Poaceae in a Brazilian floodplain: spatial distribution and conservation

Abstract With 94 species, Poaceae is one of the largest botanical families of the Upper Paraná River Floodplain (PIAP) and its environs, located between 22º38’-22º57’S and 53º5’-53º36’W, and covering areas of the Brazilian states of Mato Grosso do Sul and Paraná. Seasonally flooded, PIAP is part of the The Environmental Protection Area of the Islands and floodplains of the Paraná River (APA-IVRP) and State Park of the Ivinhema River Floodplain (PEVRI). Aiming to improve the botanical and ecological knowledge of the area and therefore contribute to its conservation, we studied the distribution pattern of the grasses of PIAP and its environs. For the grasses of PIAP we considered: phytophysiognomy, light exposure, photosynthetic pathway, water condition of the substrate where they preferably occur, classification of the morphovegetation, and the absolute and relative frequencies. The results show that the species are distributed according to the geomorphological configuration of the PIAP, which are presented here in two schematic profiles.