Spatial patterns along an elevation gradient in high altitude grasslands, Brazil

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anaïs de Almeida Campos Cordeiro ◽  
Andreza Viana Neri
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
High Altitude Grasslands

Soil organic matter stocks and quality at high altitude grasslands of Apolobamba, Bolivia

CATENA ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 26-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A. Muñoz García ◽  
A. Faz Cano
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Organic Matter ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
High Altitude Grasslands

scholarly journals Dioscorea sphaeroidea (Dioscoreaceae), a threatened new species from the high-altitude grasslands of southeastern Brazil with wingless seeds

Phytotaxa ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 163 (4) ◽  
pp. 229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Sousa Couto ◽  
ROSANA CONRADO LOPES ◽  
JOÃO MARCELO ALVARENGA BRAGA
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
National Park ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Morphological Description ◽  
Habitat Distribution ◽  
Risk Of Extinction ◽  
High Altitude Grasslands

Dioscorea sphaeroidea is endemic to the high-altitude grasslands of the Serra dos Órgãos National Park located in southeastern Brazil. Based on the spheroid shape of its fruit and seed, i.e., not flattened or winged, this new species is morphologically unusual in the Dioscorea genus. Moreover, its unique morphology leaves this new species with no clear position in the infrageneric taxonomy of Dioscorea. Herein we present the morphological description of this species, including a discussion of its ecology and habitat, distribution, and preliminary risk of extinction assessment.

scholarly journals Galling Insects of the Brazilian Páramos: Species Richness and Composition Along High-Altitude Grasslands

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 1243-1253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcel S Coelho ◽  
Marco Antônio Alves Carneiro ◽  
Cristina A Branco ◽  
Rafael Augusto Xavier Borges ◽  
G Wilson Fernandes
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Galling Insects ◽  
High Altitude Grasslands

scholarly journals Dynamic multi-species occupancy models of birds of high-altitude grasslands in eastern South Africa

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David H Maphisa ◽  
Hanneline Smit_Robinson ◽  
Res Altwegg
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Habitat Preferences ◽  
Bird Species ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Grass Cover ◽  
Occupancy Models ◽  
Occupancy Dynamics ◽  
Pumped Storage ◽  
Species Occupancy ◽  
High Altitude Grasslands

Moist, high-altitude grasslands of eastern South African harbour rich avian diversity and endemism. This area is also threatened by increasingly intensive agriculture and land conversion for energy production. This conflict is particularly evident at Ingula, an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area located within the least conserved high-altitude grasslands and which is also the site of a new Pumped Storage Scheme. The new management seeks to maximise biodiversity through manipulation of the key habitat variables: grass height and grass cover through burning and grazing to make habitat suitable for birds. However, different species have individual habitat preferences, which further vary through the season. We used a dynamic multi-species occupancy model to examine the seasonal occupancy dynamics of 12 common grassland bird species and their habitat preferences. We estimated monthly occupancy, colonisation and persistence in relation to grass height and grass cover throughout the summer breeding season of 2011/12. For majority of these species, at the beginning of the season occupancy increased with increasing grass height and decreased with increasing grass cover. Persistence and colonisation decreased with increasing grass height and cover. However, the 12 species varied considerably in their responses to grass height and cover. Our results suggest that management should aim to provide plots which vary in grass height and cover to maximise bird diversity. We also conclude that the decreasing occupancy with increasing grass cover and low colonisation with increasing grass height and cover is a results of little grazing on our study site. We further conclude some of the 12 selected species are good indicators of habitat suitability more generally because they represent a range of habitat needs and are relatively easy to monitor.

scholarly journals Comparative leaf anatomy of Baccharis (Asteraceae) from high-altitude grasslands in Brazil: taxonomic and ecological implications

Botany ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (11) ◽  
pp. 615-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thales Ornellas ◽  
Gustavo Heiden ◽  
Bruna Nunes de Luna ◽  
Claudia Franca Barros
Keyword(s):  
High Altitude ◽  
Leaf Anatomy ◽  
Glandular Trichomes ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Statistical Analyses ◽  
Southeastern Brazil ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
High Altitude Grasslands ◽  
Secretory Ducts

Baccharis L. is an important genus in the high-altitude environments of South America. In the State of Rio de Janeiro, southeastern Brazil, the greatest richness is found at montane and high-montane ecological refuges, known as high-altitude grasslands. The high altitude provides several environmental factors that turn the high-altitude grasslands into singular tropical habitats. In this article we describe the leaf anatomy of six shrubby species of Baccharis, pointing out ecological aspects of the structures, and testing the use of statistical analyses to compare the species. Using light and scanning electron microscopy, we compared the anatomical features of the leaves and performed a cluster and principal component analyses. The results show novel features in the leaf anatomy for the genus, such as an undulated cuticle, three secretory ducts in the midrib, secretory ducts associated with the xylem, and biseriate glandular trichomes with an irregular organization of the cells. Our statistical analyses indicate that the anatomical features of the leaves, especially trichomes, are useful for distinguishing the different species, whereas others, such as isobilateral mesophyll, amphistomatic leaves, and an epidermis with thick cell walls correlate with their high-elevation habitat.

