Rafael Farias

• Professor (Associate) at Federal University of Bahia

Brazil has one of the greatest diversity of ferns and lycophytes in the world, especially in its humid forests. The knowledge about these plants in the 27 federative units is uneven and can potentially hamper conservation actions aimed at them. In the state of Sergipe, collections of these groups have been sporadic and about 50 species have been ca...

Plants in seasonally dry forests, such as the Caatinga in Brazil, possess adaptive characteristics to endure prolonged periods of drought and intense sunlight. However, few studies have delved into understanding, as proposed here, the convergence of these traits based on morphoanatomical features. Therefore, based on a systematic review, we investi...

RESUMO O entendimento das causas da diversidade de briófitas é extremamente relevante para a Floresta Atlântica, particularmente da porção Nordestina, a mais fragmentada e com menos áreas integralmente protegidas. Objetivou-se avaliar as relações entre a riqueza de espécies e os componentes da diversidade taxonômico, funcional e filogenético, bem c...

Recent investigations have revealed the coordination and trade-offs between above- and belowground traits in structuring functional strategies of plant communities, but none of these have addressed ferns, a diverse plant lineage in tropical forests. We investigated terrestrial ferns from the perspective of how below- and aboveground traits are coor...

Understanding trait variation along environmental gradients is crucial for assessing the adaptive potential of species. We analysed the intraspecific variation in six morphological traits of Frullania ericoides across environmental gradients (elevation, canopy openness and distance to water sources) in a humid ecological refuge in Brazil’s semi-ari...

Environmental filters, competition, and phylogenetic relationships play crucial roles in determining plant functional patterns across different environmental scenarios, scales, and taxa. Patterns of functional convergence and divergence are crucial to understand trait-environment interactions and plant coexistence, which must consider multiple driv...

Cenostigma microphyllum (Mart. ex G. Don) E. Gagnon and G. P. Lewis (Fabaceae) is a species endemic and widely distributed in the Brazilian dry tropical forest, ecologically important as a nurse species, favoring the growth of other plants, and maintaining mutualistic interactions with ants. Understanding plant responses to environmental variation...

Plant functional traits impact the fitness and environmental niche of plants. Major plant functional types have been characterized by their trait spectrum, and the environmental and phylogenetic imprints on traits have advanced several ecological fields. Yet, very few trait data on epiphytes, which represent almost 10% of vascular plants, are avail...

• Host plant selection by herbivores is driven by a complex array of cues, including leaf traits and previous leaf damage. Herbivore-associated cues to host selection at the plant and leaf scale aid understanding of mechanisms responsible for host preference that might translate into increased performance, as well as processes structuring herbivore...

A more complete picture of the function of plants in ecosystems results from understanding biotic interactions and this study examined the interactions between ferns and foliicolous lichens. A sampling method involving 15-h walks in each of two tropical forests in Brazil was employed to assess foliicolous lichen diversity on ferns. The nature of fo...

Mangroves are naturally stressful habitats, with high salinity, regular flooding, strong winds, high temperatures, and muddy, hypoxic soils, requiring adaptations in plant anatomy. In this sense, we present a description of the leaf anatomy of Acrostichum aureum, a remarkable fern species growing in mangroves, focusing on novelties and the signific...

Vascular plants exhibit defense syndromes, a variety of interdependent defensive traits against herbivores, which may considerably differ between plant groups. Although ferns are an abundant component of tropical forest understories, studies of fern–herbivore interactions are scarce, and none has focused on the underlying defense syndromes. To exam...

Understanding how local environmental factors affect communities and compositional patterns are crucial to biodiversity conservation, especially in environments that were severally affected by anthropic actions. We analyzed the effects of fine-scale local environmental conditions on alpha and beta diversity of fern communities in three Atlantic for...

Phenological studies are fundamental to our understanding of how the environment can influence plant growth and reproductive processes. Environmental triggers of fern phenology are poorly known. We investigated the leaf phenological traits of the tree fern Cyathea praecincta (Kunze) Domin in a Brazilian lowland tropical forest with a short dry seas...

Although leaf-cutter ants of the genus Atta are polyphagous, they discriminate between food plant species. Ferns represent the second largest group of vascular plants and are especially abundant in tropical forest understories, but seem to be avoided as food plants. We studied the leaf damage caused by leaf-cutter ants and its relation with water c...

Ferns adapt their phenological characteristics such as leaf production, leaf fertility and leaf mortality to the habitat conditions optimizing their opportunities to grow, reproduce, and disperse. The leaf phenology of the herbaceous, dimorphic fern Danaea geniculata was studied in a Brazilian submontane tropical forest and compared with several ot...

