is a taxonomically challenging group within the nettle family (Urticaceae). The polyphyly of the genus has been proposed by previous studies with respect to five genera (, , , , and ). Extensive homoplasy of morphological characters has made generic delimitation problematic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiodiversity data aggregators, such as Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) suffer from inflation of the number of occurrence records when data from different databases are merged but not fully reconciled. The ParseGBIF workflow is designed to parse duplicate GBIF species occurrence records into unique collection events (gatherings) and to optimise the quality of the spatial data associated with them. ParseGBIF provides tools to verify and standardize species scientific names according to the World Checklist of Vascular Plants taxonomic backbone, and to parse duplicate records into unique 'collection events', in the process compiling the most informative spatial data, where more than one duplicate is available, and providing crude estimates of taxonomic and spatial data quality.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFis recognized as a taxonomically difficult group due to the reduced nature of the tiny flowers and inflorescences, also the large number of species (ca 650 to 700). Different opinions on morphological species delimitation have resulted in instability, which is problematic in such a speciose group. In this paper, the taxonomic status of three putative species, , , and their hypothetical closest relatives, was revised using morphological and molecular observations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTropical forests on karstic relief (tropical karst forest) are among the most species-rich biomes. These forests play pivotal roles as global climate regulators and for human wellbeing. Their long-term conservation could be central to global climate mitigation and biodiversity conservation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Checklist of the Vascular Plants of the Republic of Guinea (CVPRG) is a specimen-based, expert-validated knowledge product, which provides a concise synthesis and overview of current knowledge on 3901 vascular plant species documented from Guinea (Conakry), West Africa, including their accepted names and synonyms, as well as their distribution and status within Guinea (indigenous or introduced, endemic or not). The CVPRG is generated automatically from the Guinea Collections Database and the Guinea Names Backbone Database, both developed and maintained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in collaboration with the staff of the National Herbarium of Guinea. A total of 3505 indigenous vascular plant species are reported of which 3328 are flowering plants (angiosperms); this represents a 26% increase in known indigenous angiosperms since the last floristic overview.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFReliably documenting plant diversity is necessary to protect and sustainably benefit from it. At the heart of this documentation lie species concepts and the practical methods used to delimit taxa. Here, we apply a total-evidence, iterative methodology to delimit and document species in the South American genus (Nymphaeaceae).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFClimate change and geological events have long been known to shape biodiversity, implying that these can likewise be viewed from a biological perspective. To study whether plants can shed light on this, and how they responded to climate change there, we examined Oreocnide, a genus widely distributed in SE Asia. Based on broad geographic sampling with genomic data, we employed an integrative approach of phylogenomics, molecular dating, historical biogeography, and ecological analyses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUrticeae , a tribe of Urticaceae well-known for their stinging trichomes, consists of more than 10 genera and approximately 220 species. Relationships within this tribe remain poorly known due to the limited molecular and taxonomic sampling in previous studies, and chloroplast genome (CP genome/plastome) evolution is still largely unaddressed. To address these concerns, we used genome skimming data-CP genome and nuclear ribosomal DNA (18S-ITS1-5.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAssessing the palatability of forage from locally adapted trees could improve the sustainability of livestock production systems. However, grasses continue to dominate livestock feed across the Amazon. We established a silvopastoral cattle farming system in Peru, comparing three different forage tree species with grass monocultures using a randomised block design.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis is the first record of Urticaceae-feeding trumpet moths (Tischeriidae) from Asia. We describe Paratischeria boehmerica Dikus Stonis, sp. nov.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe aim of our study was to assess the importance of different Colombian bioregions in terms of the supply of useful plant species and the quality of the available distribution data. We assembled a dataset of georeferenced collection localities of all vascular plants of Colombia available from global and local online databases. We then assembled a list of species, subspecies and varieties of Colombia's useful plants and retrieved all point locality information associated with these taxa.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe describe a new genus, Manitischeria Diškus Stonis, gen. nov., and five new species: Manitischeria selindica Stonis Diškus, sp.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFUnprecedented changes in the Earth's biota are prompting urgent efforts to describe and conserve plant diversity. For centuries, botanical monographs - comprehensive systematic treatments of a family or genus - have been the gold standard for disseminating scientific information to accelerate research. The lack of a monograph compounds the risk that undiscovered species become extinct before they can be studied and conserved.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNew Guinea is the world's largest tropical island and has fascinated naturalists for centuries. Home to some of the best-preserved ecosystems on the planet and to intact ecological gradients-from mangroves to tropical alpine grasslands-that are unmatched in the Asia-Pacific region, it is a globally recognized centre of biological and cultural diversity. So far, however, there has been no attempt to critically catalogue the entire vascular plant diversity of New Guinea.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtremely high levels of plant diversity in the American tropics are derived from multiple interactions between biotic and abiotic factors. Previous studies have focused on macro-evolutionary dynamics of the Tropical Andes, Amazonia, and Brazil's Cerrado and Atlantic forests during the last decade. Yet, other equally important Neotropical biodiversity hotspots have been severely neglected.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKarst is defined as landscapes that are underlain by soluble rock in which there is appreciable water movement arising from a combination of high rock solubility and well-developed secondary (fracture) porosity. Karsts occupy approximately 20% of the planet's dry ice-free land and are of great socioeconomic importance, as they supply water to up to 25% of the world's population and represent landscapes of cultural and touristic importance. In Southeast Asia karst is associated with high species-richness and endemism in plants and seen as priority areas for the conservation of biodiversity.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOf the 280 species of documented in China, 189 are known only from a single collection. is one such species, having been known only from the type collection for nearly half a century, until recent field investigations in Guangxi. Due to its morphological similarity to and , we undertook a critical review of all three species using morphological and molecular evidence.
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