Notícias
Study shows the richness of the flora present in the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Arboretum
The Arboretum of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden is well known among locals and tourists from other cities and countries as an important scientific collection of living plants that has been built up over more than two centuries. A study published in the Journal of Zoological and Botanical Gardens on July 10 this year presents the main characteristics of this collection and its importance in the conservation of flora species.
Signed by JBRJ technologist Thaís Moreira Hidalgo de Almeida and JBRJ researchers Marcus Nadruz Coelho and Ariane Luna Peixoto, the article states that the Arboretum contains 6,960 individuals of 1,420 species and 9 hybrids from 134 families, 60.6% of which are native to Brazil.
Among them are 83 species on the List of Threatened Species of Brazilian Flora and 106 on the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), thus contributing to goal 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). Most of the plants in the JBRJ Arboretum are trees (55%), followed by palms (24%). The Atlantic Forest and the Amazon are the biomes most represented in the collection.
The survey was carried out between January and July 2023 and does not include the specimens cultivated in the Thematic Collections such as the Orchidarium, Bromeliad, Medicinal Plants and others, which will be the subject of later studies.
According to the authors, this study will enable progress to be made in identifying gaps in the collections, in future planning and in defining target species to be obtained in order to improve conservation efforts.