Alan R. Smith’s research while affiliated with University of California, Berkeley and other places

Seventeen representative samples of volcanic origin were collected from Ecuador (Pichincha Volcano), Iceland (Eyjafjallaj\"okull Volcano), India (Deccan Traps), Hawaii, Kilimanjaro, Mt. Etna, Rwanda (Virunga Mountains), and Uganda (Virunga Mountains). Neutron activation analysis (NAA) was performed to determine the concentration of 33 chemical elements, including 21 trace elements, 20 heavy metals, and 9 rare earth elements: Al, As, Ba, Ca, Ce, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Dy, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Lu, Mg, Mn, Na, Nd, Rb, Sb, Sc, Sm, Sr, Ta, Tb, Th, Ti, U, Yb, Zn, and Zr. Correlation analysis of the abundance of samples from different islands in the Hawaii archipelago (Kauai, Kilauea, Mauna Loa, and Haleakala) confirmed that the islands were likely formed by two different lava sources. Additionally, the upper limit of iridium was determined in 11 of these samples using Bayesian analysis, which does not support the hypothesis that volcanic activity caused the extinction of the dinosaurs. We also discuss how the abundance of thorium and uranium in lava from different geological formations and depths can contribute to building a better map of natural radioisotope occurrences on Earth, which is important for geoneutrino experiments. A high abundance of rare elements was reported in some of the analyzed locations, indicating potential commercial interest and the possibility of exploring volcanoes as sources of chemical elements used in electronic devices.

Premise Pteridophytes—vascular land plants that disperse by spores—are a powerful system for studying plant evolution, particularly with respect to the impact of abiotic factors on evolutionary trajectories through deep time. However, our ability to use pteridophytes to investigate such questions—or to capitalize on the ecological and conservation‐related applications of the group—has been impaired by the relative isolation of the neo‐ and paleobotanical research communities and by the absence of large‐scale biodiversity data sources. Methods Here we present the Pteridophyte Collections Consortium (PCC), an interdisciplinary community uniting neo‐ and paleobotanists, and the associated PteridoPortal, a publicly accessible online portal that serves over three million pteridophyte records, including herbarium specimens, paleontological museum specimens, and iNaturalist observations. We demonstrate the utility of the PteridoPortal through discussion of three example PteridoPortal‐enabled research projects. Results The data within the PteridoPortal are global in scope and are queryable in a flexible manner. The PteridoPortal contains a taxonomic thesaurus (a digital version of a Linnaean classification) that includes both extant and extinct pteridophytes in a common phylogenetic framework. The PteridoPortal allows applications such as greatly accelerated classic floristics, entirely new “next‐generation” floristic approaches, and the study of environmentally mediated evolution of functional morphology across deep time. Discussion The PCC and PteridoPortal provide a comprehensive resource enabling novel research into plant evolution, ecology, and conservation across deep time, facilitating rapid floristic analyses and other biodiversity‐related investigations, and providing new opportunities for education and community engagement.

We here provide a taxonomic and nomenclatural update of the Prodromus of the Bolivian fern flora published between 2017 and 2019. We describe one new species (Elaphoglossum neglectum F.B.Matos & R.C.Moran), provide four new combinations (Argyrochosma flavens (Sw.) A.R.Sm. & M.Kessler, Ceradenia werffii (L.E.Bishop) A.R.Sm. & M.Kessler, Enterosora dudleyi (L.E.Bishop) A.R.Sm. & M.Kessler, Phlegmariurus aristei (Nessel) B.Øllg.), report 13 new species records for Bolivia, delete 4 species from the Bolivian list, and update the names of 17 species previously known from Bolivia. With these new records and species, the number of fern and lycophyte species known from Bolivia increases by 10 to 1210.

