-(Pollination of a bromeliad community in the high montane Atlantic rain forest in Paraná state, Brazil). The main goals of this research were to characterize the pollinators of a bromeliad community in the Atlantic rain forest, as well as to understand the relationships between bromeliad flower morphology and its pollinators. The study was carried out at the "Pico do Marumbi" State Park on eight bromeliad species. The most of bromeliad species showed aggregate flowering between November and May. Five bromeliad species from the genera Nidularium Lem., Vriesea Lindl., and Wittrockia Lindm. were pollinated by hummingbirds, two Vriesea species were pollinated by bats and one Aechmea Ruiz & Pav. species by bees. Twelve species of pollinators were registered: eight hummingbirds, three bats and one bee. The high representativity of the hummingbird Phaethornis eurynome on bromeliad pollination suggests that it is a "key-species". It is evident that the corolla size, the time of anthesis and the presence of odor and nectar are clearly related to the animal group that act as a pollinator, determining distinct guilds among bromeliad species.Key words -Bromeliaceae, high montane Atlantic rainforest, Phaethornis eurynome, pollination RESUMO -(Polinização em uma comunidade de bromélias em Floresta Atlântica Alto-montana no Estado do Paraná, Brasil). Este trabalho teve por objetivo caracterizar os agentes polinizadores de uma comunidade de bromélias em Floresta Ombrófila Densa e relacionar possíveis associações entre a morfologia de bromélias e seus polinizadores. O estudo foi conduzido no Parque Estadual do Pico do Marumbi em oito espécies de bromélias que ocorrem na área. A comunidade de bromélias apresentou floração agregada entre os meses de novembro e maio. Cinco espécies de bromélias dos gêneros Nidularium Lem., Vriesea Lindl. e Wittrockia Lindm. foram polinizadas por beija-flores, duas espécies de Vriesea foram polinizadas por morcegos e uma espécie de Aechmea Ruiz & Pav., por abelhas. Foram identificadas 12 espécies de polinizadores, das quais oito beija-flores, três morcegos e uma abelha. A alta representatividade do beija-flor Phaethornis eurynome na polinização de bromélias sugere que ele atua como "espécie chave". Tornou-se evidente a influência do tamanho da corola e horário da antese, além da presença de odor e néctar, como determinadores de qual grupo animal atuará como polinizador, com formação de guildas distintas entre o conjunto de espécies de bromélias.

The plant family Bignoniaceae has a complicated history of supra-specific level systematics. In the past decade, molecular phylogenetic studies have contributed substantially to an improved circumscription of clades at all taxonomic levels, especially at the generic and tribal levels. For instance, a molecular phylogeny of the tribe Bignonieae reconstructed a polyphyletic Arrabidaea, and proposed a new circumscription for members of the Arrabidaea & Allies clade. Within this new classification, most species previously included in Arrabidaea were distributed among four genera: Cuspidaria (19 spp.), Fridericia (67 spp.), Tanaecium (17 spp.), and Xylophragma (7 spp.). The taxonomy of Fridericia, the genus that received most species of Arrabidaea, remains complicated due to the high morphological variability and broad distribution of its species. Here, we used molecular data and a broad sampling of taxa within the Arrabidaea & Allies clade to reconstruct the phylogeny of Fridericia. We then studied the morphology of all species of Fridericia and identified morphological synapomorphies that characterize major clades that represent meaningful units for future taxonomic studies. Most genera included in the Arrabidaea & Allies clade were retrieved as monophyletic; however, two species of Fridericia were reconstructed within Cuspidaria, while three species of Fridericia were placed within Tanaecium. The molecular phylogenetic placements received additional support from morphology, and the necessary taxonomic changes are proposed. We combine three species of Fridericia into Tanaecium (T. dichotomum comb. nov., T. paradoxum comb. nov., T. parviflorum comb. nov.), two species into Xylophragma (X. claussenii comb. nov., X. corchoroides comb. nov.), two species into Cuspidaria (C. bracteolata comb. nov., C. monophylla comb. nov.), and one species of Adenocalymma into Fridericia (F. trichoclada comb. nov.). We also synonymize Fridericia whitei into Cuspidaria pulchra. We present a key for the seven main clades identified within the genus, as well as a detailed morphological description for Fridericia and its major lineages.

