The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) set an ambitious target to achieve a conservation assessment for all known plant species by 2020. We consolidated digitally available plant ...conservation assessments and reconciled their scientific names and assessment status to predefined standards to provide a quantitative measure of progress toward this target. The 241,919 plant conservation assessments generated represent 111,824 accepted land plant species (vascular plants and bryophytes, not algae). At least 73,081 and up to 90,321 species have been assessed at the global scale, representing 21-26% of known plant species. Of these plant species, at least 27,148 and up to 32,542 are threatened. Eighty plant families, including some of the largest, such as Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, and Rubiaceae, are underassessed and should be the focus of assessment effort if the GSPC target is to be met by 2020. Our data set is accessible online (ThreatSearch) and is a baseline that can be used to directly support other GSPC targets and plant conservation action. Although around one-quarter of a million plant assessments have been compiled, the majority of plants are still unassessed. The challenge now is to build on this progress and redouble efforts to document conservation status of unassessed plants to better inform conservation decisions and conserve the most threatened species. La Estrategia Global para la Conservación de Plantas (GSPC, en inglés) estableció el objetivo ambicioso de lograr una evaluación de la conservación para todas las plantas conocidas para el año 2020. Consolidamos evaluaciones sobre la conservación de plantas disponibles digitalmente y reconciliamos sus nombres científicos y estados de evaluación con los estándares predefinidos para proporcionar una medida cuantitativa del progreso hacia este objetivo. Las 241,919 evaluaciones generadas sobre la conservación de las plantas representan a 111,824 especies aceptadas de plantas terrestres (plantas vasculares y briofitas, algas no). Al menos 73,081 y hasta 90,321 especies han sido evaluadas a escala global, representando 21 - 26% de las especies de plantas conocidas. De estas especies de plantas, al menos 27,148 y hasta 32,542 están amenazadas. Ochenta familias de plantas, incluidas algunas de las más grandes como Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, y Rubiaceae están sub-evaluadas y deberían ser el foco del esfuerzo de evaluación si se quiere alcanzar el objetivo de la GSPC para el año 2020. Nuestro conjunto de datos está disponible en línea (ThreatSearch) y es una línea de base que puede usarse para apoyar directamente a otros objetivos de la GSPC y de las acciones de la conservación de plantas. Aunque se han recopilado alrededor de un cuarto de millón de evaluaciones sobre plantas, la mayoría de las plantas permanecen sin ser evaluadas. El reto ahora es construir sobre este progreso e intensificar los esfuerzos para documentar los estados de conservación de las plantas sin evaluación para informar de mejor manera las decisiones de conservación y conservar a la mayoría de las especies amenazadas. 全球植物保护战略（GSPC)设立了ー个雄心勃勃的目标， 要在2020年前对所有已知植物物种进行保护评 估。我们整合了数字化的植物保护评估, 并按照预设标准整理了它们的学名和评估状况,从而为这一目标的进 展提供了量化标准。所产生的241,919个植物保护评估代表了 111,824种公认的陆生植物（维管植物和苔藓,不 包括藻类) 。73,081—90,321个物种有全球水平的评估， 它们代表着21-26%的已知植物物种。在这些植物中，27,148-32,542个物种是受威胁物种。80个科的植物，包括一些如菊科、兰科和茜草科等最大的科，受到的保护 评估仍不足;如果要达到GSPC定下的2020年目标，这些科应该作为未来评估工作的重点。我们的数据集可以在 线获取(ThreatSearch)，并可以用作直接支持其它GSPC目标和植物保护行动的基准。尽管ー百万份植物评估已 经编制了约四分之一，但大部分的植物仍没有得到评估。当前的挑战是,在目前进展的基础上加倍努力记录未评 估植物的保护状況，从而更好地为保护决策和保护最濒危的物种提供支持。
Most people can name a mammal or bird that has become extinct in recent centuries, but few can name a recently extinct plant. We present a comprehensive, global analysis of modern extinction in ...plants. Almost 600 species have become extinct, at a higher rate than background extinction, but almost as many have been erroneously declared extinct and then been rediscovered. Reports of extinction on islands, in the tropics and of shrubs, trees or species with narrow ranges are least likely to be refuted by rediscovery. Plant extinctions endanger other organisms, ecosystems and human well-being, and must be understood for effective conservation planning.
