New records of Vriesea agostiniana E.Pereira, and Vriesea saltensis Leme & L. Kollmann (Bromeliaceae, Tillandsioideae) from southeastern Brazil

Vriesea Lindl. (Bromeliaceae) has its center of diversity in eastern Brazil, especially in the Atlantic Rainforest domain. The present study extended the distribution of V. agostiniana to São Paulo state and V. saltensis to Espírito Santo state; they were previously considered endemic to single locations in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, respectively. Species descriptions, taxonomic comments, and new distribution maps are presented, contributing to our knowledge of the taxonomy and biogeography of Vriesea in southeastern Brazil

New records of Vriesea agostiniana E.Pereira, and Vriesea saltensis Leme & L. Kollmann (Bromeliaceae, Tillandsioideae) from southeastern Brazil

Vriesea Lindl. (Bromeliaceae) has its center of diversity in eastern Brazil, especially in the Atlantic Rainforest domain. The present study extended the distribution of V. agostiniana to São Paulo state and V. saltensis to Espírito Santo state; they were previously considered endemic to single locations in the states of Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, respectively. Species descriptions, taxonomic comments, and new distribution maps are presented, contributing to our knowledge of the taxonomy and biogeography of Vriesea in southeastern Brazil

Vascular epiphytes in the Grumari restinga, RJ: floristic and similarities between restingas in Eastern Brazil

Resumo A comunidade de epífitas vasculares ocorrente na restinga de Grumari, estado do Rio de Janeiro, foi avaliada através de coletas realizadas no ano de 2014 e complementadas com materiais de herbários e publicações. 37 espécies de epífitas vasculares foram registradas, distribuídas em 21 gêneros e seis famílias. As famílias mais ricas são Orchidaceae e Bromeliaceae, que foram as mais representativas (67,6% de todas as espécies registradas). A riqueza na restinga de Grumari é maior do que os outros inventários realizados na planície costeira do Sudeste do Brasil, no entanto, inferior as restingas de São Paulo, Paraná e da planície costeira do Rio Grande do Sul. A categoria ecológica mais representativa foi a holoepífita característica (62%) seguida por holoepífitas facultativas e acidentais com 18% cada. A restinga de Grumari possui mais espécies em comum com as restingas do Espírito Santo e Rio de Janeiro do que com São Paulo e região Sul do Brasil, possivelmente em função da distância geográfica. Nosso estudo traz a primeira contribuição ao conhecimento da flora epifítica da restinga de Grumari e evidencia uma flora singular com 40% das espécies exclusivas dessa localidade, o que justifica sua importância como Unidade de Conservação

Data from: Species boundaries in the Vriesea incurvata (Bromeliaceae) complex after a broad morphometric and taxonomic study

The genus Vriesea encompasses many species of difficult delimitation, including Vriesea incurvata, which shows wide morphological variation throughout its distribution in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Six other taxa are morphologically similar to V. incurvata: V. atrococcinea, V. joyae (with two varieties), V. sucrei, andV. taritubensis (with two varieties), which comprise the species complex. Our aims were to evaluate morphological variation through a morphometric study of natural populations to establish the limits and validity of those taxa, and to produce a taxonomic treatment. A total of 23 morphometric variables were measured among 241 individuals from 15 natural populations. The morphological evidence led to the recognition of five taxa: V. incurvata, V. sucrei, V. taritubensis var. taritubensis, V. taritubensis var. brevisepala, and V. taritubensis var. patens (a new variety). Three synonyms are proposed: V. atrococcinea (under V. sucrei), V. joyae var. joyae, and V. joyae var. parvula (under V. taritubensis var. taritubensis). The resulting taxa were re-circumscribed and data on their geographic distributions is updated

Neves_et_al_2018_Morphometrics Vriesea_incurvata_complex_S1

SUPPLEMENTAL APPENDIX 1. Minimum and maximum values, and the median of each variable in the 15 populations studied. The letters show the populations that differ significantly with H test (p<0.05)

Neves_et_al_2018_Morphometrics_Vriesea_incurvata_complex_Data

Raw data used for analyses

Drivers of bromeliad leaf and floral bract variation across a latitudinal gradient in the Atlantic Forest

