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.

Abstract—The family Bromeliaceae is essentially Neotropical, with high endemism and diversity in the Atlantic Rainforest Domain. Species circumscription is a major problem in the family systematics, especially in the most diverse genera. Species of the Vriesea procera complex, which occur in forests and restinga (coastal vegetation) along the South American Atlantic coast from Venezuela to southern Brazil, share the same basic vegetative and reproductive morphological patterns. However, they vary widely in the number and position of inflorescence branches as well as in the dimensions, position, and shape of the leaves and flowers in different populations. Here we aimed 1) to evaluate the morphological variation in the V. procera complex, through morphometric analyses of natural populations along the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest; and 2) to determine the taxonomic relationships among these species, establishing the validity and the limits of variation of the taxa through taxonomic treatment. Fourteen natural populations, 271 individuals, and 36 morphometric variables were analyzed. Kruskal-Wallis tests and discriminant analyses were conducted to test statistical differences between previously established groups. Of an original three species and three varieties, our data allowed us to recognize six species, including three new taxa (Vriesea aureoramosa, V. magna, V. rubroviridis) and one new name and status (V. flexuosa). The resulting taxa are distinguished by the inflorescence and leaf sizes and especially by floral characteristics such as the length of bracts, sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils, besides the petal apex posture and relative position of the stamen during anthesis. Recognition of cryptic species under the names V. procera and V. neoglutinosa is an important step toward a better understanding of the biodiversity of the Brazilian Atlantic Rainforest.

The community of vascular epiphytes in the Grumari restinga, Rio de Janeiro state, was evaluated through surveys carried out in 2014 and supplemented with herbarium material and publications. Thirty-seven (37) vascular epiphyte species were recorded, distributed in 21 genera and six families. The richest families are Orchidaceae and Bromeliaceae, which are the most representative ones (67.6% of all record species). The richness in Grumari restinga is greater than the other inventories carried out in the coastal plain of the Southeastern Region of Brazil, however, lower than that of restingas for São Paulo, Paraná and of the coastal plain of Rio Grande do Sul. The most representative ecological category was the characteristic holoepiphyte (62%); it was followed by the facultative and accidental holoepiphytes (18% each). The Grumari restinga shares more species with Espírito Santo state and Rio de Janeiro than with São Paulo and Southern Region of Brazil, possibly due to the geographical distance. Our study provides the first contribution to the knowledge about the epiphytic flora in Grumari restinga and shows a singular flora with 40% of unique species occurring in this location, fact that justifies its importance as conservation area. Key words: Atlantic domain, coastal vegetation, conservation, flora, taxonomy. ResumoA comunidade de epífitas vasculares ocorrente na restinga de Grumari, estado do Rio de Janeiro, foi avaliada através de coletas realizadas no ano de 2014 e complementadas com materiais de herbários e publicações. 37 espécies de epífitas vasculares foram registradas, distribuídas em 21 gêneros e seis famílias. As famílias mais ricas são Orchidaceae e Bromeliaceae, que foram as mais representativas (67,6% de todas as espécies registradas). A riqueza na restinga de Grumari é maior do que os outros inventários realizados na planície costeira do Sudeste do Brasil, no entanto, inferior as restingas de São Paulo, Paraná e da planície costeira do Rio Grande do Sul. A categoria ecológica mais representativa foi a holoepífita característica (62%) seguida por holoepífitas facultativas e acidentais com 18% cada. A restinga de Grumari possui mais espécies em comum com as restingas do Espírito Santo e Rio de Janeiro do que com São Paulo e região Sul do Brasil, possivelmente em função da distância geográfica. Nosso estudo traz a primeira contribuição ao conhecimento da flora epifítica da restinga de Grumari e evidencia uma flora singular com 40% das espécies exclusivas dessa localidade, o que justifica sua importância como Unidade de Conservação. Palavras-chave: Domínio Atlântico, vegetação costeira, conservação, flora, taxonomia.

ResumoO Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos (PARNASO) constitui um dos maiores remanescentes de Mata Atlântica no estado do Rio de Janeiro. Bromeliaceae possui neste bioma um dos seus principais centros de diversidade, com 31 gêneros e 803 espécies, sendo mais de 500 pertencentes à subfamília Bromelioideae. Como parte do projeto Bromeliaceae organensis desenvolvido no Departamento de Botânica do Museu Nacional-UFRJ, o presente trabalho buscou inventariar as espécies de Aechmea, Billbergia, Hohenbergia e Quesnelia no PARNASO, fornecendo a descrição morfológica das espécies e uma chave para identificação, além de dados sobre sua distribuição, geral e dentro do parque. O estudo taxonômico foi realizado através da análise de material herborizado, coletas e observações de campo. Foram encontradas no parque: seis espécies de Aechmea, cinco de Billbergia, uma de Hohenbergia e quatro de Quesnelia. Apesar de bem representado em número de espécies na unidade de conservação, Billbergia conta com poucos registros nos herbários, sendo quatro de suas espécies referenciadas por um ou poucos indivíduos nas coleções. A localidade guarda ainda populações de espécies endêmicas do estado do Rio de Janeiro, como A. wellbachii, A. fasciata, Q. lateralis e Q. edmundoi var. edmundoi. Palavras-chave: Aechmea, Billbergia, Floresta atlântica brasileira, Hohenbergia, Quesnelia. AbstractThe Serra dos Órgãos National Park (PARNASO) constitutes one of the largest remnants of the Brazilian rainforest in Rio de Janeiro state. In this biome, Bromeliaceae has one of its main centers of diversity, with 31 genera and 803 species, being more than 500 belonging to the subfamily Bromelioideae. As a part of the project Bromeliaceae organensis in development in the Departament of Botany of the Museu Nacional-UFRJ, the present work aims to inventory the species of Aechmea, Billbergia, Hohenbergia and Quesnelia on PARNASO, providing the morphological description of the species and an identification key, in addition to data about its distribution, general and inside the park. The taxonomic study was carried on through the analysis of the dried specimens, collections and field observations. Six species of Aechmea, five of Billbergia, one of Hohenbergia and four of Quesnelia, were revealed. Although well represented in number of species, Billbergia counts with a poor number of herbarium records, with four of them referenced by one or little more individuals in the collections. The locality also houses populations of endemic species of Rio de Janeiro state, like A. wellbachii, A. fasciata, Q. lateralis and Q. edmundoi var. edmundoi. Key words: Aechmea, Billbergia, Brazilian atlantic rainforest, Hohenbergia, Quesnelia.Aechmea e gêneros relacionados (Bromelioideae, Bromeliaceae) no Parque Nacional da Serra dos Órgãos, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil Aechmea and allied genera (Bromelioideae, Bromeliaceae) from Serra dos Órgãos