Species list of Desengano State Park is published in the Catalog of Plants of the Protected Areas of Brazil

The Catalog of Plants of Brazilian Conservation Units had its database expanded this March with the inclusion of the List of Plant Species of the Desengano State Park (PED). The survey records 1,398 plant species, distributed among 138 species of bryophytes, 176 of ferns and lycophytes, and 1,084 of angiosperms. Of these, 102 are officially classified as endangered by the National Center for the Conservation of Flora (CNCFlora/JBRJ). One example is Lobelia santos-limae Brade, a species endemic to the state of Rio de Janeiro, categorized as Critically Endangered (CR).

Lobelia santos-limae - Campanulaceae | Photo: Caio Baez

Created in 1970, the PED was the first state park established for the sole purpose of nature protection. The unit covers an area of 21,080 hectares and is located in the municipalities of Campos de Goytacazes, Santa Maria Madalena and São Fidélis, in the north of the state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the third largest state park in Rio de Janeiro and is home to the last continuous remnant of Atlantic Forest on the northern edge of the Serra do Mar. Its vegetation comprises a mosaic of Dense Ombrophilous Forest, Semideciduous Seasonal Forest and Altitude Fields, which contributes to its high floristic diversity.

The list is the result of a collaborative effort involving more than a hundred researchers from various institutions, under the leadership of the Coordination of Projects for Strategies for the Conservation of Endangered Species (COESC/CNCFlora/JBRJ). According to Marcio Verdi, project coordinator at COESC/CNCFlora/JBRJ, the List of plant species in Desengano State Park is one of the products of the National Action Plan for the Conservation of Endemic Flora Threatened with Extinction in the State of Rio de Janeiro (PAN Flora Endêmica RJ). “One of the conservation actions of this PAN, under the responsibility of CNCFlora, is to draw up lists of the flora of the conservation units in the state of Rio de Janeiro. We rely on the collaboration of a wide network of botanical experts who analyze and validate each species record included in the list. This collaborative work is essential to guarantee the quality of the published data, which will serve as a subsidy for the management of the conservation unit,” explains Verdi.

The inclusion of the new list in the Catalog of Plants in Brazilian Protected Areas reinforces the importance of Desengano State Park for the conservation of Brazilian flora and highlights the need for continued efforts to preserve its threatened species.

Access the Desengano State Park Species List in the Catalog of Plants in Brazilian Protected Areas.