Climbing plants from Seridó Ecological Station: diversity, interactive key and five new records from Rio Grande do Norte state, Brazil

Abstract

Abstract In Brazil, Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests (SDTFs) are represented by Caatinga, which exhibits one of the greatest species richness and endemisms among the Neotropical SDTFs. However, studies of the flora of this biome remain deficient, especially in scientifically neglected areas, such as the Seridó region. Located between the states of Rio Grande do Norte (RN) and Paraíba, the Seridó region has an underestimated floristic diversity, especially for non-arboreal components such as climbers. Given this scenario, the study aimed to survey the climbers of the Seridó Ecological Station, a federal conservation unit located in the RN state, as well as to provide a multiple access online identification key. Collections were carried out from 2018 to 2019, as well as consultation of material deposited at the UFRN herbarium. In total, 56 species were listed, being 33 herbaceous and 23 woody climbers, respectively, adding 14 species of climbers to the previous checklist of the unit. Five new occurrences were found for the state of Rio Grande do Norte: Cuscuta globosa, Cuscuta partita (Convolvulaceae), Macroptilium bracteatum (Fabaceae), Heteropterys trichanthera and Tetrapterys longibracteata (Malpighiaceae), being the latest a new occurrence of the genus Tetrapterys for the state. Convolvulaceae is the most representative family (18 spp.), followed by Fabaceae (10 spp.), Apocynaceae (eight spp.) and Cucurbitaceae (five spp.). This is the first study that provides an interactive identification key for the Seridó region and for the RN state. The interactive identification key is published throughout the Xper³ platform, and can be accessed at <xper3.fr/xper3GeneratedFiles/publish/identification/-4505993480748774750/mkey.html>.