Diversidade florística em área ciliar do açude São José I, município de São José de Piranhas, Paraíba, Brasil.

Abstract

The vegetation of an environment is an important element that represents the landscape of the place and is related to biotic and abiotic factors. Therefore, the Caatinga biome, which is predominant in the Semiarid region, has a floral phytophysiognomy characterized by species with life forms that guarantee greater water retention to endure their subsistence. Consequently, the biota is established around rivers, ponds and lakes, with different patterns of habits. This floristic composition, known as riparian forest, is important for stabilizing water limits, filtering, absorbing nutrients from the soil, providing food for other types of life and assisting in the shading and absorption of sunlight. However, due to anthropization demands, the flora of the Caatinga and riparian areas has been suffering degradation. Thus, a floristic survey was carried out in a riparian area of the São José I pond, located in the municipality of São José de Piranhas, Paraíba, Brazil, in order to promote knowledge of the diversity of Angiosperm species, including macrophytes present in the area. To this end, collections of fertile botanical material were carried out in the months of September/2023 to September/2024, photographic records were made to compose illustrative boards and the herborized material will be deposited in the Lauro Pires Xavier Herbarium (JPB), of the Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB).The identification of the taxa occurred based on the specialized literatures, which were confirmed by consultations of the nomenclature types available on digital platforms and/or specialists. As a result, 72 species were distributed in 57 genera and 35 botanical families, of which Fabaceae was the most representative (13 spp.), followed by Malvaceae (8 spp.) and Convolvulaceae (6 spp.). The most representative genera were Sida (3 spp.), Waltheria (3 spp.) and Jacquemontia (3 spp.), followed by Chamaecrista, Indigofera, Macroptilium, Senna and Solanum with two species esch. Among the habits, the herbaceous stood out with 40% of the species, followed by subshrubs with 21%, shrubs and vines with 14%, trees with 7%, climber 3% and parasitic 1%. In relation to their origins, there was a predominance of 81.94% of natives, and among all of them, four were described as endemic to Brazil. The collected species Cassytha filiformis L. from de Lauraceae family, was classified as a new occurrence. Therefore, the relevance of this work is verified by the the importance of the knowledge acquired in relation to the floristic composition of the riparian forest of the São José I pound, which provides data for legal measures aimed at the preservation and conservation of these areas, thus ensuring the maintenance of the biota in the Caatinga environments.