The study, authored by doctoral candidate Oliver Wilson (University of Reading, England) and members of the IFFSC team, established an unprecedented timeline of floristic changes that have taken place in the last 21,000 years in the Atlantic Forest of southern Brazil and, especially, in Santa Catarina. This timeline was taken as the basis for modeling likely vegetation changes in the climate change scenario up to the year 2070.

The research integrated, in an unprecedented way in Brazil, several databases: a) paleoecological records (analysis of pollen from Angiosperms and Gymnosperms in quaternary sediments; b) paleoclimatic records of temperature and precipitation in sediments and caves such as those in Botuverá (bases Paleoview and Speleothem), current and future climatic data up to 2070 from the CHELSA base, c) floristic records of 420 Sample Units from the IFFSC in Santa Catarina and from the GBIF base in RS and PR.

These data served as the basis for modeling, at a pixel resolution of 800x800 meters, the geographic distribution of 30 key or indicator species (trees and some herbs) that form the 22 constituent assemblages of Atlantic Rainforest, Araucaria Forest, and Forest Semidecidual, Altitude Fields and Nebular Matinhas. In this way, it was possible to reconstruct the extent of these ecosystems at different times: 21,000, 18,000, 15,000, 12,000, 9,000, 6,000 and 3,000 BP, at present and in the year 2070.

The results show that in more than 100,000 km² of the Atlantic Forest in southern Brazil there will be more drastic floristic changes than those that have occurred in the last 21,000 years, therefore since the Last Glacial Maximum.

In response to these changes, the expansion of Rainforests, with their species, will occur in a warmer climate, migrating from the Atlantic slope towards the plateau, occupying the Araucaria land, which will suffer a drastic retraction (an observation already made - empirically - by Roberto Miguel Klein in the mid-twentieth century). Consequently, species that make up the Araucaria Forest will be even more threatened with extinction than today; this is because these, together with those of Campos and Matinha Nebular – under the effect of global warming – have no “where to run away” to escape the higher temperatures, since they already occupy the higher altitude areas of the state.

Study suggests new areas with potential for the conservation of forests with great richness of Myrtaceae, Lauraceae and Fabaceae species in Santa Catarina

Tuesday, September 14, 2021

Members of the IFFSC published a study in which new areas with potential for the conservation of forests with greater richness of Myrtaceae, Lauraceae and Fabaceae species were identified in Santa Catarina. The study was based on data collected by the IFFSC in the evergreen rainforest (ERF), Araucaria forest  (AF), and semi-deciduous forest (SF).

In total, six areas were identified, two of them in the ERF, and four in the AF. The area with great richness of Myrtaceae species in the ERF partially overlapped the APA (area of environmental protection) Serra Dona Francisca, while the area with great richness of Lauraceae species partially overlapped the Serra do Itajaí National Park. In contrast, none of the areas with potential for conservation in the AF overlapped protected areas (PAs).

In addition to the increased richness of species belonging to the studied families, the areas also harbor many species from other botanical families ― some areas host more than half of all species observed by the IFFSC in the respective forest type.

PAs proved to be important for the conservation of populations of species of the studied families. The study suggests that APA Serra Dona Francisca could be expanded or converted into a more restrictive conservation category of the SNUC* with the aim to promote the conservation of forests with great biodiversity and biomass. The study also emphasizes that forests outside PAs also deserve attention with regard to conservation, enforcement of environmental laws, and incentives for sustainable management of forest resources.

The study exemplifies the potential of the IFFSC data ― a patrimony of Santa Catarina's society ― to generate relevant information for the conservation and management of the state's forest resources.

The study was supported by FAPESC (data collection), IMA (research grant), and CNPq (productivity grants).

*National system of conservation units.

Some of the potential new areas for conservation of native forests:

Information on species found in Santa Catarina municipalities is provided by the IFFSC

Friday, July 30, 2021

Since 2007, extensive and continuous fieldwork has been carried out by the IFFSC across the Santa Catarina state. One of the important results of this work is the knowledge expansion about the flora of Santa Catarina. In the 1st Measurement Cycle (2007 to 2011), a total of 670 tree/shrub species were found in the arboreal component (DBH ≥ 10 cm) of 499 Sample Units installed in areas with forest cover and vegetation in the initial stage of succession.

The IFFSC has been publishing lists of species found by phytophysiognomy since 2012 through the publication of books and scientific articles. However, considering the different data demands on the occurrence of species in our state, the IFFSC has sought other ways to make this information available, enabling interested parties to consult the data more practically. In this sense, a dynamic list was made available on the project portal, where users can consult the list of species found in 205 municipalities in Santa Catarina. There is no record of species in all municipalities, as in some of them no Sample Units were implemented. This is because the IFFSC used a systematic grid of points to define the location of the plots, and some municipalities were not intercepted by any point, as they were very small. In other cases, some municipalities were provided with grid points where there was no vegetation.

The list of species of the tree component was also released, with a variety of ecological information such as degree of threat, ecological group, forms of rarity, among others. In this list, the user can also identify in which phytoecological regions and water basins each species was found.

Another way to access informations on the species found by IFFSC is through online platforms, such as Jabot, speciesLink and SiBBr, where specimens of plants collected by the IFFSC are recorded. All IFFSC collections were listed and registered on these platforms by the FURB Herbarium, including different types of plants: trees, shrubs, epiphytes, pteridophytes and herbaceous.

Access:

• List of species of the arboreal component by municipality

• List of species of the arboreal component, with ecological information

• Occurrence map of Endangered Species, according to Consema Resolution (2014)

• Occurrence map of Endangered Species, according to the Red Book of Flora of Brazil (Martinelli and Moraes 2013)

• Rare Species Maps (under preparation), according to IFFSC (2016).

Agreement with IMA allows expansion of IFFSC sampling in Conservation Units

Friday, May 07, 2021

Study investigates the effect of climate change on tree ferns distribution

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

In this week's article, the work led by the team of Herbário Dr. Roberto Miguel Klein - coordinated by prof. André. L. de Gasper, member of the IFFSC - analyzed the possible effects of climate change on the distribution and diversity of tree ferns, species that are very common in the forests of Santa Catarina. To elaborate this work, data from literature, GBIF and IFFSC were used. The researchers also presented a new way to measure the uncertainty of the models using basic statistical metrics, such as mean differences and CI.

It was shown that even species adapted to warmer and wetter locations may experience population reductions in the future. Xaxins are known for needing water for reproduction, that is, the male gamete, called anterozooid, needs to "swim" to the oosphere (female gamete). They are slow-growing plants, but common and very abundant in some regions of the Atlantic Forest, especially in the Rain Forest (or Pluvial). It was expected that because they occur in warmer environments, compared to the Araucaria Forest, these species could be favored. However, this was not what the researchers observed.

The main findings of the study were:

• Most tree ferns will lose suitable areas due to climate change.

• Dicksonia sellowiana Hook. may become more threatened as a result of constraints in its distribution.

• In all scenarios, subtropical tree ferns assemblages in the Atlantic Forest will become less rich.

• Neglecting the uncertainties arising from the choice of global circulation models can lead to inaccurate conclusions.

This work was done and received support from many who directly or indirectly assisted in its realization. FUMDES, funded a Scientific Initiation project; FAPESC funded IFFSC's data collection; CAPES funded two postgraduate research grants and CNPq, a productivity grant.

IFFSC on the CONSEMA meeting agenda

New species named after IFFSC's biologist

Monday, March 22, 2021

Check here an interesting OCP News report about the new species collected by Anderson and his experience as a botanist.