Janaina Gelma Alves do Nascimento’s research while affiliated with State University of Feira de Santana and other places

Citation: Nascimento, J.G.A.; Queiroz, L.P.; Machado, M.C.; van den Berg, C. Morphometric Investigation of a Species Complex in Mimosa Section Batocaulon Series Cordistipulae (Leguminosae, Caesalpinioideae). Abstract: Mimosa series Cordistipulae was created by Barneby in 1991, embracing species diagnosed by their small subshrubby habit and the presence of gland-tipped setae and trimerous flowers. Most species are endemic to Northeastern Brazil, and some possess characters deemed diagnostic which nonetheless overlap, making species identification difficult. Our study aimed to test species circumscriptions and sets of characters that could be applied to unequivocally distinguish the species. Twelve populations (225 individuals) were collected at nine localities, encompassing the Brazilian vegetation types Caatinga, Campos Rupestres and Restinga. Linear measurements of 38 floral and vegetative characters were measured and analyzed using Canonical Variate Analysis and cluster analysis. The first two canonical axes explained 41.4% and 18.9% of the variation and separated two populations of the group recently described as a new species. Vegetative characters are more informative for species delimitation than flower characters, and most groups are distinguished primarily by the number of pinnae pairs, number of leaflets per pinna and length of the leaf rachis. The species displaying the highest morphological similarity are M. misera, M. leptantha and M. minarum. The traditional morphometric approach was capable of objectively dealing with a type of variation that would be difficult to interpret by purely examining herbarium specimens.

Mimosa series Cordistipulae was created by Barneby in 1991, embracing species diagnosed by the small subshrubby habit, presence of gland-tipped setae and trimerous flowers. Most species are endemic to Northeastern Brazil, and some possess characters deemed diagnostic which nonetheless overlap, making species identification difficult. Our study aimed to test species circumscriptions and sets of characters that could be applied to unequivocally distinguish the species. Twelve populations (225 individuals) were collected at nine localities, encompassing the Brazilian vegetation types Caatinga, Campos Rupestres and Restinga. Linear measurements of 38 floral and vegetative characters were measured and analyzed using Canonical Variates Analysis and Cluster Analysis. The first two canonical axes explained 41.4% and 18.9% of the variation and separated two populations of the group recently described as new species. Vegetative characters are more informative for species delimitation than flower characters, and most groups are distinguished primarily by the number of pinnae pairs, number of leaflets per pinna and length of the leaf rachis. The species displaying highest morphological similarity are M. misera, M. leptantha, and M. minarum. The traditional morphometric approach was capable to objectively deal with a type of variation that would be difficult to interpret by purely examining herbarium specimens.

Over the last two centuries, since the treatment of Leguminosae in Flora Brasiliensis, many new legume species and genera have been described, adding to the accumulated body of knowledge on species’ circumscriptions and distribution, published in monographs, taxonomic revisions and regional floristic treatments of specific Brazilian phytogeographic domains. The Flora do Brasil 2020 project was a collaborative effort conducted between 2008 and 2020 to meet the targets set by the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, an initiative of the Convention on Biological Diversity. The project aimed to inventory and revise the taxonomy of all plant species in Brazil, including Leguminosae. The monograph of the legume family was carried out by a team of 102 taxonomists (10% of the project’s total), who worked towards updating and verifying the taxonomy of these plants in an online platform. Information on the life forms, substrate, endemism level, and geographical distribution for all accepted taxa were provided, alongside morphological descriptions, identification keys, images of herbarium specimens and field photographs. In this work, we have extracted from the Flora do Brasil 2020 project the legume data consolidated on December 31st, 2020 to provide an overview of the species diversity of Leguminosae in Brazil and its distribution across phytogeographic domains. The results revealed that the family is represented by 220 genera, of which 19 are endemic, and a total of 2901 species (1576 endemic). After fully monographing 210 genera (95%), we showcased Leguminosae as the most diverse family in the country, representing 6% of the total vascular plant species documented in the Flora do Brasil 2020. The species are found in all phytogeographic domains, exhibiting a wide range of life forms. The Mata Atlântica and Caatinga domains together contain the largest number of endemic legume genera in Brazil, most of them monospe- cific. A discussion on the conservation status of the Brazilian legume species is also provided. Knowledge of the Brazilian flora is continuously advancing, particularly with regards to Leguminosae, demanding regular taxonomic and nomenclatural updates. Current collaborations have greatly improved our understanding of legume diversity and distribution, providing evidence to inform conservation prioritization and action for the Leguminosae in Brazil’s megadiverse flora.

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.

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.

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 humanity itself. Although humans have studied natural phenomena and organisms since the time of the ancient Greeks and Romans, the latter half of the 20th century saw scientists increasingly focused on determining the number of species on the planet, in other words, quantifying global biodiversity. Two hundred years earlier, the Swedish naturalist Carolus Linnaeus had transformed biological classi cation by establishing binomial nomenclature, the starting point for modern biological taxonomy. Medical doctors and naturalists, followed by generations of biologists, botanists, zoologists, microbiologists and mycologists all over the world went on to describe the living organisms which collectively comprise earth’s biodiversity. A necessidade de organizar o mundo ao nosso redor constitui parte essencial da natureza humana. Dar nomes e organizar em categorias nos permite armazenar múltiplas informações e acessá-las de forma eficiente. Essa necessidade certamente inclui elementos da natureza e os seres vivos em particular. A ciência responsável por esta área do conhecimento, no que diz respeito aos seres vivos, chama-se Taxonomia e ela é tão antiga quanto a própria humanidade. Embora os organismos e fenômenos da natureza sejam estudados desde o tempo dos antigos Gregos e Romanos, foi a partir da segunda metade do século XX que os cientistas aumentaram o foco na deter-minação de qual seria o número total de espécies no planeta ou, em outras palavras, qual a biodiversi-dade da Terra. Já haviam se passado mais de 200 anos desde que o naturalista sueco Carolus Linnaeus, havia sistematizado a classificação biológica, por meio da nomenclatura binomial, criando assim a Taxonomia biológica moderna. Inicialmente médicos e naturalistas e, posteriormente, biólogos, botânicos, zoólogos, microbiologistas e micologistas passaram a descrever os seres vivos componentes da biodiversidade.

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, so that it can be effectively conserved and used in a sustainable manner. Brazil hosts more than 46,000 species of plants, algae and fungi, representing one of the most biodiverse countries on Earth, and playing a key role in the GSPC. To meet the GSPC goals of Target 1 and facilitate access to plant diversity, Brazil committed to preparing the List of Species of the Brazilian Flora (2008–2015) and the Brazilian Flora 2020 (2016–present). Managing all the information associated with such great biodiversity has proven to be an extremely challenging task. Here, we synthesize the history of these projects, focusing on the multidisciplinary and collaborative approach adopted to develop and manage the inclusion of all the knowledge generated though digital information systems. We further describe the methods used, challenges faced, and strategies adopted, as well as summarize advances to date and prospects for completing the Brazilian flora in 2020. Key words: database, diversity, hotspots, taxonomy.