Diversity, distribution, and classification of Neotropical woody bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae) in the 21st Century

Abstract

Background: The Neotropical woody bamboos (NWB) comprise a clade native to the Western Hemisphere. Taxonomically the NWB are classified into three subtribes: Arthrostylidiinae, Chusqueinae, and Guaduinae. These woody bamboos are distributed from northern Mexico and the West Indies to south-central Chile and Argentina and from sea level to over 4,000 m in elevation. The most recent comprehensive treatment of the diversity and classification of NWB was published just over 20 years ago, and knowledge of the NWB has greatly increased in the interim.
 Questions and / or Hypotheses: How much has our knowledge of Neotropical woody bamboo diversity, distribution and classification changed in the last 20 years?
 Results: The present work reviews the current state of Neotropical woody bamboo taxonomy and provides 1) new morphological keys (in English and Spanish) to and synoptic descriptions of the NWB genera; 2) an updated comprehensive species list; and 3) a biodiversity analysis by country and habitat type. Neotropical woody bamboo diversity presently totals 446 species in 23 genera. In the 21st century, 103 new species and five genera of NWB have been described.
 Conclusions: The new species and genera described since 2000 have produced an increase in species richness of 29.5 % and a net increase in generic richness of 26.3 %. This new review will be useful for systematists, ecologists, conservation biologists and others working with woody bamboos in the Neotropics.

Grasses through space and time: An overview of the biogeographical and macroevolutionary history of Poaceae

“…The crown area is Neotropics+Indomalayan. The Bambuseae include over 1000 described species in 78 genera (Clark & Oliveira, 2018; Ruiz‐Sanchez et al, 2021) and are widespread in the tropics, with some members adapted to high elevations or high latitudes (e.g., Chusquea Kunth in the western hemisphere or Bambusa Schreb. in the eastern hemisphere).…”

Integrated Genomic Analyses From Low-Depth Sequencing Help Resolve Phylogenetic Incongruence in the Bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae)

“…With respect to the intermediate repeat cluster observed in Figure 4 , we propose two more rounds of hybridization between the Arthrostylidiinae + Guaduinae ancestor and the Neotropical herbaceous ancestor first ( Figure 6B , 2) and then the Olyrinae ( Figure 6B , 3), leading to the extant tetraploid Arthrostylidiinae + Guaduinae clade harboring a dominant woody C genome with some H signatures and both H and C repeats. Extant members of both Olyreae and the Arthrostylidiinae + Guaduinae clade are often sympatric and tend to grow in the same, relatively low elevation habitats, and assuming their ancestors were similar, opportunities for hybridization would have been available ( Judziewicz et al, 1999 ; Ruiz-Sanchez et al, 2021 ).…”

“…The bamboos (Poaceae: Bambusoideae), with ∼1700 species, are the third largest grass subfamily and represent the only major clade of grasses to diversify primarily in association with forests ( Clark et al, 2015 ; Soreng et al, 2017 ; Clark and Oliveira, 2018 ). The bamboos are well supported as monophyletic and comprise three strongly supported lineages recognized as tribes: Arundinarieae (temperate woody bamboos, ∼580 species), Bambuseae (tropical woody bamboos, ∼1,000 species) and Olyreae (herbaceous bamboos, ∼124 species) ( Kelchner and Bamboo Phylogeny Group, 2013 ; Clark et al, 2015 ; Wysocki et al, 2015 ; Zhang et al, 2016 ; Soreng et al, 2017 ; Ruiz-Sanchez et al, 2021 ). The woody bamboos (Arundinarieae and Bambuseae) share the woody syndrome, including gregarious monocarpy in most ( Guerreiro, 2014 ; Clark et al, 2015 ; Wysocki et al, 2015 ), whereas the herbaceous bamboos (Olyreae) have relatively weakly lignified culms, restricted vegetative branching, and virtually all exhibit seasonal flowering ( Clark et al, 2015 ).…”

Molecular and morphological data support the recognition of a new species of Otatea (Poaceae: Bambusoideae: Guaduinae) from Durango, Mexico

“…with 12 species, and Tibisia C.D.Tyrrell & al. with 3 species (Judziewicz & al., 1999; Ruiz‐Sanchez & al., 2011a,b, 2021; Ruiz‐Sanchez, 2012, 2015; Londoño & Ruiz‐Sanchez, 2014; Clark & al., 2015; Ruiz‐Sanchez & Castro‐Castro, 2016; Ruiz‐Sanchez & Londoño, 2017; De Jesus‐Costa & al., 2018; Tyrrell & al., 2018).…”

“…With 12 described species, Otatea is the second‐most speciose genus in subtribe Guaduainae (Clark & al., 2015; Ruiz‐Sanchez & Londoño, 2017; Tyrrell & al., 2018; Ruiz‐Sanchez & al., 2021). Eleven of the 12 Otatea species are present in Mexico, and 10 of them are endemic to the country (Ruiz‐Sanchez, 2015; Ruiz‐Sanchez & Castro‐Castro, 2016; Ruiz‐Sanchez & Londoño, 2017; Ruiz‐Sanchez & al., 2021). Seven of the 10 endemic Otatea species of Mexico grow in tropical dry xerophilous scrub, making seasonally dry vegetation an important source of diversification for the species in this genus (Ruiz‐Sanchez & al., 2011b; Ruiz‐Sanchez, 2012, 2015; Ruiz‐Sanchez & Castro‐Castro, 2016).…”