The Vegetation: Hierarchical Species-Environment Relationships

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn D. Walker ◽  
Donald A. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Patterns ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Elevation Gradient ◽  
Community Research ◽  
Physical Factors ◽  
Community Patterns ◽  
Niwot Ridge ◽  
Critical Boundary ◽  
The Individual

The vegetation of Niwot Ridge has a rich history of study, beginning with phytosociological studies directly on the Ridge and in the surrounding mountains and incorporating more experimental and dynamic approaches in later years. This chapter provides an overview of the spatial patterns of Niwot Ridge plants and plant communities relative to the primary controlling environmental gradients at scales from the individual to the landscape. The spatial patterns of vegetation at all scales are dominated by physical forces, particularly the interaction of wind, snow, and topography. The controls of biotic factors on the distribution and abundance of plant species on Niwot Ridge have received considerably less attention than have physical factors, but recent studies have revealed the importance of competition and certain mutualisms in structuring community composition. Community research on Niwot Ridge has been organized around a hierarchy of spatial scales, from the plot to the region. Plot-based studies have focused on physiological and ecological dynamics of specific species and communities, and more spatially extensive studies have provided a hierarchical framework for the plot studies. In this chapter, we first present an overview of the broader patterns in the vegetation, followed by descriptions of the communities, and then the specifics of physical and biotic controls on species and plant growth that drive the community patterns. The landscape-scale patterns in the Niwot vegetation are driven by a complex elevation gradient, which is a combination of temperature and snow regime, with wind modifying and interacting with temperature and snow at all points along the gradient (chapter 2). Certainly the most critical boundary in the system is the upper tree limit, which defines the alpine system and which lies roughly between 3400 and 3600 m elevation on Niwot Ridge. Billings (1988) provided a climatic-floristic-physiographic review of major North American alpine systems that helps to place Niwot Ridge into a larger perspective. Climatically, Niwot is intermediate between the dry Sierras, which have greater precipitation but almost none of it falling during the summer, and the wetter northern Appalachians (Mt. Washington), which have fairly even annual precipitation and no drought.

scholarly journals Taxonomic variation of Delosperma species in the high-altitude grasslands of Mpumalanga, South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 109 ◽  
pp. 363
Author(s):  
N. Phaliso ◽  
R.J. Sebola
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
High Altitude Grasslands

Bat flies (Diptera: Streblidae, Nycteribiidae) and mites (Acari) associated with bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in a high-altitude region in southern Minas Gerais, Brazil

2013 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ligiane Moras ◽  
Leopoldo Bernardi ◽  
Gustavo Graciolli ◽  
Renato Gregorin
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Minas Gerais ◽  
Campos De Altitude ◽  
Bat Flies ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Anoura Geoffroyi ◽  
High Altitude Grasslands ◽  
New Occurrences

AbstractA total of 71 bat flies belonging to families Nycteribiidae and Streblidae, and 37 mites were collected on 12 species of bats (Phyllostomidae and Vespertilionidae) from the Chapada do Abanador (Minas Gerais, Brazil), between July 2009 and April 2010. Two new occurrences of ectoparasites were recorded on Histiotus velatus (bat fly Basilia producta) and on Carollia perspicillata (mite Parichoronyssus bakeri). Five new occurrences were recorded for the state of Minas Gerais, increasing the range for bat flies Anatrichobius passosi, Paraeuctenodes similis, Basilia juquiensis, Basilia producta and for mite Periglischrus vargasi. Moreover, two new species of mites were recorded for Brazil (P. bakeri and Macronyssus aff. leislerianus). With regard to infracommunities, the most frequent association was between Anastrebla modestini and Exastinion clovisi on bat Anoura geoffroyi. This study contributed to characterize the fauna of bat ectoparasites in representative but poorly-sampled environments of the Atlantic Forest, the campos de altitude (high altitude grasslands) and cloud forests of southern Minas Gerais.

Two new species of Sisyrinchium (Iridaceae) from Subtropical Highland Grasslands of Southern Brazil

Phytotaxa ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
ADRIANA M. AITA ◽  
OLIVIER CHAUVEAU ◽  
TATIANA T. SOUZA-CHIES ◽  
LILIAN EGGERS
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
High Altitude ◽  
Rio Grande ◽  
Similar Species ◽  
Southern Brazil ◽  
Rio Grande Do Sul ◽  
Santa Catarina ◽  
Ecological Information ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
High Altitude Grasslands

Sisyrinchium antemeridianum and S. flabellatum are two new species of Sisyrinchium sect. Hydastylus that occur in the high altitude grasslands of Southern Brazil, in the states of Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina. Sisyrinchium antemeridianum can be distinguished from similar species by the conspicuous rhizome with remnants of old leaves and flowers with larger tepals and longer, connate filaments. Sisyrinchium flabellatum has a distinctive equitant phyllotaxis and a lax inflorescence of numerous flowers with small, typically reflexed tepals. Both species are endemic to the Highlands of Southern Brazil. Morphological descriptions, illustrations and ecological information for both plants are presented.

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