We analyzed floristic variations in fern's metacommunity at the local scale and their relationship with abiotic factors in an Atlantic Forest remnant of northeastern Brazil. Floristic and environmental variations were accessed on ten plots of 10 × 20 m. We performed cluster analyses, based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity index to establish the florist...

This study aimed to determine the population structure of Cyathea praecincta (Kunze) Domin in an Atlantic Forest fragment in Northeastern Brazil. Individuals of C. praecincta were recorded inside 1800 m² of interior forest area. Caudex height was measured in order to classify specimens into length classes and relate this variable with fertility of...

The Northeastern Atlantic Forest (NAF) has a historic of intense habitat loss and fragmentation. In this context, knowledge of the species from forest remnants is urgently needed and represents a key tool for future studies and conservation strategies. Here, we present the floristic inventory of ferns and lycophytes from the Private Natural Heritag...

Apresentado na sessão de pôster

This study aimed to analyze species abundance distribution (SAD) of the fern’s community at local scale in an Atlantic Forest remnant (470 ha), northeastern Brazil. We delimited 10 plots (10 x 20 m) along the forest remnant. The observed SAD was fitted to theoretical models: lognormal, logarithmic series, broken-stick and geometric series. The flor...

Megalastrum indusiatum R. C. Moran et al. and Megalastrum umbrinum (C. Chr.) A. R. Sm. & R. C. Moran are reported for the first time in the Northeastern Atlantic Forest, extending the distribution of species in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest in about 680 and 1080 km to the north, respectively. Information on tax-onomy and species distribution are pr...

Megalastrum indusiatum R. C. Moran et al. and Megalastrum umbrinum (C. Chr.) A. R. Sm. & R. C. Moran are reported for the first time in the Northeastern Atlantic Forest, extending the distribution of species in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest in about 680 and 1080 km to the north, respectively. Information on taxonomy and species distribution are pro...

The phenology of the herbaceous fern Didymochlaena truncatula in a Brazilian submontane tropical rainforest is described. A total of 23 individuals were observed over 18 months (May 2012 to October 2013). The number of live leaves, leaf production, leaf mortality, leaf growth, and fertility were recorded monthly and correlated with local rainfall a...

This study aimed at investigating the vertical distribution of epiphytic ferns in a fragment of the Atlantic Forest in northeastern Brazil, from of 43 phorophytes with DBH ≥ 40cm. Ferns were studied by climbing the phorophytes, which were divided in three height intervals (I-until 3.0 m of the soil; II-3.0 m until the base of the canopy; III-canopy...

RESUMO – Nesse estudo, objetivou-se investigar a distribuição vertical das samambaias epífitas em fragmento de Floresta Atlântica no Nordeste do Brasil, a partir de 43 forófitos com DAP ≥ 40cm. As samambaias foram estudadas por meio de escaladas nos forófitos, divididos em três intervalos de altura (I-até 3,0m do solo; II-3,0m até a base da copa; I...

Trabalho apresentado no 64 Congresso Nacional de Botânica e XXXIII Encontro Regional de Botânicos MG, BA e ES.

Water deficit in seasonally dry environments, such as semi deciduous forests, appears to be the main determinant of the selection of species with mechanisms that allow adaptive responses to this type of stress. Thus the availability of water influences the establishment of plants in an area and their growth and dormancy periods. The present study a...

Introdução A Floresta Atlântica representa um ambiente de grande importância para diversidade vegetal, sobretudo, para as samambaias, pois apresenta condições favoráveis à sua reprodução, além de abrigar uma diversidade representativa de espécies [1]. Considerando o nível de degradação que as áreas de Floresta Atlântica vêm sofrendo ao longo do tem...

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-7925.2011v24n2p13 Visando contribuir para a conservação e o preenchimento da lacuna acerca do conhecimento ecológico das plantas vasculares sem sementes no Brasil, apresenta-se resultado da análise da fenologia e sobrevivência de três populações de samambaias (Acrostichum danaeifolium Langsd. & Fisch., Lygodium volub...

http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-7925.2011v24n2p91 O presente estudo analisa os aspectos fenológicos de Thelypteris interrupta (Willd.) Iwats ocorrente em um remanescente da Floresta Atlântica nordestina, estado da Paraíba, Brasil. Para tanto foi demarcada em campo uma população da referida espécie, sendo esta acompanhada durante 12 meses, registran...