Species occurrence records provide the basis for many biodiversity studies. They derive from georeferenced specimens deposited in natural history collections and visual observations, such as those obtained through various mobile applications. Given the rapid increase in availability of such data, the control of quality and accuracy constitutes a particular concern. Automatic filtering is a scalable and reproducible means to identify potentially problematic records and tailor datasets from public databases such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF; http://www.gbif.org), for biodiversity analyses. However, it is unclear how much data may be lost by filtering, whether the same filters should be applied across all taxonomic groups, and what the effect of filtering is on common downstream analyses. Here, we evaluate the effect of 13 recently proposed filters on the inference of species richness patterns and automated conservation assessments for 18 Neotropical taxa, including terrestrial and marine animals, fungi, and plants downloaded from GBIF. We find that a total of 44.3% of the records are potentially problematic, with large variation across taxonomic groups (25–90%). A small fraction of records was identified as erroneous in the strict sense (4.2%), and a much larger proportion as unfit for most downstream analyses (41.7%). Filters of duplicated information, collection year, and basis of record, as well as coordinates in urban areas, or for terrestrial taxa in the sea or marine taxa on land, have the greatest effect. Automated filtering can help in identifying problematic records, but requires customization of which tests and thresholds should be applied to the taxonomic group and geographic area under focus. Our results stress the importance of thorough recording and exploration of the meta-data associated with species records for biodiversity research.

28Species occurrence records provide the basis for many biodiversity studies. They derive from geo-referenced specimens deposited in natural history collections and visual observations, such as those obtained through various mobile applications. Given the rapid increase in availability of such data, the control of quality and accuracy constitutes a particular concern. Automatic flagging and filtering are a scalable and reproducible means to identify potentially problematic records in datasets from public databases such as the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF; www.gbif.org). However, it is unclear how much data may be lost by filtering, whether the same tests should be applied across all taxonomic groups, and what is the effect of filtering for common downstream analyses. Here, we evaluate the effect of 13 recently proposed filters on the inference of species richness patterns and automated conservation assessments for 18 Neotropical taxa including animals, fungi, and plants, terrestrial and marine, downloaded from GBIF. We find that 29-90% of the records are potentially erroneous, with large variation across taxonomic groups. Tests for duplicated information, collection year, basis of record as well as urban areas and coordinates for terrestrial taxa in the sea or marine taxa on land have the greatest effect. While many flagged records might not be de facto erroneous, they could be overly imprecise and increase uncertainty in downstream analyses. Automated flagging can help in identifying problematic records, but requires customization of which tests and thresholds should be applied to the taxonomic group and geographic area under focus. Our results stress the importance of thorough exploration of the meta-data associated with species records for biodiversity research. 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44Publicly available species distribution data have become a crucial resource in biodiversity research, including studies in 46 ecology, biogeography, systematics and conservation biology. In particular, the availability of digitized collections from 47 museums and herbaria, and citizen science observations has increased drastically over the last few years. As of today, 48 the largest public aggregator for geo-referenced species occurrences data, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility 49 (www.gbif.org), provides access to more than 1.3 billion geo-referenced occurrence records for species from across the 50 globe and the tree of life. 51A central challenge to the use of these publicly available species occurrence data in research are erroneous geographic 52 coordinates (Anderson et al. 2016). Errors mostly arise because public databases integrate records collected with 53 different methodologies in different places, at different times; often without centralized curation and only rudimentary 54 meta-data. For instance, erroneous coordinates caused by data-entry errors or automated geo-referencing from vague 55 locality descriptions are common (Maldonado et al. 2015; Yesson et al. 2007)...

Th is study aimed to evaluate knowledge about and the usage and importance of aquatic vascular plants (AVPs) in the production of handicrafts by communities on the north coast of the state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil. Th e snowball technique was employed to locate people who use and have knowledge regarding the use of AVPs for handicrafts. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and guided tours with 35 interviewees who were involved in artisanal activity at the time of the study. Th e data were analyzed using the importance value (IV) index and the consensus value for the forms of use (CMU). Th e Spearman correlation test (rs) was employed to determine the correlations of each social variable with the knowledge variables, and Mann-Whitney U tests to verify whether men and women exhibited diff erences in knowledge. Th e interviewees cited 16 AVPs that were employed in 17 types of handicrafts, among which the four main species were Schoenoplectus californicus, Typha domingensis, T. latifolia and Androtrichum giganteum. Interviewee age, residence time on site and time working with handicrafts were the main social parameters that described the level of knowledge and use of AVPs. Th ese AVPs refl ect cultural knowledge and complement family incomes.

Flowers producing oil resources and oil bee pollinators are involved in one of the most specialized pollination strategies. Various species of Iridaceae tribe Tigridieae are characterized by floral oil-secreting structures called elaiophores, but specialized plant–pollinator interactions among these taxa remain poorly understood. This study focused on four South American species of Tigridieae in three genera to assess the nature and extent of ecological specialization related to oil flower/oil bee interactions. Proportion, frequency and behaviour of specialist and generalist pollinators were investigated, and experiments on plant breeding system and observations on floral biology were conducted. Species of Arhysoceble (specialist bees) and Halictidae (generalist bees) formed the most representative taxonomic groups of pollinators. Even though ecological specialization for oil bees was detected in Cypella amplimaculata and Cipura sp., contrasting patterns of specialization were observed not only among the different plant species studied but also between populations of Herbertia pulchella and Cipura formosa. Self-incompatibility was reported for H. pulchella and Cipura sp., whereas C. amplimaculata and C. formosa presented a mixed-breeding system. However, all species were pollinator dependent and patterns of ecological specialization were not dependent of plant breeding system. This study revealed also that interactions between oil bees and elaiophores are not reliable predictors for efficient pollination.

The Southern and Southeastern regions of Brazil present the highest species richness of Sisyrinchium, and the taxa are mainly distributed in the Atlantic Forest Biome. Here, three new species belonging to Sisyrinchium sect. Viperella from this biome are described: S. caratuvense is endemic to the high altitude grasslands of eastern Paraná, S. usneoides is endemic to the campo rupestre phytophysiognomy in southern Minas Gerais, and S. iguazuanum has a wider distribution, occurring in the grasslands of western Santa Catarina and Paraná (Brazil), and eastern Misiones (Argentina). Descriptions, illustrations, comparisons to related taxa and conservation status are provided.