Mauricio Takashi Coutinho Watanabe

• PhD
• Researcher at Instituto Tecnológico Vale

We describe and illustrate two new species of Syngonanthus from Chapada dos Veadeiros (Central highlands of Brazil), an area known for its high number of endemic and threatened species, such as those described here. These species have a restricted distribution and inhabit critical areas. Syngonanthus incurvifolius has not been collected since 1994...

Novelties and nomenclatural issues in Syngonanthus sect. Carphocephalus (Eriocaulaceae) are presented here. This study is based on analyses of herbarium materials and field observations. Syngonanthus sect. Carphocephalus contains 13 species, all restricted to the Americas. Some species are widely distributed, such as S. caulescens, but most are rar...

In the present study, we describe and illustrate a remarkable new species of Syngonanthus from South America (Bolivia, Brazil and Peru). This new species is quickly distinguished from all species in the genus by trimerous and bisexual flowers, a unique set of characteristics in Syngonanthus. Complementary to this study, sequences of 33 species were...

Citation: Watanabe MTC, Mota NFO, Pastore M, Santos FMG, Zappi DC (2018) Completing the jigsaw: the first record of the female plant of Daphnopsis filipedunculata (Thymelaeaceae), an endemic species from the Brazilian Amazon. Abstract The results of intensive fieldwork in the National Forest of Carajás (FLONA Carajás) led to the discovery of pistil...

Amazon ironstone outcrops vegetation, or canga , is a remarkable environment in which the plants are adapted to peculiar circumstances. Knowledge regarding different aspects of this ecosystem remains modest, including necessary insights for its conservation and recovery, such as the reproductive phenology of priority species that form the plant com...

Background and Aims Critical analyses of genetic data are essential to assessing population and species’ conservation status and establishing strategies for their protection, which include best monitoring and management practices. This is especially crucial for endemic species with restricted distribution ranges. Methods We used genomic data to ev...

Seed persistence, desiccation tolerance, and dormancy play a crucial role in plant population and community dynamics. However, these life-history traits remain largely understudied in perennial herbaceous species, particularly in tropical ecosystems. We evaluated the seed storage behaviour, potential longevity, soil seed bank, seed dormancy allevia...

Species extinction rates have surpassed background rates in the contemporary times, triggering a sixth global mass extinction event. Failure to prevent massive extinctions may be related to the lack of efficient tools to estimate local and regional population decline and to identify where declining species likely occur. We used a set of 22 plant sp...

Background Accurate species identification is the first step towards establishing conservation strategies, especially regarding rare and threatened species, such as those studied here. Moreover, understanding the responses to the environment and growing conditions of endemic species is necessary for its conservation. This study compares the leaf an...

Background and Aims: Clonality is characterized by the formation of independent individuals of the same genotype that are capable of reproducing and propagating vegetatively. Although clonality is an important mechanism that facilitates the persistence of a population, its extensive use can lead to negative impacts on sexual reproduction due to tra...

We here evaluate the conflicting recent splitter and lumper strategies concerning the generic classification system of the Eriocaulaceae, and whether Paepalanthus s.str. and its proposed segregate genera are morphologically recognizable. To this end, we examine evidence from inflorescence branching patterns, seed coat, and phylogeny in detail, and...

Monimiaceae comprises approximately 26 genera and 250 species, with a pantropical distribution, predominantly occurring in humid forests. In Brazil, it is represented by five genera and 47 species, most of which are found in the Atlantic Forest, particularly in dense ombrophilous forest. Nevertheless, studies on this family in other biomes and vege...

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 impedi...

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 impedi...

Este tratamento é composto pelos seguintes táxons: Eriocaulaceae, Actinocephalus, Comanthera, Eriocaulon, Leiothrix, Paepalanthus, Rondonanthus, Syngonanthus e Tonina.

Climate change has impacted biodiversity, affecting species and altering their geographical distribution. Besides understanding the impact in the species, it has been advocated that answering if different traits will be differently impacted could allow refined predictions of how climate change will jeopardize biodiversity. Our aim was to evaluate i...

