Catalog of Plants of the Conservation Units of Brazil publishes first list for rock fields of the Espinhaço Chain: PARNA Sempre-Vivas

The Sempre-Vivas National Park (PNSV) has just had its list of species published in the Catalog of Plants in Brazilian Protected Areas. Located in the region of the Southern Espinhaço Chain, this Integral Protection UC covers the municipalities of Bocaiúva, Buenópolis, Diamantina and Olhos d'Água, in Minas Gerais.

The list of plants in the Parque Nacional das Sempre-Vivas includes 760 species from 93 families, including angiosperms, ferns and lycophytes. Asteraceae is the most diverse family, with 139 species, followed by Fabaceae, with 64, and Eriocaulaceae, with 55 species. The list should be expanded with new research, since, according to the authors, the UC needs an intense collection program, being in a priority area for the conservation of Cerrado biodiversity.

The PNSV is a recent UC, having been created in December 2002, and has an area of 124,156 hectares, in which altitudes between 1,100 and 1,250 meters predominate. Serra do Galho, at 1,525 meters, is its highest point. The park's vegetation is mainly Cerrado, but it also has species from transition areas with the Caatinga and the Atlantic Rainforest.

According to researcher Thuane Bochorny, first author of the list, "The Sempre-Vivas National Park is a conservation unit of great biological importance for Brazil, concentrating very heterogeneous environmental phytophysiognomies. It is home to important areas of rupestrian grasslands, gallery forests and hillside forests, forming a complex mosaic of vegetation. It is also home to a diverse flora, including the plants popularly known as 'evergreens' (eriocaulaceae) which give the park its name. The UC was considered by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to be one of Brazil's centers of plant diversity (due to its high degree of endemism) and of fundamental importance for the conservation of the Cerrado's biological diversity."

The list was compiled from herbarium records, with emphasis on the collections made by botanists D. A. Chaves, G. Martinelli and T. E. Almeida, most of which are deposited in the herbaria UB - of the University of Brasília, HUFU - of the Federal University of Uberlândia, and RB - of the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro.

In addition to the list, the Catalog of Brazilian Protected Areas has an image bank that is being built by the researchers. Among the photos is that of Marcetia acerosa Schrank & Mart. ex DC., from the Melastomataceae family, which appears prominently in the image.

Access the List of plants in the Evergreens National Park.

Access the Catalog of Plants in Brazil's Conservation Units.