Tânia Wendt

Federal University of Rio de Janeiro | UFRJ

Central South America primarily comprises seasonally dry tropical domains, where a sharp rainy season defines phenological and yearly growth patterns. Here we examine if the genetic structure of the understorey ground-herb Chamaecostus subsessilis species complex, from South American seasonally dry forests, is defined by intrinsic contrasting envir...

A fundamental challenge in population genetics is to understand the role of ecological and historical processes in shaping genetic diversity patterns within and among species. Based on a set of nuclear microsatellite loci, we conducted a comparative study of the genetic diversity and structure of two epiphytic plant species: Vriesea simplex and V....

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Geographic isolation and reduced population sizes can lead to local extinction, low efficacy of selection and decreased speciation. However, population differentiation is an essential step of biological diversification. In allopatric speciation, geographically isolated populations differentiate and persist until the evolution of reproductive isolat...

Totalling 3620 species distributed in 76 genera, Bromeliaceae occupy a wide range of habitats and are one of the most characteristic elements of the Neotropical forests (Holst & Luther, 2004; Gouda, Butcher & Gouda, 2018). Brazil is a country with a long tradition of research on bromeliads, and many scientists in Brazil are devoted to the study of...

Hybridization is a widespread phenomenon present in numerous lineages across the tree of life. Its evolutionary consequences range from effects on the origin and maintenance, to the loss of biodiversity. We study genetic diversity and intra‐ and interspecific gene flow between two sympatric populations of closely‐related species, Pitcairnia flammea...

While most species within the genus Chamaecostus (Costaceae) are well defined, the broad geographic range and long list of synonyms associated with Chamaecostus subsessilis led us to believe there may be some cryptic species within the complex. We thus investigate the phylogenetic relationships of species in the Chamaecostus lineage and specificall...

Reproductive isolation is of fundamental importance for maintaining species boundaries in sympatry. Here, we examine the genetic and morphological differences between two closely related bromeliad species: Vriesea simplex and Vriesea scalaris. Furthermore, we examined the occurrence of natural hybridization and discuss the action of reproductive is...

Divergence in reproductive systems among plant species often involves changes in floral traits. The distance separating stigmas and anthers (herkogamy) directly affects the relative importance of reproduction by outcrossing vs. selfing reproduction and can impact the integrity of sympatric species. We studied the reproductive biology of two closely...

Species can arise via the divisive effects of allopatry as well as due to ecological and/or reproductive character displacement within sympatric populations. Two separate lineages of Costaceae are native to the Neotropics; an early-diverging clade endemic to South America (consisting of ca. 16 species in the genera Monocostus, Dimerocostus and Cham...

The co-occurrence of different species and genera of Bromeliaceae in a plant community in south-eastern Brazil gave us the opportunity to test for pre- and post-zygotic barriers to interspecific gene flow. We evaluated the inhibition of pre-zygotic pollen tube growth in 13 species of Bromeliaceae in an assemblage with a large overlap of flowering p...

Key message Plasticity of ecophysiological acclimation determines habitat occupation of species ofClusiain an Atlantic rainforest of Brazil. Ecophysiological performance is not sufficient for explaining widespread versus locally restricted distribution of species among physiognomic sub-sites within the forest. Abstract Four species of Clusia were...

A phylogenetic study testing the monophyly of the geographically disjunct genus Ronnbergia (Bromeliaceae, Bromelioideae) is presented. The phylogenetic analyses were based on taxon sampling that included all but one species of Ronnbergia, and representative lineages across the subfamily Bromelioideae. Three chloroplast DNA sequence markers (matK, p...

• The mating system is an important component of the complex set of reproductive isolation barriers causing plant speciation. However, empirical evidence showing that the mating system may promote reproductive isolation in co-occurring species is limited. The mechanisms by which the mating system can act as a reproductive isolation barrier are also...

While most species within the genus Chamaecostus (Costaceae) are well defined, the broad geographic range and long list of synonyms associated with Chamaecostus subsessilis led us to believe there may be some cryptic species within the complex. We thus investigate the phylogenetic relationships of species in the Chamaecostus lineage and specificall...

Abstract— Of the eight subfamilies currently recognized in Bromeliaceae, Bromelioideae is perhaps the most poorly understood. Generic circumscriptions are unclear, and an exceptionally diverse morphology coupled with an unusually low rate of sequence divergence within Bromeliaceae has made it difficult to resolve phylogenetic relationships within t...

