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

The shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiver sity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxo nomic 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 be yond 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 un equally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the coun try. 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.Fil: Gomes da Silva, Janaina. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro: Rio de Janeiro, BrasilFil: Filardi, Fabiana L.R. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Barbosa, María Regina de V. Universidade Federal da Paraíba: Joao Pessoa; BrasilFil: Baumgratz, José Fernando Andrade. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: de Mattos Bicudo, Carlos Eduardo. Instituto de Botânica. Núcleo de Pesquisa em Ecologia; BrasilFil: Cavalcanti, Taciana. Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia; BrasilFil: Coelho, Marcus. Prefeitura Municipal de Campinas; BrasilFil: Ferreira da Costa, Andrea. Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Museu Nacional. Department of Botany; BrasilFil: Costa, Denise. Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Dalcin, Eduardo C. Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute; BrasilFil: Labiak, Paulo. Universidade Federal do Parana; BrasilFil: Cavalcante de Lima, Haroldo. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Lohmann, Lucia. Universidade de São Paulo; BrasilFil: Maia, Leonor. Universidade Federal de Pernambuco; BrasilFil: Mansano, Vidal de Freitas. Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; Brasil. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Menezes, Mariângela. Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Museu Nacional. Department of Botany; BrasilFil: Morim, Marli. Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Moura, Carlos Wallace do Nascimento. Universidade Estadual de Feira de Santana. Department of Biological Science; BrasilFil: Lughadha, Eimear NIck. Royal Botanic Gardens; Reino UnidoFil: Peralta, Denilson. Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais; BrazilFil: Prado, Jefferson. Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais; BrasilFil: Roque, Nádia. Universidade Federal da Bahia; BrasilFil: Stehmann, Joao. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: da Silva Sylvestre, Lana. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Trierveiler-Pereira, Larissa. Universidade Estadual de Maringá. Departamento de Análises Clínicas e Biomedicina; BrasilFil: Walter, Bruno Machado Teles. EMBRAPA Cenargen Brasília; BrasilFil: Zimbrão, Geraldo. Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Forzza, Rafaela C. Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro; BrasilFil: Morales, Matías. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Recursos Biológicos; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Morón. Facultad de Agronomía y Ciencias Agroalimentarias; Argentin

Novas espécies de Diplusodon Pohl (Lythraceae) do Planalto Central e Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil New species of Diplusodon Pohl (Lythraceae) from Central Brazil and Minas Gerais State

(Novas espécies de Diplusodon Pohl (Lythraceae) do Planalto Central e Estado de Minas Gerais, Brasil). Quatro novas espécies são descritas e ilustradas para o gênero Diplusodon, que se somam ao alto número de espécies registradas para este gênero no Cerrado brasileiro, mais especificamente para as montanhas que formam a Serra Geral do Paraná, ou Serra Geral de Goiás, reafirmando a região como centro de diversidade genética do gênero. As seguintes espécies são descritas: Diplusodon capitalensis, do Distrito Federal e Goiás, D. chapadensis e D. grahamae, de Goiás, e D. rupestris, de Minas Gerais.<br>(New species of Diplusodon Pohl (Lythraceae) from Central Brazil and Minas Gerais State). Four new species are described and illustrated for the genus Diplusodon. These are added to the already high number of species registered for the Brazilian Cerrado, more precisely in the chain of mountains that form the Serra Geral do Parana or Serra Geral de Goiás, confirming this region as the primary center of genetic diversity of the genus. The following species are described: Diplusodon capitalensis, from the Distrito Federal and Goiás, D. chapadensis and D. grahamae from Goiás, and D. rupestris, from Minas Gerais

Inflorescence patterns in the woody Brazilian genus Diplusodon (Lythraceae)

The Brazilian genus Diplusodon is the second largest genus within Lythraceae. Their 85 species occupy diverse habitats within the 'cerrado' vegetation, and range from shrubs and treelets to dwarf, xylopodium-bearing subshrubs. A comparative-morphological survey of their inflorescence structures using Trollian typology is here presented, as well as some evolutionary considerations drawn from mapping inflorescence characters onto a preliminary phylogeny. The inflorescences of Diplusodon are mostly polytelic, ranging from single racemes to more or less complex double-, triple-, and multiple-racemes. Frondose, compound racemes are plesiomorphic within the genus. Nevertheless, an array of derived features has been found among their species, including production of lateral cymes, proliferation of the main axis, diverse patterns of internode elongation, reduction of subtending leaves to bracts, development of accessory branches, paedomorphic flowering, and, in three species, reversion to monotely. © 2008 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.Fil: Cavalcanti, Taciana B.. Ministerio da Agricultura Pecuaria e Abastecimento de Brasil; BrasilFil: Rua, Gabriel Hugo. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente. Cátedra de Botánica Agrícola; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Morfologia floral de Aspidosperma Mart. &amp; Zucc. (Apocynaceae)

