<b>Climbers: flora of the Caiuá Ecological Station and an identification key for the vegetative species of Northern Paraná State</b> - doi: 10.4025/actascibiolsci.v34i2.5892

Abstract

Climbers are highly represented in tropical forests and are of great ecological importance, having been identified as one of the key factors that differentiate tropical forests from temperate rainforests. This paper presents the climber species of the Caiuá Ecological Station (EECAIUÁ) in the City of Diamante do Norte, Paraná State; the Station is located in a submountainous seasonal semideciduous forest (SSF) and is situated on the edge of the Paranapanema river. We found 17 families, 44 genera and 53 species of vines. The five families with the greatest number of species jointly accounted for 57% of the total species found. Herbaceous vines occurred less frequently than did lianas. When considering the climbing strategy used by the species, the graspers were the most diverse, followed by those that had tendrils (scramblers) and climbers. An identification key based on vegetative characters of families found in other parts of northern Paraná was created for the families of this location.