Ten polymorphic microsatellite loci were isolated and characterized for Vriesea simplex epiphytic and endemic species from the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 2 to 16. The observed and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.000 to 0.414 and 0.068 to 0.795, respectively. All loci departed significantly from...

Abstract— Alcantarea galactea (Bromeliaceae, Tillandsioideae), a new species of giant bromeliad from the inselbergs of the state of Espírito Santo, southeastern Brazil, is described and illustrated. A distribution map and a table with the main characteristics used to distinguish the new species from its morphologically similar relatives are presen...

The leaf anatomy of the species Aechmea subgenus Macrochordion was analyzed to obtain valuable data on their taxonomic delimitation and to identify anatomical adaptations to their respective habitats and habits. All leaves of these species are hypostomatic, and present: peltate trichomes on both surfaces; stomata sunk in epidermal depressions; smal...

The tree changes of 1.02ha of montane forest at the Santa Lúcia Biological Station, southeastern Brazil, were analyzed using two surveys separated by an interval of 11years with the aim of confirming the patterns of stability of structure and diversity over time. In the original survey all trees with diameter at breast height ≥6.4cm were sampled. I...

The roles of intra- and interspecific gene flow in speciation and species evolution are topics of great current interest in molecular ecology and evolutionary biology. Recent modelling studies call for new empirical data to test hypotheses arising from the recent shift from a 'whole-genome reproductive isolation' view to a 'genic' view of species a...

Past taxonomic treatments have classified Euterpe espiritosantensis as a synonym of E. edulis. However, both continue to be identified as two distinct species and are enumerated in the threatened species list. The goal of this study was to compare the reproductive biology of sympatric populations of these two morphs so as to identify morphological...

Co-occurring congener plant species in the highly diverse Atlantic forests of southeastern Brazil may act as natural laboratories for evaluating evolution of reproductive shifts. We assessed the breeding systems in a sympatric assemblage of bromeliad species and compiled literature available for the family to compare our experiments with available...

Resumo Este estudo relata o levantamento florístico de Bromeliaceae nos campos rupestres do Parque Estadual do Itacolomi (PEI), localizado na região sul da Cadeia do Espinhaço, nos municípios de Ouro Preto e Mariana, estado de Minas Gerais. Para tanto, coletas aleatórias de material fértil foram realizadas mensalmente entre julho de 2006 a junho de...

Considerable taxonomic confusion exists among species of Aechmea subgenus Macrochordion (Bromeliaceae), which comprises the A. bromeliifolia complex. Cluster and principal components analyses were performed in order to identify how many taxa exist in this complex and how they can be distinguished morphologically. Data for 16 morphological character...

This paper is a synthesis of over ten years of research on inter- and intra-population variation in morphophysiology of six plant species at the Jacarepiá restinga: the shrubs Alchornea triplinervia, Andira legalis, Clusia fluminensis and Myrsine parvifolia, the bromeliad Aechmea maasii (formerly identified as Aechmea bromeliifolia, now recognized...

Pitcairnia flammea var. corcovadensis was formed by the reduction of P. corcovadensis. The re-establishment of the latter taxon is based on two points: (1) P. corcovadensis occurs sympatrically with P. flammea in many locations, and (2) a morphometric analysis on a natural population involving these two taxa showed that they were distinct and no in...

A cladistic analysis of Lymania was conducted using morphology and sequences from three chloroplast DNA regions: the matK coding region and the psbA-trnH and trnL-trnF intergenic spacers. The monophyly of the genus and the phylogenetic relationships among related genera were examined. Of the nine Lymania species, eight are endemic to southern Bahia...

The tropical rain forest is well-known for its megadiversity and some important ecological services, especially on climate regulation. This forest type occurs in all four major tropical zones (America, Africa, Indo-Malaya and Australia) and covers about seven percent of the Earth’s forest area. Floristic composition varies largely within and amo...

The Atlantic rainforest in southeastern Brazil is one the main centers of diversification of Bromeliaceae. Empirical estimates of the relative importance of different pre- and postzygotic barriers to gene flow between recently diverged species are important for understanding speciation processes. While many bromeliad species easily hybridize in cul...

Eight microsatellite markers were isolated from Pitcairnia albiflos, an endangered endemic bromeliad species restricted to 'inselberg' rock outcrops in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The number of alleles observed for each locus ranged from two to 12. Average observed and expected heterozygosities were 0.408 and 0.663, respectively. The cross...

