Peperomia (Piperaceae) endemic to Brazil: Distribution, richness, and conservation status

Abstract

Among one of the largest genera of angiosperms, Peperomia has a Pantropical distribution. However, studies that analyze the chorological details and conservation status of its species still are scarce. Brazil is home to 169 species of Peperomia and approximately two thirds (111 spp.) are considered endemic in the Flora of Brazil. Due to this, the present study aims to answer: (1) Are the Peperomia cited in Flora do Brasil 2020 as endemic really endemic? (2) How are these species distributed? (3) What is the extinction risk of the Peperomia species endemic to Brazil? In order to extract and clean the occurrence data, we used records available in open databases then applied a workflow method developed by CNCFlora (National Center for the Conservation of Flora). Based on our data, at current 100 species can be considered endemic to Brazil. We found that almost half of the endemic species are threatened on some level and that the phytogeographical domain with the greatest richness and highest number of records is the Atlantic Forest.