The canga of the Serra dos Carajás, in Eastern Amazon, is home to a unique open plant community, harboring several endemic and rare species. Although a complete flora survey has been recently published, scarce to no genetic information is available for most plant species of the ironstone outcrops of the Serra dos Carajás. In this scenario, DNA barc...

A Serra dos Carajás é uma das maiores províncias minerais do mundo, e apresenta um ecossistema peculiar, conhecido como canga ferruginosa ou campos rupestres ferruginosos. Nessa área, são desenvolvidos estudos florísticos, que contribuíram para uma rápida evolução no conhecimento da flora nessa região. Apresentamos em ordem cronológica o progresso...

Serra dos Carajás, one of the largest mineral provinces in the world, has a peculiar ecosystem known as ferruginous canga or ironstone outcrops. Floristic studies in this area have contributed to the rapid advancement of knowledge about the flora in the region. In this case study, we present in chronological order the progress that has been made in...

Two new micro-endemic species of Eriocaulaceae are described from the Campos Rupestres of Serra Nova State Park, a conservation unit located in the Espinhaço Range in northern Minas Gerais state, Brazil. Herein we provide descriptions, illustrations, photographs and maps, together with notes on morphology, distribution, phenology, taxonomy, and con...

The canga of the Serra dos Carajás, in Eastern Amazon, is home to a unique open plant community, harbouring several endemic and rare species. Although a complete flora survey has been recently published, scarce to no genetic information is available for most plant species of the ironstone outcrops of the Serra dos Carajás. In this scenario, DNA bar...

The genus Isoëtes is globally distributed. Within the Neotropics, Isoëtes occurs in various habitats and ecosystems, making it an interesting case study to address phylogenetic and biogeographic questions. We sequenced and assembled plastomes and ribosomal DNA (rDNA) sequences to reconstruct phylogenetic relationships in Isoëtes from tropical regio...

The urge to organise the world around us is an essential part of human nature. Naming and categorising enable us to store and access information ef ciently. The need to name and categorise extends to the natural world and, in particular, to living organisms. The science underpinning this area of knowledge is called Taxonomy, and is as old as humani...

Daphnopsis filipedunculata é uma arvoreta de até 8 m de altura, endêmica da Floresta Nacional de Carajás e descrita como restrita às florestas de transição dos platôs da Serra Norte. A espécie foi descrita em 1993, a partir de uma única coleta, realizada em 1982 na área do antigo acampamento hoje Mina de N4, que continha apenas flores masculinas. I...

Although phylogenetic studies have revealed major clades, the deepest relationships in Isoetes remain unresolved. The use of next‐generation sequencing provides enormous amounts of gene sequences, which allows not only clarification the basal relationships but also rapid radiations. Plastomes of six key Isoetes species were annotated, revealing a t...

Pollination may be severely affected by the decreasing size and increasing isolation of habitat patches. However, most studies that have considered the effects of these two variables on plant-pollinator interactions have been carried out in areas that have undergone anthropogenic fragmentation, and little is known about their effects in natural hab...

Open habitats such as grasslands occupy < 5% of the Amazon and are currently grouped under the broad term Amazonian savanna, covering an area of c. 267 000 km2, mostly in Brazil and Bolivia. These habitats are found isolated within an extensive rainforest matrix, having a distinct flora from the latter. The lower Amazon River is home to several pat...

Open habitats such as grasslands occupy < 5% of the Amazon and are currently grouped under the broad term Amazonian savanna, covering an area of c. 267 000 km 2 , mostly in Brazil and Bolivia. These habitats are found isolated within an extensive rainforest matrix, having a distinct flora from the latter. The lower Amazon River is home to several p...

Este compêndio de trabalhos técnico-científicos elaborados na Gerência de Espeleologia e Tecnologia trata-se de uma síntese dos principais artigos publicados em periódicos nacionais e internacionais e congressos científicos entre os anos de 2018 e 2019. No intuito de se aprimorar os conhecimentos da dinâmica e funcionamento dos ecossistemas cavern...

Investigations following the discovery of an unusual new collection from the Amazon lead to a phylogenetic investigation in order to ascertain its position within the Nyctaginaceae. Two different approaches were used: gene trees from nucleotide sequences of ndhF and ITS aiming to check the phylogenetic position of the new species in the genus Belem...