Abstract
The World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) is a comprehensive list of scientifically described plant species, compiled over four decades, from peer-reviewed literature, authoritative ...scientific databases, herbaria and observations, then reviewed by experts. It is a vital tool to facilitate plant diversity research, conservation and effective management, including sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits. To maximise utility, such lists should be accessible, explicitly evidence-based, transparent, expert-reviewed, and regularly updated, incorporating new evidence and emerging scientific consensus. WCVP largely meets these criteria, being continuously updated and freely available online. Users can browse, search, or download a user-defined subset of accepted species with corresponding synonyms and bibliographic details, or a date-stamped full dataset. To facilitate appropriate data reuse by individual researchers and global initiatives including Global Biodiversity Information Facility, Catalogue of Life and World Flora Online, we document data collation and review processes, the underlying data structure, and the international data standards and technical validation that ensure data quality and integrity. We also address the questions most frequently received from users.
Plant-diversity hotspots on a global scale are well established, but smaller local hotspots within these must be identified for effective conservation of plants at the global and local scales. We ...used the distributions of endemic and endemic-threatened species of Myrtaceae to indicate areas of plant diversity and conservation importance within the Atlantic coastal forests (Mata Atlântica) of Brazil. We applied 3 simple, inexpensive geographic information system (GIS) techniques to a herbarium specimen database: predictive species-distribution modeling (Maxent); complementarity analysis (DIVA-GIS); and mapping of herbarium specimen collection locations. We also considered collecting intensity, which is an inherent limitation of use of natural history records for biodiversity studies. Two separate areas of endemism were evident: the Serra do Mar mountain range from Paraná to Rio de Janeiro and the coastal forests of northern Espírito Santo and southern Bahia. We identified 12 areas of approximately 35 km² each as priority areas for conservation. These areas had the highest species richness and were highly threatened by urban and agricultural expansion. Observed species occurrences, species occurrences predicted from the model, and results of our complementarity analysis were congruent in identifying those areas with the most endemic species. These areas were then prioritized for conservation importance by comparing ecological data for each.
This article is part of the Special Collection ‘Global plant diversity and distribution’. See
https://www.newphytologist.org/global-plant-diversity
for more details.
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.
Empleo del Potencial de la Sistemática Integrada para la Conservación de Grupos Botánicos Complejos y Megadiversos
Resumen
Cada vez se reconoce más el valor que tienen las colecciones de historia natural para la investigación dentro de la ciencia de la conservación, a pesar de las limitaciones en la documentación adecuada de la cobertura taxonómica, geográfica y temporal. Los análisis con base en especímenes son de particular importancia en los grupos de plantas tropicales, para los cuales las observaciones en el campo son escasas y potencialmente de poca confianza debido la gran cantidad de retos de identificación que amplifican la diversidad. Las bases de datos de especímenes que son curadas por especialistas son fuentes abundantes de datos identificados autoritativamente y de distribución georeferenciada, por lo que es urgente la necesidad de dichos datos para géneros extensos. Comparamos las entradas en una base de datos monográfica para el género neotropical extenso Myrcia en 2007 y en 2017. Clasificamos y cuantificamos las diferencias en los registros de especímenes durante esta década y determinamos el impacto potencial de estos cambios sobre las evaluaciones de conservación. Separamos las identificaciones erróneas de los cambios causados por la remodelación taxonómica y consideramos los efectos de la adición de especímenes y de georeferencias. Calculamos el impacto potencial de cada cambio sobre las estimaciones de la extensión de la distribución (EOO, en inglés), la medida que se utiliza con mayor frecuencia en las valoraciones del riesgo de extinción de las plantas tropicales. Examinamos si los cambios en un espécimen particular estuvieron asociados con especies para las cuales los cambios en la EOO durante la década fueron lo suficientemente amplios para cambiarles la categoría de conservación. Las correcciones hechas a especímenes previamente mal identificados o carentes de georeferencias estuvieron sobre‐representadas en dichas especies, mientras que los cambios asociados con la remodelación taxonómica (agrupamiento y separación) estuvieron sub‐representados. Entre las especies presentes en ambos años, las transiciones hacia un estado de conservación con menor amenaza superaron en cantidad a aquellas hacia un estado de mayor amenaza (8% vs 3%, respectivamente). Las especies que con anterioridad se clasificaban como deficientes de datos tuvieron más transiciones hacia el estado de amenazadas que hacia el estado de no amenazadas (10% vs 7%, respectivamente). Los científicos de la conservación corren el riesgo de llegar a conclusiones poco confiables si utilizan bases de datos de especímenes que no sean actualizadas para reflejar el conocimiento cambiante.
Article impact statement: Digitized natural history collections must be updated as taxonomic knowledge grows so as to maximize their utility for conservation science.