A taxonomic revision of Lymania Read is presented, including a key to the species, descriptions, conservation status, notes, and specimens examined, as well as illustrations, photographs, and distribution maps. One species, Aechmea brachycaulis, is resurrected out of synonymy under Lymania corallina, resulting in one new combination: Lymania brachy...

RESUMO São apresentadas as espécies de Bromeliaceae da região de Macaé de Cima, localizada em Nova Friburgo, Rio de Janeiro, abrangendo uma área de ca. 7.000 hectares de Floresta Pluvial Atlântica montana e alto-montana. São encontradas 51 espécies subordinadas a 14 gêneros, dentre as quais se destacam: Vriesea (19 spp.), Neoregelia (5 spp.), Aechm...

Field work and data from herbaria collections (2686 records) representing 283 taxa (265 species and 18 infraspecific taxa) of Bromeliaceae occurring at Minas Gerais state, southeastern Brazil, were analyzed in order to obtain distribution and diversity information, and to determine IUCN (The World Conservation Union) conservation status for each ta...

Most studies on the reproductive biology of species of the genus Clusia are limited in time, space and phenological scales that they cover. Floral biology descriptions are more abundant than studies on the possible ecological and evolutionary causes and consequences of sexual behaviour. For instance, Table 5.1, which is largely based on a previous...

Clusia hilariana (Clusiaceae), a dioecious tree, is an important nurse plant in the open, patchy restinga vegetation of coastal sandy plains in northern Rio de Janeiro (SE-Brazil). Although highly abundant locally, we found low production of fruit and viable seeds in open-pollinated as compared to hand-pollinated flowers. Reward from flowers of bot...

Bromeliaceae diversity in Minas Gerais state, Brazil, is discussed, and a checklist is provided of the 27 genera, 265 species, and 18 infraspecific taxa found there. The total number of bromeliad genera in Minas Gerais exceeds that of all other Brazilian states and even of all other South American countries. A total of 98 species (37%) are endemic...

We examined the frequency of hermaphroditic, monoecious, and dioecious species of angiosperms in restinga (sandy coastal plain) vegetation in SE Brazil. The study site was a vegetation mosaic comprising nine plant formations, ranging from open types to forest. Dioecy (14% of 566 species) was similar to other tropical vegetations and strongly associ...

Aechmea (ca. 220 species) is the largest and most diverse genus in Bromelioideae (Bromeliaceae), and several dissimilar generic concepts and infrageneric classifications have been proposed, frequently involving other closely related Bromelioideae. A morphology-based phylogenetic analysis using parsimony was conducted with 86 taxa, including 52 Aech...

A taxonomic revision of the Aechmea multiflora complex (Bromeliaceae) is presented. The complex currently comprises four species belonging to the subgenus Chevaliera. In this study, we document morphological variation in herbarium and living plants in order to improve the delimitation of species in the genus Aechmea. Three species were recognized:...

The clonal tank-bromeliad Aechmea bromeliifolia (Rudge) Baker was found in four different habitats in a restinga (vegetation mosaic on sandy coastal plains), of south-eastern Brazil. These habitats (swamp forest, dry forest, dry shrubland and herbaceous marsh) lie within a few hundred metres of each other along a gradient extending inland from the...

 The reproductive biology of three sympatric species Pitcairnia flammea, P. corcovadensis and P. albiflos (Bromeliaceae) was studied on Corcovado Mountain in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Controlled pollination experiments were also conducted using plants transplanted to a greenhouse. The three species are self-compatible and interspecificall...

We investigated pollination biology and breeding systems in hybridizing populations of Pitcairnia albiflos and P. staminea; both species are endemic to rocky outcrops at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. These species are morphologically distinct and easily recognized by floral color: white in P. albiflos and red in P. staminea. Putative hybrids show a large...

Interspecific hybridization between Pitcairnia albiflos and P. staminea (Bromeliaceae) was investigated using morphometric analysis. Nine morphological traits representing inflorescence size and flower shape were recorded for different plants in a mixed population at Pão de Açúcar, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1996. Examination of the morphometric var...

Pothuava is a group of about 20 neotropical species treated here as a subgenus of Aechmea. The Brazilian taxa of Pothuava is revised and ten species are recognized: A. nudicaulis, A. pectinata, A. vanhoutteana, A. bocainensis, A. bruggeri, A. alopecurus, A. pineliana, A. triticina, A. omata, and A. squarrosa. New synonyms are proposed here: A. robe...