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Isoetes amazonica and I. gardneriana were the first two species of the genus to be collected from Brazil. Isoetes amazonica was gathered by Richard Spruce in the Amazon basin near Santarém in the state of Pará in 1850. Isoetes gardneriana was collected by George Gardner in the current Dianópolis in Tocantins State in 1843. Despite being known for a...

As mudanças de clima de origem antropogênica têm impactado diretamente a biodiversidade, provocando, por exemplo, alteração na distribuição geográfica de espécies e nas comunidades de animais e plantas ao redor do globo. Espécies de distribuição restrita, conhecidas como endêmicas, especialmente as que ocorrem no topo de serras ou montanhas, poderã...

Amazonia is one of the most diverse biomes worldwide, and, as well as luxuriant forest, it includes mountain areas which, despite their small surface area, display fascinating endemism. In these regions, the specificity of edaphic factors is mirrored by a highly specialised, isolated flora adapted to survive adverse conditions. The Serra dos Carajá...

Isoetes dubsii sp. nov. and I. santacruzensis sp. nov., two new species from lowland areas in South America, are described, illustrated and compared to similar species. Isoetes dubsii can be distinguished from other species of the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands by a set of characters including leaves that are long, flexuous and trigonal in transverse...

In order to establish effective conservation strategy, drivers of local and regional patterns of biodiversity need to be understood. The composition of local biodiversity is dependent on a number of factors including evolution and redistribution of lineages through dispersal and environmental heterogeneity. Brazilian canga is characterised by a fer...

The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) was established by the Conference of Parties in 2002 to decrease the loss of plant diversity, reduce poverty and contribute to sustainable development. To achieve this overarching goal, the GSPC has established a series of targets, one of which is to ensure that plant diversity is well understood, s...

Resumo Nas cangas da Floresta Nacional (FLONA) de Carajás e no Parque Nacional dos Campos Ferruginosos (PNCF) foram registradas 856 espécies, distribuídas em 116 famílias de fanerógamas. As famílias mais ricas foram Poaceae (86), Fabaceae (65) e Rubiaceae (46). O hábito herbáceo foi o melhor representado. Dois gêneros, 24 espécies e uma subespécie...

Isoetes are ancient quillworts members of the only genus of the order Isoetales. The genus is slow evolving but is resilient, and widespread worldwide. Two recently described species occur in the Eastern Brazilian Amazon, Isoetes serracarajensis and Isoetes cangae. They are found in the ironstone grasslands known as Canga. While I. serracarajensis...

Specimens collected for genetic and morphological analyses. (DOCX)

SNPs observed in the chloroplast genomes of specimens of I. serracarajensis and I. cangae mapped against ITV411 of I. serracarajensis. (XLSX)

SNPs observed in the chloroplast genomes of specimens of I. serracarajensis and I. cangae mapped against ITV2008 of I. cangae. (XLSX)

Codon usage for Isoetes flaccida and the Carajás species. (XLSX)

Multiple alignment of the ITS2. The species and the sampled locations are shown in the left. Polymorphic sites are marked in green and yellow for I. cangae and in blue for I. serracarajensis. (TIF)

Bioinformatics command lines used. (DOCX)

Statistics on NGS data for whole genome sequencing. (XLSX)

Chloroplast gene content for I. cangae and I. serracarajensis. Genes were annotated in CPGAVAS [35], names in bold were annotated using DOGMA [34]. The copy number of each gene and transcribed strands are shown. (XLSX)

Microspore measurements. Box plots of equatorial diameter length, equatorial diameter width, polar diameter, leasure width, leasura hight, and radii with TLI for I. cangae and I. serracarajensis with and without silica. All units in the y-axis are in μm. (TIF)

Plants living above and around caves represent an important, albeit poorly studied, resource within cave ecosystems. The presence of plant material (root-like structures or rhizothemes, saplings, seeds, and seedlings) correlates positively with the biodiversity of the cave dwelling animals as shown for iron-ore caves in Carajás, Pará, Brazil. Plant...