Phylogenetic relationships of Myrcia s.l., the most species-rich tree genus in the Brazilian cerrado and Atlantic forests, are reconstructed by analysis, with parsimony and Bayesian inference, of ...four plastid regions (psbA-trnH intergenic spacer, trnL intron, trnL-F intergenic spacer, and matK exon) and the external and internal transcribed spacer regions of nuclear ribosomal DNA. The resulting phylogenetic hypothesis is evaluated in conjunction with key morphological characters and abiotic factors suggested to have influenced the group’s current distribution. Some lineages identified by previous classifications are supported; others with morphological and/or ecological correspondence are recognized for the first time. Sequence divergence levels provide good resolution of relationships within but not between the main clades of Myrcia s.l. The previously recognized genera Calyptranthes and Gomidesia are shown to be monophyletic, whereas Marlierea is shown not to be; all are nested within paraphyletic Myrcia. A new subgeneric classification is required. An interpretation of the origins of Myrcia s.l. and potential causes of speciation in the group is made on the basis of recently published data and accepted geological events.
The World Checklist of Vascular Plants (WCVP) is an extremely valuable resource that is being used to address many fundamental and applied questions in plant science, conservation, ecology and ...evolution. However, databases of this size require data manipulation skills that pose a barrier to many potential users. Here, we present rWCVP, an open-source R package that aims to facilitate the use of the WCVP by providing clear, intuitive functions to execute many common tasks. These functions include taxonomic name reconciliation, geospatial integration, mapping and generation of multiple different summaries of the WCVP in both data and report format. We have included extensive documentation and tutorials, providing step-by-step guides that are accessible even to users with minimal programming experience. rWCVP is available on cran and GitHub.
Summary
Anthropogenic introductions are known to be changing the structure of global phytogeographical regions (phytoregions), but previous studies have been limited by incomplete or biased data sets ...that are likely to underestimate the importance of threatened species. In this work, we analyse a comprehensive data set of all known species and their occurrences (at botanical country resolution) to quantify the impact of potential future extinction scenarios.
We used Infomap, a network‐based community detection algorithm, to generate phytoregional delineations for six species‐distribution scenarios (native, introduced and extinctions of species that are either documented as threatened or likely to be threatened, as well as combinations thereof). We compared the numbers and sizes of phytoregions to characterise the amount and spatial distribution of changes in global phytoregions under each scenario.
Extinctions of species that are predicted to be threatened had a greater homogenising effect on phytoregions than introductions, and there was some evidence that introductions may even mitigate the homogenisation caused by extinctions, though this interaction is complex.
This research provides the first evidence that the loss of threatened species would have significant ramifications for global phytoregions and demonstrates the need to consider extinction processes in studies of anthropogenic effects on biodiversity patterns.
This article is part of the Special Collection ‘Global plant diversity and distribution’. See
https://www.newphytologist.org/global-plant-diversity
for more details.
Old, climate-buffered infertile landscapes (Ocbils) have attracted increasing levels of interest in recent years because of their exceptionally diverse plant communities. Brazil's
(rupestrian ...grasslands) are home to almost 15% of Brazil's native flora in less than 0.8% of Brazil's territory: an ideal study system for exploring variation in floristic diversity and phylogenetic structure in sites differing in geology and phytophysiognomy. We found significant differences in floristic diversity and phylogenetic structure across a range of study sites encompassing open vegetation and forest on quartzite (FQ) and on ironstone substrates, commonly termed
. Substrate and physiognomy were key in structuring floristic diversity in the Espinhaço and physiognomy was more important than substrate in structuring phylogenetic diversity, with neither substrate nor its interaction with physiognomy accounting for significant variation in phylogenetic structure. Phylogenetic clustering was significant in open vegetation on both
and quartzite, reflecting the potential role of environmental filtering in these exposed montane communities adapted to multiple environmental stressors. In forest communities, phylogenetic clustering was significant only at relatively deep nodes of the phylogeny in FQ while no significant phylogenetic clustering was detected across forest on
(FC), which may be attributable to proximity to the megadiverse Atlantic forest biome and/or comparatively benign environmental conditions in FC with relatively deep, nutrient-rich soils and access to edaphic water reliable in comparison to those for open vegetation on
and open or forest communities on quartzite. Clades representing relatively old lineages are significantly over-represented in
on quartzite, consistent with the Gondwanan Heritage Hypothesis of Ocbil theory. In contrast, forested sites on
are recognized as Yodfels. To be effective, conservation measures must take account of the distinct communities which are encompassed within the broad term
, and the differing vulnerabilities of Ocbils and Yodfels.
PDF
