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The Parque Estadual do Forno Grande is a fully protected area in the southern Espírito Santo State, Brazil. It belongs to the Atlantic Forest domain, with predominantly dense, ombrophilous, seasonal semi-deciduous forests and herbaceous/shrubby vegetation on rock outcrops. The area is recognised as highly important for conservation, designated as a priority biological area for protecting the Atlantic Forest's biodiversity. Although the importance of Protected Areas in conserving the Atlantic Forest biodiversity is unquestionable, it is crucial to understand the floristic patterns within these regions to develop effective conservation strategies. We utilised national online databases to compile species lists containing relevant information about their biodiversity. The updated list of vascular plants recorded in the Parque Estadual do Forno Grande is available in the “Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil” and it is presented here with further information on richness, endemism and conservation status.The Parque Estadual do Forno Grande harbours 958 species of vascular plants, of which 79.2% are angiosperms, 18.4% are ferns and 2.4% are lycophytes. Amongst these species, 44% are endemic to the Atlantic Forest. There are 58 threatened species, of which six are Critically Endangered, 39 are Endangered and 13 are Vulnerable. Amongst the threatened species, 51 are endemic to the Atlantic Forest. The number of records and the species richness in this area are notably high for Atlantic Forest standards. Our findings suggest that floristic inventories of Brazilian Protected Areas are a key contribution to the general perception of how much we still do not know about our flora. It also highlights the necessity of supporting floristic surveys in poorly-known areas, especially those remaining as forest remnants.

The Atlantic Forest is one of the most threatened biomes in the world. Despite that, this biome still includes many areas that are poorly known floristically, including several protected areas, such as the "Floresta Nacional do Rio Preto" ("Flona do Rio Preto"), located in the Brazilian State of Espírito Santo. This study used a published vascular plant species list for this protected area from the "Catálogo de Plantas das Unidades de Conservação do Brasil" as the basis to synthesise the species richness, endemism, conservation and new species occurrences found in the "Flona do Rio Preto".The published list of vascular plants was based on field expeditions conducted between 2018 and 2020 and data obtained from herbarium collections available in online databases. Overall, 722 species were documented for the "Flona do Rio Preto", 711 of which are native to Brazil and 349 are endemic to the Atlantic Forest. In addition, 60 species are geographically disjunct between the Atlantic and the Amazon Forests. Most of the documented species are woody and more than 50% of these are trees. Twenty-three species are threatened (CR, EN and VU), while five are Data Deficient (DD). Thirty-two species are new records for the State of Espírito Santo. Our results expand the knowledge of the flora of the Atlantic Forest and provide support for the development of new conservation policies for this protected area.

Resumo Este estudo apresenta o inventário florístico atualizado para Rubiaceae no Parque Estadual de Mata das Flores (PEMF), município de Castelo, no Espírito Santo. O remanescente florestal estudado está localizado em uma das áreas prioritárias para conservação da Floresta Atlântica ao sul do estado. A listagem elaborada embasou a análise da similaridade florística de Rubiaceae no fragmento estudado com outras 17 áreas de Floresta Atlântica, por meio de análise de agrupamentos e métodos de ordenação. Foram identificadas 45 espécies e duas subespécies, pertencentes a 20 gêneros. Psychotria (8 spp.) foi o gênero mais representativo, seguido de Faramea (6 spp.) e Rudgea (4 pp.). Quatro táxons constituem novas espécies para a ciência. Quatro táxons estão listados em diferentes categorias de ameaça. As análises de agrupamento e ordenação evidenciaram que Mata das Flores se distingue das demais áreas comparadas da Floresta Atlântica quanto à composição florística de Rubiaceae. Os resultados indicam que o Parque Estadual de Mata das Flores é um importante centro de diversidade para Rubiaceae no Espírito Santo.