Floristic survey of the Caatinga in areas with different grazing intensities, Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil
Journal of Environmental Analysis and Progress
Floristic survey of the Caatinga in areas with different grazing intensities, Pernambuco, Northeast Brazil
Autor Correspondente: J. S. Almeida-Cortez | [email protected]
Palavras-chave: anthropic pressure, land-use history, plant species richness, semiarid region.
Resumos Cadastrados
Resumo Inglês:
A floristic survey was conducted in eighteen areas in the municipalities of Itacuruba and Floresta, Pernambuco, northeast Brazil. The objective was to investigate if the species richness of terrestrial plant species of the Caatinga is affected by grazing intensity. Eighteen 20 × 20 m2 plot were established in areas of low grazing intensity (9), and areas with high grazing intensity (9). We recorded 136 species belonging to 97 genera and 43 families. The most species-rich families were Poaceae (14), Fabaceae (13), and Asteraceae (11). The most species-rich genera were Aristida (Poaceae), Sida (Malvaceae) and Ipomoea (Convolvulaceae). The number of species in each study area (Itacuruba and Floresta) varied according to the distribution of the precipitation, the soil types, and the actual land-use. Areas with a low grazing pressure show a higher species richness of plant species than areas with a higher grazing intensity.