We present a taxonomic revision of Serpocaulon A. R. Sm. (Polypodiaceae), a tropical American fern genus. Our work is based on a morphological analysis of 56 characters recorded from 2167 specimens deposited in 41 herbaria. Field trips were carried out in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, and Peru, where observations on the habit and habitat of several species were made. Digital images were also consulted. A total of 260 names were found and their no- menclatural types were studied, resulting in the lectotypification of 47 names (first-step 30, second-step 17 names). We recog- nize 37 species and five hybrids in Serpocaulon; one of the hybrids is given a new status (S. ×semipinnatifidum (Fée) A. R. Sm.) and another one is described (S. ×tabuleirense D. Sanín & Salino). Moreover, 19 names are newly synonymized, five species are excluded, 17 names are considered as of uncertain application, and five as nomina nuda. We document for 22 species a total of 62 chorological novelties in different countries. The elevational range of the genus is 0–4200 m. The Andes of Ecuador and Colombia are the main center of diversity and endemism; secondarily, the Atlantic Rain Forest of Brazil has five endemic spe- cies. We provide a taxonomic key, descriptions, discussions, local names, uses, illustrations, photographs of the plants in the field, microphotographs of the rhizome scales and the spores, and distribution maps of all species.

The Thelypteridaceae is the second most species-rich fern family in the Solomon Islands, representing 47 of the 449 ferns and lycophytes from the islands and a third of its endemic pteridophyte flora. Recently, there has been a major effort to document the botanical diversity of this tropical island archipelago, which has resulted in the discovery and description of several new species of ferns. Here we describe two additional novelties in recently recognized genera, Grypothrix and Reholttumia. We hope that our study of these diverse and often narrowly restricted lineages will encourage others to learn more about these underappreciated islands, and these understudied taxa.

We provide an annotated checklist of all known lycophytes and ferns in the Solomon Islands following an updated classification. It comprises two classes, 12 orders, 3 families, 122 genera, 449 species, and six infraspecific taxa, including 1 new species described here and 18 species newly recorded for the country. In addition, we make six new nomenclatural combinations as well as 53 lectotypifications. We include a discussion of type status, taxonomic uncertainty, and recent molecular phylogenetic research when relevant. The life forms and phytogeographic affinities of all species are presented and briefly discussed.

Two new species of Goniopteris are described from Ecuador and Peru: G. deltata and G. yanachagae . Both are illustrated and compared with similar species.

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 arewidely recognized, highlighting the urgent need for reliable taxonomic data. Over the past decade, numerous countries worldwidehave devoted considerable effort to Target 1 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC), which called for the preparationof a working list of all known plant species by 2010 and an online world Flora by 2020. Brazil is a megadiverse country, home to moreof 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 plantsoccurring in Brazil contributes to the prevailing taxonomic impediment and delays progress towards the GSPC targets. Over the past12 years, a legion of taxonomists motivated to meet Target 1 of the GSPC, worked together to gather and integrate knowledge on thealgal, plant, and fungal diversity of Brazil. Overall, a team of about 980 taxonomists joined efforts in a highly collaborative project thatused 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 plantsfound 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 tothe country. The data compiled to date suggests that the Atlantic Rainforest might be the most diverse Brazilian domain for all plantgroups 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, andplants from Brazil. This project also made all the information freely available online, providing a firm foundation for future researchand for the management, conservation, and sustainable use of the Brazilian funga and flora.

Cyclodium is a neotropical fern genus with 13 species, most of them distributed in the Amazonian lowlands, particularly in the Guianan region and along the border with the Andes. It belongs to the polybotryoid clade of Dryopteridaceae, being unique within this clade by a combination of characters related to rhizome growth, leaf dimorphism, anastomosing venation, and peltate indusia. Here we present a molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for Cyclodium resulting from Bayesian and maximum likelihood analyses, using molecular sequences of five plastid markers. We also map 12 morphological characters and habit onto the resulting trees. Our results support Cyclodium as monophy-letic and sister to Polybotrya. The presence of peltate indusia is the main character distinguishing Cyclodium. Our results also suggest that ple-siomorphic conditions in Cyclodium are free venation (vs. anastomosing), creeping rhizomes (vs. erect or decumbent), highly dissected laminae (vs. 1-pinnate), monomorphic sterile and fertile fronds (vs. dimorphic), and pinnatifid apices (vs. conform).