Aim: There is little consensus on which environmental variables are best at predicting multiple dimensions of diversity. We ask whether there are common environmental correlates of diversity, despite ecological differences, across nine clades of plants and animals distributed along a single rainforest domain. For that, we compare the environmental correlates of species richness, phylogenetic diversity, and phylogenetic endemism.Location: Brazilian Atlantic Forest.

This work presents an updated checklist of the Bignoniaceae from the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte (RN), and information on the patterns of geographic distribution of individual species within two RN biomes. Forty-three native species distributed in 18 Bignoniaceae genera were recorded for RN. The species richness found for RN in this study was 43% higher than previously documented, indicating the great need of additional biodiversity studies in Rio Grande do Norte. Of the 43 species listed, 27 were recorded in the checklist of Brazilian plants, while 16 species represent new occurrences. Three additional species were included in the checklist of Brazilian plants (which listed 30 species of Bignoniaceae for the RN); however, specimens of these taxa were not located for RN during this study and are not included in the final checklist presented here. The collection effort carried out for this work led to an improved knowledge of species distributions in the two biomes found in RN: the Caatinga dry woodland and the Atlantic Forest. The number of species found to be restricted to each biome and the absolute number of species occurring in the Caatinga dry woodland expanded considerably. All new species records were found in small herbaria from the RN state, emphasizing the importance of regional herbaria for an improved understanding of biodiversity patterns. This study highlights the importance of intensive identification efforts in small regional collections, combined with well-planned fieldwork for an accurate estimation of species richness in poorly studied areas of Brazil.

Chromosome numbers and heterochromatin banding pattern variability have been shown to be useful for taxonomic and evolutionary studies of different plant taxa. Bignonieae is the largest tribe of Bignoniaceae, composed mostly by woody climber species whose taxonomies are quite complicated. We reviewed and added new data concerning chromosome numbers in Bignonieae and performed the first analyses of heterochromatin banding patterns in that tribe based on the fluorochromes chromomycin A3 (CMA) and 4'-6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI). We confirmed the predominant diploid number 2n = 40, as well as variations reported in the literature (dysploidy in Mansoa [2n = 38] and polyploidy in Dolichandra ungis-cati [2n = 80] and Pyrostegia venusta [2n = 80]). We also found a new cytotype for the genus Anemopaegma (Anemopaegma citrinum, 2n = 60) and provide the first chromosome counts for five species (Adenocalymma divaricatum, Amphilophium scabriusculum, Fridericia limae, F. subverticillata, and Xylophragma myrianthum). Heterochromatin analyses revealed only GC-rich regions, with six different arrangements of those bands. The A-type (one large and distal telomeric band) were the most common, although the presence and combinations of the other types appear to be the most promising for taxonomic studies.

No abstract

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.

The circumscription of genera belonging to tribe Bignonieae (Bignoniaceae) has traditionally been complex, with only a few genera having stable circumscriptions in the various classification systems proposed for the tribe. The genus Lundia, for instance, is well characterized by a series of morphological synapomorphies and its circumscription has remained quite stable throughout its history. Despite the stable circumscription of Lundia, the circumscription of species within the genus has remained problematic. This study aims to reconstruct the phylogeny of Lundia in order to refine species circumscriptions, gain a better understanding of relationships between taxa, and identify potential morphological synapomorphies for species and major clades. We sampled 26 accessions representing 13 species of Lundia, and 5 outgroups, and reconstructed the phylogeny of the genus using a chloroplast (ndhF) and a nuclear marker (PepC). Data derived from sequences of the individual loci were analyzed using parsimony and Bayesian inference, and the combined molecular dataset was analyzed with Bayesian methods. The monophyly of Lundia nitidula, a species with a particularly complex circumscription, was tested using Shimodaira–Hasegawa (SH) test and the approximately unbiased test for phylogenetic tree selection (AU test). In addition, 40 morphological characters were mapped onto the tree that resulted from the analysis of the combined molecular dataset in order to identify morphological synapomorphies of individual species and major clades. Lundia and most species currently recognized within the genus were strongly supported as monophyletic in all analyses. One species, Lundia nitidula, was not resolved as monophyletic, but the monophyly of this species was not rejected by the AU and SH tests. Lundia sect. Eriolundia is resolved as paraphyletic in all analyses, while Lundia sect. Eulundia is monophyletic and supported by the same morphological characters traditionally used to circumscribe this section. The phylogeny of Lundia contributed important information for a better circumscription of species and served as basis the taxonomic revision of the genus.