Ecological parameters of fungi in Bromeliaceae in natural and cultivated ecosystems in Bahia

Abstract Between May/2015 and February/2016 a study was carried out to estimate the richness, frequency and fungal similarity associated with Bromeliaceae from three areas in the Bahia state: Serra da Jibóia (municipality of Santa Terezinha), Morro da Redenção (municipality of Campo Formoso) and Orquilândia Tropical (municipality of Camaçari). Three species of Bromeliaceae were selected by area: Alcantarea nahoumii, Vriesea bahiana, Aechmea sp. (Serra da Jibóia); Aechmea aquilega, Hohenbergia catingae, Tillandsia gardneri (Morro da Redenção) and Aechmea Victoriana, A. naohoumii, Neoregelia compacta (Orquilândia Tropical). For each plant species 10 individuals were selected and three leaves of each with symptoms or fungal signs were collected. In the laboratory, indirect isolation was performed, which consisted of disinfestation in alcohol 70%, NaOCl 1% and washing in distilled water of leaf fragments. A total richness of 19 genera distributed in 27 taxa was found in Orquilândia tropical the great species richness was obtained (17 taxa) and the other areas presented 14 taxa each. There was a low similarity between fungal communities in the studied plants: 16.6% to 50% - Serra da Jibóia, 33.3% to 58.8% - Morro da Redenção and 23.3% to 58.3% - Orquilândia Tropical. The study revealed a fungal diversity occuring in different species of bromeliads, both in natural ecosystems and in cultivated areas.