LEVANTAMENTO FLORÍSTICO COMO FERRAMENTA PARA A CRIAÇÃO DE UM JARDIM BOTÂNICO

Abstract

Botanic gardens play important roles in biological conservation, botanic and environmental education worldwide. The floristic survey of the Jayme Coelho de Moraes Arboretum of the Centro de Ciências Agrárias of the Universidade Federal da Paraíba, in the city of Areia, was carried out with the objective of evaluating its floristic potential and subsidizing its recovery for the creation of a botanical garden. Random walks were carried out weekly from March to November 2017, during which botanical samples were collected to identify the species. A total of 278 species of seed plants belonging to 236 genera and 83 families were identified. The families with the highest number of species were Fabaceae, Asteraceae, Solanaceae and Araceae. The species recorded were distributed in eight habits: 84 are trees, 33 shrubs, 19 sub-shrubs, 97 herbs, 29 climbers, eight epiphytes, five hemiepiphytes and three hemiparasites. The Arboretum flora presented 103 native species shared with the flora of the Parque Estadual Mata do Pau-Ferro, possibly due to the proximity between the two areas, indicating a recolonization of native species of the region in the study area. Most (69%) of the recorded species occur in more than one Brazilian phytogeographic domain and 7% occur only in the Atlantic Forest domain. Of the species analyzed, 53 are exotic to Brazil and 27 are invasive or potentially invasive. It is suggested that exotic species be evaluated for their potential for the objectives of a botanical garden in the area and that eradication or control actions of invasive species be performed in order to maintain the integrity of the native species of the region. The Jayme Coelho de Moraes Arboretum has a high number of native species and a great diversity of habits, being an area with potential for the creation of a botanical garden, which will contribute to botanical and environmental education, research and conservation of native flora of region.