families were sampled. Angiosperms comprised 395 species, while pteridophytes comprised eight species. The richest families were Asteraceae (66 spp.), Poaceae (52 spp.), Fabaceae (32 spp.), Cyperaceae (19 spp.), Melastomataceae and Rubiaceae (16 spp.). Most of the species (322 spp.) occur on cerrado, while 247 occur on rocky grassland, and 71 species on seasonally dry tropical forest. Despite the small area studied, approximately 25 ha, high species diversity was found, and 10 of these are included at the Red List of Minas Gerais, strengthening the need for conservation planning within the region.