An updated inventory of Brazilian seed plants is presented and offers important insights into the country's biodiversity. This work started in 2010, with the publication of the Plants and Fungi Catalogue, and has been updated since by more than 430 specialists working online. Brazil is home to 32,086 native Angiosperms and 23 native Gymnosperms, showing an increase of 3% in its species richness in relation to 2010. The Amazon Rainforest is the richest Brazilian biome for Gymnosperms, while the Atlantic Rainforest is the richest one for Angiosperms. There was a considerable increment in the number of species and endemism rates for biomes, except for the Amazon that showed a decrease of 2.5% of recorded endemics. However, well over half of Brazillian seed plant species (57.4%) is endemic to this territory. The proportion of life-forms varies among different biomes: trees are more expressive in the Amazon and Atlantic Rainforest biomes while herbs predominate in the Pampa, and lianas are more expressive in the Amazon, Atlantic Rainforest, and Pantanal. This compilation serves not only to quantify Brazilian biodiversity, but also to highlight areas where there information is lacking and to provide a framework for the challenge faced in conserving Brazil's unique and diverse flora.

A comprehensive new inventory of Brazilian plants and fungi was published just in time to meet a 2010 Convention on Biological Diversity target and offers important insights into this biodiversity's global significance. Brazil is the home to the world's richest flora (40,989 species; 18,932 endemic) and includes two of the hottest hotspots: Mata Atlantica (19,355 species) and Cerrado (12,669 species). Although the total number of known species is one-third lower than previous estimates, the absolute number of endemic vascular plant species is higher than was previously estimated, and the proportion of endemism (56%) is the highest in the Neotropics. This compilation serves not merely to quantify the scale of the challenge faced in conserving Brazil's unique flora but also serves as a key resource to direct action and monitor progress. Similar efforts by other megadiverse countries are urgently required if the 2020 targets of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation are to be attained.Ministerio do Meio AmbienteMinisterio do Meio AmbienteCentro Nacional de Conservacao da FloraCentro Nacional de Conservacao da FloraNational Council for Scientific and Technological DevelopmentNational Council for Scientific and Technological DevelopmentBentham and Moxon TrustBentham and Moxon Trus

Resumo No final da década de 1960, pesquisadores do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG) iniciaram as coletas botânicas na Serra dos Carajás, resultando em um expressivo acervo e interessantes descobertas sobre a flora local, marcada por endemismos e pressão por atividades mineradoras. Em 2014, foi estabelecido o projeto "Flora das cangas da Serra dos Carajás" através da cooperação entre o MPEG e o Instituto Tecnológico Vale de Desenvolvimento Sustentável (ITVDS), visando especialmente a elaboração da flora das cangas da FLONA Carajás. Um acervo de cerca de quinze mil exsicatas, depositadas principalmente nos herbários MG e BHCB além de HCJS, INPA, IAN, NY e RB constitui a base para o desenvolvimento da flora. Até o momento, a flora inclui 151 famílias de angiospermas, gimnospermas, licófitas e samambaias e briófitas (musgos e hepáticas). Neste trabalho apresentamos um breve histórico dos estudos botânicos na região, caracterização da área de estudo, e procedimentos metodológicos adotados no desenvolvimento do projeto. Também, constitui a introdução para o volume 1 da Flora das cangas de Carajás composto por 55 famílias, sendo quatro de briófitas, duas de licófitas, oito de samambaias, uma de gimnospermas e 40 de angiospermas, incluindo 139 gêneros e 248 espécies.

Old, climate-buffered infertile landscapes (Ocbils) have attracted increasing levels of interest in recent years because of their exceptionally diverse plant communities. Brazil’s campos rupestres (rupestrian grasslands) are home to almost 15% of Brazil’s native flora in less than 0.8% of Brazil’s territory: an ideal study system for exploring variation in floristic diversity and phylogenetic structure in sites differing in geology and phytophysiognomy. We found significant differences in floristic diversity and phylogenetic structure across a range of study sites encompassing open vegetation and forest on quartzite (FQ) and on ironstone substrates, commonly termed canga. Substrate and physiognomy were key in structuring floristic diversity in the Espinhaço and physiognomy was more important than substrate in structuring phylogenetic diversity, with neither substrate nor its interaction with physiognomy accounting for significant variation in phylogenetic structure. Phylogenetic clustering was significant in open vegetation on both canga and quartzite, reflecting the potential role of environmental filtering in these exposed montane communities adapted to multiple environmental stressors. In forest communities, phylogenetic clustering was significant only at relatively deep nodes of the phylogeny in FQ while no significant phylogenetic clustering was detected across forest on canga (FC), which may be attributable to proximity to the megadiverse Atlantic forest biome and/or comparatively benign environmental conditions in FC with relatively deep, nutrient-rich soils and access to edaphic water reliable in comparison to those for open vegetation on canga and open or forest communities on quartzite. Clades representing relatively old lineages are significantly over-represented in campos rupestres on quartzite, consistent with the Gondwanan Heritage Hypothesis of Ocbil theory. In contrast, forested sites on canga are recognized as Yodfels. To be effective, conservation measures must take account of the distinct communities which are encompassed within the broad term campos rupestres, and the differing vulnerabilities of Ocbils and Yodfels.