The Amazon rain forest sustains the world's highest tree diversity, but it remains unclear why some clades of trees are hyperdiverse, whereas others are not. Using dated phylogenies, estimates of current species richness and trait and demographic data from a large network of forest plots, we show that fast demographic traits – short turnover times – are associated with high diversification rates across 51 clades of canopy trees. This relationship is robust to assuming that diversification rates are either constant or decline over time, and occurs in a wide range of Neotropical tree lineages. This finding reveals the crucial role of intrinsic, ecological variation among clades for understanding the origin of the remarkable diversity of Amazonian trees and forests.

Plantas medicinales en los mercados de la ciudad del Cusco IntroducciónLos andes del Perú son grandes centros de diversidad donde desde la existencia de las culturas pre colombinas, el hombre andino ha convivido en estrecha relación con su medio y recursos, aprendiendo a manejarla para obtener sus alimentos, vestimenta, vivienda y salud.En los últimos años un 80% de la población mundial ha recurrido a las plantas medicinales para tratar diversas enfermedades o afecciones, porque son accesibles y más baratos que los productos farmaceuticos (UICN et al. 1993). En el Perú la riqueza de las plantas medicinales es muy amplia y está enmarcada dentro de más de 4400 especies de usos conocidos por las poblaciones locales, de las cuales un gran porcentaje se presenta en la región andina (Brack 1999).En la ciudad del Cusco considerada como la capital de la cultura americana (título otorgado por la organización capital americana de la cultura en el 2007), se continúa con la práctica del uso y manejo de especies de plantas medicinales que en su mayoría son provenientes del conocimiento ancestral, a pesar de las etapas de cambios marcados, vividos durante la colonización y republicana. Una de estas prácticas que aún se mantienen es lo que durante las culturas pre-incas e inca se realizaban como el intercambio o trueque de recursos provenientes de las zonas andinas, amazónicas y de la costa, las cuales también eran llevadas a importantes mercados de ciudades grandes como el Cusco y Cajamarca (Garcilaso 1971).En el Perú se tuvieron diversos estudios etnobotánicos empezándose con los naturalistas españoles Ruiz y Pavón, continuando con los de Alexander Von Humboldt, y Antonio Raimondi quién quizá para este tiempo fue el que más especies referencio para el departamento del Cusco. El "Inca" Garcilaso de la Vega en su obra de "Los Comentarios Reales de los Incas" menciona algunas especies de uso frecuente durante el incanato, pero indudablemente los trabajos del botánico cusqueño Fortunato L. Herrera, dieron a conocer muchas especies medicinales (Herrera 1923), y de otros usos de la región andina principalmente del sur peruano, a estos se suman también varios trabajos del botánico cusqueño Cesar Vargas quién incluye además documentos de la etnobotánica de varias etnias poco o nada conocidas hasta ResumenSe estudiaron las plantas medicinales expendidas en cinco mercados principales de la ciudad del Cusco: San Pedro, San Jerónimo, TTio, Wanchaq y Rosaspata y cuatro zonales de San Sebastián, Molino II, Huancaro y Santa Rosa. Se realizaron encuestas y colectas para identificar las especies de plantas medicinales, modo de utilización, afecciones tratadas, lugar de procedencia y origen. Registramos 152 especies, con 45 familias, las más ricas en especies fueron: Asteraceae con 36 y Lamiaceae (12); las especies con la mayor frecuencia de venta y compra fueron: Muehlenbeckia volcanica (Benth.) Endl. "mullaca", Perezia virens (D. Don) Hook. & Arn. "valeriana", Matricaria recutita L. "manzanilla" e Hypochaeris taraxacoides (Walp.) B. & H. "...

In this study, we report species diversity and endemism of the poorly known but highly diverse Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest (SDTF) flora of the Marañón valley in northern Peru. We characterise woody vascular plant species diversity across the valley in order to define the conservation value of the area at national and international level. Based on 32 rapid botanical inventories, 92 plots of 50 × 20 m, and a herbarium study across local and international herbaria, we report 440 woody vascular plant species of which 143 (33%) are endemic to the valley. Two centres of endemism within the valley are identified, each with clear elevational zonation of diversity. Data show that the Marañón valley is a good representative of Peruvian SDTFs as a whole, with an average of 56% SDTF species and 78% SDTF genera found in the one valley. The results show that there is wide variation in the set of dominant species across the valley, and that many local endemics are locally abundant unlike in neighbouring SDTFs where the dominant species are all geographically widespread. Our results demonstrate that the Marañón includes a rare combination of both nationally representative yet globally unique plant species, which makes the valley an ideal conservation target. The high level of endemism structured within elevational zones implies that conservation areas should be established across elevational zones in order to maximise the protection of this globally unique flora.

The shortage of reliable primary taxonomic data limits the description of biological taxa and the understanding of biodiversity patterns and processes, complicating biogeographical, ecological, and evolutionary studies. This deficit creates a significant taxonomic 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 beyond 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 unequally distributed, with the Atlantic Rainforest and the Cerrado being the most intensively sampled and studied biomes in the country. 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.

Abstract. We explored the floristic composition of terra firme forests across Amazonia using 55 plots. Firstly, we examined the floristic patterns using both genus-and specieslevel data and found that the species-level analysis more clearly distinguishes among forests. Next, we compared the variation in plot floristic composition at regional-and continental-scales, and found that average among-pair floristic similarity and its decay with distance behave similarly at regional-and continental-scales. Nevertheless, geographical distance had different effects on floristic similarity within regions at distances <100 km, where north-western and southwestern Amazonian regions showed greater floristic variation than plots of central and eastern Amazonia. Finally, we quantified the role of environmental factors and geographical distance for determining variation in floristic composition.