Flora and Annual Distribution of Flowers and Fruits in the Ubajara National Park, Ceará, Brazil

Abstract Although the conservation of tropical biodiversity depends on protected areas, there is still a very large ‘gap’ of knowledge on the flora of Brazilian reserves, especially in the Northeast region of Brazil. Field and herbarium surveys of the phanerogamic flora of the Ubajara National Park, located on the Brazilian Northeast, were made and analyses on phenology and dispersal syndromes were performed. 418 taxa (213 trees and shrubs, 100 terrestrial herbs, 68 climbing plants, 33 sub-shrubs, two epiphytes, one hemiparasite and one aquatic herb) were recorded. The most representative families were: Fabaceae, Malvaceae, Asteraceae, Rubiaceae and Euphorbiaceae. The annual flowering / fruiting peak hypothesis was not fully confirmed, therefore, the forest may be an important food resource for the fauna all year long (especially in the moister region). Zoochory was the predominant dispersal syndrome in the moister area, whereas, autochory and anemochory together, predominated in the drier area.

摘要 尽管热带生物多样性的保护依赖于保护区网络，但学界对巴西各保护区内的植物区系仍存在显著的知识空白，其中尤以巴西东北部区域最为突出。本研究针对位于巴西东北部的乌巴雅拉国家公园（Ubajara National Park）的显花植物区系开展了野外调查与标本馆考证，并对其物候特征与传播综合征展开了系统分析。本次调查共记录到418个分类单元（taxa），其中包括213种木本植物（乔木与灌木）、100种陆生草本植物、68种攀援植物、33种亚灌木、2种附生植物、1种半寄生植物以及1种水生草本植物。物种组成中占比最高的科依次为豆科（Fabaceae）、锦葵科（Malvaceae）、菊科（Asteraceae）、茜草科（Rubiaceae）与大戟科（Euphorbiaceae）。“年度开花/结果峰值”假说并未得到完全证实，由此可见该森林生态系统全年均可为动物群落提供重要的食物资源，在湿润区域这一优势尤为显著。在湿润区域，动物传播（Zoochory）为主要的传播综合征；而在干旱区域，则以自播传播（autochory）与风媒传播（anemochory）的组合模式占据主导地位。