A Conspectus of<i>Myrcia</i>sect.<i>Aulomyrcia</i>(Myrtaceae)

Many recent studies discuss the influence of climatic and geological events in the evolution of Neotropical biota by correlating these events with dated phylogenetic hypotheses. Myrtaceae is one of the most diverse Neotropical groups and it therefore a good proxy of plant diversity in the region. However, biogeographic studies on Neotropical Myrtaceae are still very limited. Myrcia s.l. is an informal group comprising three accepted genera (Calyptranthes, Marlierea and Myrcia) making up the second largest Neotropical group of Myrtaceae, totalling about 700 species distributed in nine subgroups. Exclusively Neotropical, the group occurs along the whole of the Neotropics with diversity centres in the Caribbean, the Guiana Highlands and the central-eastern Brazil. This study aims to identify the time and place of divergence of Myrcia s.l. lineages, to examine the correlation in light of geological and climatic events in the Neotropics, and to explore relationships among Neotropical biogeographic areas. A dated phylogenetic hypothesis was produced using BEAST and calibrated by placing Paleomyrtinaea princetonensis (56Ma) at the root of the tree; biogeographic analysis used the DEC model with dispersal probabilities between areas based on distance and floristic affinities. Myrcia s.l. originated in the Montane Atlantic Forest between the end of Eocene and early Miocene and this region acted as a secondary cradle for several lineages during the evolution of this group. The Caribbean region was important in the diversification of the Calyptranthes clade while the Guayana shield appears as ancestral area for an older subgroup of Myrcia s.l. The Amazon Forest has relatively low diversity of Myrcia s.l. species but appears to have been important in the initial biogeographic history of old lineages. Lowland Atlantic Forest has high species diversity but species rich lineages did not originate in the area. Diversification of most subgroups of Myrcia s.l. occurred throughout the Miocene, as reported for other Neotropical taxa. During the Miocene, geological events may have influenced the evolution of the Caribbean and Amazon forest lineages, but other regions were geological stable and climate changes were the most likely drivers of diversification. The evolution of many lineages in montane areas suggests that Myrcia s.l. may be particularly adapted to such environments.

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“…130 spp.) has its diversity divided between the Atlantic Forest, Amazon Forest and Guiana Highland (Lucas et al, 2016). Clades 4 (ca.…”

Section: Taxonomy and Diversity Of Myrcia Slmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biogeographical patterns of Myrcia s.l. (Myrtaceae) and their correlation with geological and climatic history in the Neotropics

Santos

Lucas

Sano

et al. 2017

Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution

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“…(), updated with the Flora do Brasil (JBRJ ) and complemented by published and unpublished resources awaiting incorporation there (Santos ; Lucas et al. ; Lima ; JBRJ ). For all analyses, we examined records present in 2007 (archived following earlier analyses) and in 2017.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Records were georeferenced to the nearest latitude-longitude minute based on online resources (www.fallingrain.com; http://middleware.alexandria.ucsb.edu). Taxonomy follows Govaerts et al (2018), updated with the Flora do Brasil (JBRJ 2018) and complemented by published and unpublished resources awaiting incorporation there (Santos 2014; Lucas et al 2016;Lima 2017;JBRJ 2018). For all analyses, we examined records present in 2007 (archived following earlier analyses) and in 2017.…”

Section: Myrcia Specimen Databasementioning

confidence: 99%

Harnessing the potential of integrated systematics for conservation of taxonomically complex, megadiverse plant groups

Lughadha

Staggemeier

Vasconcelos

et al. 2019

Conservation Biology

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The value of natural history collections for conservation science research is increasingly recognized, despite their well‐documented limitations in terms of taxonomic, geographic, and temporal coverage. Specimen‐based analyses are particularly important for tropical plant groups for which field observations are scarce and potentially unreliable due to high levels of diversity‐amplifying identification challenges. Specimen databases curated by specialists are rich sources of authoritatively identified, georeferenced occurrence data, and such data are urgently needed for large genera. We compared entries in a monographic database for the large Neotropical genus Myrcia in 2007 and 2017. We classified and quantified differences in specimen records over this decade and determined the potential impact of these changes on conservation assessments. We distinguished misidentifications from changes due to taxonomic remodeling and considered the effects of adding specimens and georeferences. We calculated the potential impact of each change on estimates of extent of occurrence (EOO), the most frequently used metric in extinction‐risk assessments of tropical plants. We examined whether particular specimen changes were associated with species for which changes in EOO over the decade were large enough to change their conservation category. Corrections to specimens previously misidentified or lacking georeferences were overrepresented in such species, whereas changes associated with taxonomic remodeling (lumping and splitting) were underrepresented. Among species present in both years, transitions to less threatened status outnumbered those to more threatened (8% vs 3%, respectively). Species previously deemed data deficient transitioned to threatened status more often than to not threatened (10% vs 7%, respectively). Conservation scientists risk reaching unreliable conclusions if they use specimen databases that are not actively curated to reflect changing knowledge.

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“…it is one of the richest pollen sources for pollinators (Wilms et al ., ) and fruit sources for vertebrates (Staggemeier et al ., ) in these biomes); (2) the availability of a series of recent systematic revisions that have significantly increased taxonomic stability (e.g. Lucas et al ., , ; Santos et al ., ); and (3) Myrcia has diversified into one of the most species‐rich areas on the globe, most probably after the establishment of the modern latitudinal gradient of species diversity (Mannion et al ., ; Santos et al ., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Floral uniformity through evolutionary time in a species‐rich tree lineage

et al. 2018

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Changes in floral morphology are expected across evolutionary time and are often promoted as important drivers in angiosperm diversification. Such a statement, however, is in contrast to empirical observations of species-rich lineages that show apparent conservative floral morphologies even under strong selective pressure to change from their environments.Here, we provide quantitative evidence for prolific speciation despite uniform floral morphology in a tropical species-rich tree lineage. We analyse floral disparity in the environmental and phylogenetic context of Myrcia (Myrtaceae), one of the most diverse and abundant tree genera in Neotropical biomes.Variation in floral morphology among Myrcia clades is exceptionally low, even among distantly related species. Discrete floral specialisations do occur, but these are few, present low phylogenetic signal, have no strong correlation with abiotic factors, and do not affect overall macroevolutionary dynamics in the lineage.Results show that floral form and function may be conserved over large evolutionary time scales even in environments full of opportunities for ecological interactions and niche specialisation. Species accumulation in diverse lineages with uniform flowers apparently does not result from shifts in pollination strategies, but from speciation mechanisms that involve other, nonfloral plant traits.

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A Conspectus ofMyrciasect.Aulomyrcia(Myrtaceae)

Cited by 25 publications

References 19 publications

Biogeographical patterns of Myrcia s.l. (Myrtaceae) and their correlation with geological and climatic history in the Neotropics

Biogeographical patterns of Myrcia s.l. (Myrtaceae) and their correlation with geological and climatic history in the Neotropics

Harnessing the potential of integrated systematics for conservation of taxonomically complex, megadiverse plant groups

Floral uniformity through evolutionary time in a species‐rich tree lineage

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