Resumo É apresentado o levantamento das espécies de Heliotropiaceae para as formações de canga na Serra dos Carajás, Pará, Brasil. Duas espécies foram registradas: Euploca humistrata (que se configura como um novo registro para a flora paraense) e E. lagoensis. São fornecidas descrições morfológicas para as espécies, ilustrações e comentários taxon...

Este estudo aborda a família Smilacaceae nas cangas da Serra dos Carajás, no estado do Pará e contém descrições detalhadas, ilustrações e comentários morfológicos das espécies na área. Foram registradas duas espécies: Smilax irrorata e Smilax syphilitica, ambas com distribuição na América do Sul. Abstract This study deals with the Smilacaceae famil...

This is an account of the species of Cordiaceae, which have been reported on the cangas of Serra dos Carajás, Pará state, Brazil. Two genera and three species are recorded: Cordia nodosa, C. exaltata and Varronia multispicata. Keys, descriptions, illustrations, photos and comments are also provided.

Resumo É apresentado o levantamento das espécies de Burseraceae que ocorrem nas formações de canga na Serra dos Carajás, no estado do Pará, Brasil. Apenas uma espécie foi registrada: Protium pilosissimum. São fornecidos neste trabalho uma descrição morfológica para a espécie, ilustração e comentários taxonômicos. Palavras-chave: Amazônia, FLONA Car...

Resumo É apresentado um tratamento florístico das espécies de Eriocaulaceae que ocorrem sobre as cangas da Serra dos Carajás, no estado do Pará, Brasil. Três gêneros e dez espécies foram registradas: Eriocaulon carajense, Abstract This is an account of the species of Eriocaulaceae that have been reported from the cangas of Serra dos Carajás, Pará s...

Back in 1960 researchers from the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG) began to study the Serra dos Carajás, resulting in an important series of collections, giving interesting insights in the local flora. During the last decades, intensification of expeditions to the FLONA Carajás was driven by the discovery of a high number of endemic species, cou...

We describe and illustrate Syngonanthus hensoldiae, a new species of S. sect. Syngonanthus (Eriocaulaceae) endemic from Chapada dos Veadeiros (Central highlands of Brazil). This region is known for its high number of endemic and threatened species, including other members of Eriocaulaceae family. This new species is known only from small population...

An updated inventory of Brazilian seed plants is presented and offers important insights into the country’s biodiversity. This work started in 2010, with the publication of the Plants and Fungi Catalogue, and has been updated since by more than 430 specialists working online. Brazil is home to 32,086 native Angiosperms and 23 native Gymnosperms, sh...

An updated inventory of Brazilian seed plants is presented and offers important insights into the country’s biodiversity. This work started in 2010, with the publication of the Plants and Fungi Catalogue, and has been updated since by more than 430 specialists working online. Brazil is home to 32,086 native Angiosperms and 23 native Gymnosperms, sh...

Paepalanthus and Syngonanthus are the largest genera of the Neotropical Eriocaulaceae, and both present many taxonomic and nomenclatural problems. Based on field observations and detailed analysis of type collections, we suggest nomenclatural and taxonomic changes to solve the problems regarding six species occurring in Rio de Janeiro and Santa Cat...

The flora of Rauvolfioideae and Apocynoideae, which together form Apocynaceae s.s., from the Mucugê Municipal Park, Chapada Diamantina, State of Bahia, Brazil, is presented. Eight species and five genera were recognized. Mandevilla is the most diverse genus, with four species: M. scabra (Hoffmans. ex Roem. & Schult.) K. Schum., M. tenuifolia (J.C....

This study of Hypoxidaceae is part of the project “Flora of Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais, Brazil”. The family is represented in the area by the species Hypoxis decumbens L. Description, illustration, comments on habitat, geographic distribution, phenology and morphological variability are provided.

The study of Burmanniaceae is part of the project “Flora of Serra do Cipó, Minas Gerais, Brazil”. This family is represented in the area by 6 species belonging to 3 genera: Apteria, Burmannia and Dictyostega. Identification keys to genera and species, illustrations, comments on geogra- phic distribution and phenology are provided.