Aim Understanding the complex interaction and relative contributions of factors involved in species and trait diversification is crucial to gain insights into the evolution of Neotropical biodiversity. Here, we investigated the drivers of morphological variation in bromeliads along a latitudinal gradient in a biodiversity hotspot. Location Atlantic Forest, Brazil. Taxon A species complex in the genus Vriesea (Bromeliaceae). Methods We measured shape and size variation for 208 floral bracts and 176 leaves in individuals from 14 localities using geometric morphometrics. We compiled data for two chloroplast regions (matK and trnL‐F) from 89 individuals to assess genetic diversity, population structure and phylogenetic relationships. We tested the influence of climate, altitude and genetic distance on morphological traits using linear statistical models. Results Temperature seasonality is a main driver of floral bract shape. Together with precipitation, it also explains changes in leaf size across the latitudinal gradient. Shifts in morphological traits are correlated with genetic structure and partly support the recent taxonomic delimitation proposed for the species complex. The species started to diversify in the Pliocene ca. 5 Mya. We detected a phylogeographical break in species distribution into northern and southern clades between the Bocaina region and the southern portion of the Atlantic Forest. Main Conclusions We identify how geography and environmental changes through time shape floral bracts and leaves in similar ways. At highly seasonal sites with lower annual precipitation (in the southern subtropical portion of the Atlantic Forest), leaves are larger and floral bracts are wide‐elliptic, making them better suited for increased water accumulation. In contrast, at less seasonal sites (in the tropical north, where rainfall is more abundant and temperatures are higher), leaves are narrower and floral bracts are lanceolate‐shaped, facilitating water drainage. The biogeographical break we identified suggests a role of tectonic activity and climatic oscillations in promoting species divergence and diversification

Aechmea e gêneros relacionados (Bromelioideae, Bromeliaceae) no Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Resumo O Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos (PARNASO) constitui um dos maiores remanescentes de Mata Atlântica no estado do Rio de Janeiro. Bromeliaceae possui neste bioma um dos seus principais centros de diversidade, com 31 gêneros e 803 espécies, sendo mais de 500 pertencentes à subfamília Bromelioideae. Como parte do projeto Bromeliaceae organensis desenvolvido no Departamento de Botânica do Museu Nacional- UFRJ, o presente trabalho buscou inventariar as espécies de Aechmea, Billbergia, Hohenbergia e Quesnelia no PARNASO, fornecendo a descrição morfológica das espécies e uma chave para identificação, além de dados sobre sua distribuição, geral e dentro do parque. O estudo taxonômico foi realizado através da análise de material herborizado, coletas e observações de campo. Foram encontradas no parque: seis espécies de Aechmea, cinco de Billbergia, uma de Hohenbergia e quatro de Quesnelia. Apesar de bem representado em número de espécies na unidade de conservação, Billbergia conta com poucos registros nos herbários, sendo quatro de suas espécies referenciadas por um ou poucos indivíduos nas coleções. A localidade guarda ainda populações de espécies endêmicas do estado do Rio de Janeiro, como A. wellbachii, A. fasciata, Q. lateralis e Q. edmundoi var. edmundoi

Brazilian Flora 2020: Leveraging the power of a collaborative scientific network

International audienceThe shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic impediment to biodiversity research and conservation planning. The taxonomic impediment and the biodiversity crisis are widely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwide have devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparation of a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to more of the world's known plant species than any other country. Despite that, Flora Brasiliensis, concluded in 1906, was the last comprehensive treatment of the Brazilian flora. The lack of accurate estimates of the number of species of algae, fungi, and plants occurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past 12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on the algal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project that used cybertaxonomy to prepare an updated Flora of Brazil, showing the power of scientific collaboration to reach ambitious goals. This paper presents an overview of the Brazilian Flora 2020 and provides taxonomic and spatial updates on the algae, fungi, and plants found in one of the world's most biodiverse countries. We further identify collection gaps and summarize future goals that extend beyond 2020. Our results show that Brazil is home to 46,975 native species of algae, fungi, and plants, of which 19,669 are endemic to the country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plant groups except gymnosperms, which are most diverse in the Amazon. However, scientific knowledge of Brazilian diversity is still unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. In times of “scientific reductionism”, with botanical and mycological sciences suffering pervasive depreciation in recent decades, the first online Flora of Brazil 2020 significantly enhanced the quality and quantity of taxonomic data available for algae, fungi, and plants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future research and for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora