Floristic inventory of Brejo do Creator, a wetland in the valley of the coastal tablelands of Espírito Santo

Abstract

Aquatic vegetation and its attributes, such as the ability to retain pollutants, are important indicators of the quality of aquatic ecosystems. However, the flora of these ecosystems at the bottom of valleys in the coastal plains of Espírito Santo State has never been evaluated, even with the profound changes in land use arising from large port developments recently In this work, we carried out a floristic survey and show how native aquatic vegetation is distributed along the zone caused by flood pulses in Brejo do Criador, in the extreme south of the State. The area is characterized by the occurrence of 48 species, 36 genera, and 16 families and predominantly herbaceous vegetation, with emerging shrubs and species tolerant to flooding, but its structure is greatly affected by cattle trampling and herbivory. Despite this, flood pulses guarantee the permanence of species typical of aquatic environments. Our results make it possible to reduce the environmental neglect of these areas and bring important reference values for similar areas, mainly due to the speed of change in land use and population growth in the region.