O estudo morfológico das flores de Aspidosperma foi efetuado através do exame de 234 exsicatas, 67 das quais originaram-se de coletas próprias. Através dos exames em material herborizado, em flores preservadas em álcool 70% e das observações efetuadas no campo, efetuou-se a análise morfológica de nove espécies: A. cylindrocarpon Müll. Arg., A. discolor A. DC., A. macrocarpon Mart., A. nobile Müll. Arg., A. parvifolium A. DC., A. pyrifolium Mart., A. spruceanum Benth. ex Müll. Arg., A. subincanum Mart. e A. tomentosum Mart. et Zucc. Constatou-se a relevância de diversos caracteres florais, tais como tipo de indumento, consistência da corola e aspectos do tubo floral e dos lobos da flor em antese. Investigou-se a relação entre calosidade do tubo floral na região da fauce e presença de anel na fauce da corola. Identificaram-se novos caracteres, destacando-se a disposição dos óvulos no interior do ovário como de importância taxonômica para a distinção das espécies

Vascular Effects of Bisphosphonates–-A Systematic Review

Background Osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease are interconnected entities with pathophysiological similarities. Bisphosphonates are therapeutic options available for resorptive bone diseases; however, experimental evidence has demonstrated a role for bisphosphonates in the inhibition of atherogenesis. Methods A systematic review of the vascular effects of bisphosphonates on atherosclerosis was performed. Vascular effects were evaluated by the thickening of the intima-media of carotid arteries and calcification of the coronary and aorta arteries. Electronic databases PubMed, The Cochrane Library, and Embase from January 1980 to May 2011 were searched. Results Of 169 potentially relevant articles, 9 clinical trials were selected. Two articles showed the benefit of the use of etidronate (–0.038 mm, P <0.005) and alendronate (–0.025 mm, P <0.05) on carotid artery intima-media thickening (CIMT) after one year. One article found no changes associated with the use of alendronate. The use of risedronate was associated with a reduction of plaque score on the carotid arteries (decrease of 1% at 1 year, P = 0.015). Of those studies that evaluated the effect on coronary artery calcification (CAC), the results are conflicting: one study showed no changes with use of etidronate and in another, etidronate resulted in inhibition of the process of CAC after 1 year of follow-up (–372 mm 3 in CAC score, P <0.01). Three studies showed positive effects of etidronate on the aortic calcificaton (AC) score, showing no effect with use of ibandronate, and another showed a inhibition in the progression of the abdominal AC score with use of risendronate ( P = 0.043). Conclusion Bisphosphonates seem to have an inhibitory effect on the atherosclerotic process; however, larger placebo-controlled studies are needed to better clarify this issue

Concat_FEB-2016 (ITS 1+2)

This is an alignment matrix of ITS sequences of Coreopsideae (Compositae). Three new sequences are new and the other ones were gotten from Genbank. The 5.8 part of ITS was excluded from the alignment

Data from: An unusual new species of Bidens (Asteraceae, Coreopsideae) with its phylogenetic position and taxonomic notes

An unusual new species of Bidens (Asteraceae) from Brazil is described and its placement within the genus is elucidated by phylogenetic analysis of ITS sequences. The new species, described as Bidens campanulata , is distinct in the genus based on its broadly campanulate corolla limb with long lobes, an extremely reduced involucre (shorter than the flower length), and the absence of awns on the pappus. This study presents a taxonomic treatment of the species of Bidens with discoid capitula endemic to the Brazilian Cerrado, including a key to the species, typification, and information on conservation status

BayConcat FEB (ITS 1-2) con

Bayesian consensus tree (50 % majority rule) from the analysis with ITS data of Bidens and closely related outgroups

PAUP 2 Concat_FEB-2016 (ITS 1+2)

Phylogram of strict consensus of 1260 most parsimonious trees based on ITS data matrix, showing the relationship of the new species described and closely related groups of Coreopsidea