{"id":168261,"date":"2014-12-29T17:55:41","date_gmt":"2014-12-29T19:55:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=168261"},"modified":"2015-03-25T15:22:21","modified_gmt":"2015-03-25T18:22:21","slug":"among-the-algae-and-lianas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/among-the-algae-and-lianas\/","title":{"rendered":"Among the algae and lianas"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Untangled:

L\u00c9O RAMOS<\/span>Untangled: lianas have helped researchers unravel mysteries behind the origins of the Amazon region\u2019s biodiversityL\u00c9O RAMOS<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

In recent decades, traditional approaches to surveying flora and fauna conducted by the University of S\u00e3o Paulo Biosciences Institute (IB-USP) have been reinforced in an important way, thanks to the use of genetic material in the reconstruction of phylogenies, the branching diagrams that trace the evolutionary relationships between species. As knowledge advanced, however, it became clear that explaining the origin of biodiversity would require a new step, one that could tell the full story about the ecological and geographic changes that led to the great ecosystems, or biomes.<\/p>\n

In the case of the region of greatest biodiversity on earth\u2014the Amazon\u2014important parts of this story are now beginning to unfold.\u00a0 \u201cData gathered from lianas indicate that species diversification in the Amazon region occurred about three million years ago,\u201d says botanist L\u00facia Lohmann, who specializes in the Bignoniaceae family of plants (which includes lianas, ipes and rosewood).\u00a0 \u201cStudies of birds, primates and butterflies also confirm these data,\u201d adds Lohmann.<\/p>\n

Geological data, in turn, indicate that the Amazon River basin was formed over the same period.\u00a0\u00a0 A network of rivers traverse the Amazon region, separating populations and interrupting gene flows, thereby causing species differentiation from area to area in a classic example of the dynamics of geographic speciation via isolation as first theorized by Charles Darwin.\u00a0 \u201cIn the case of birds,\u201d again according to Lohmann, \u201cwe have some examples of terrestrial groups whose current distribution fits perfectly into the basin\u2019s hydrography.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Astolpho

Department of Botany archives <\/span>Astolpho de Souza Grotta examines a dehydrated plant in a herbarium in the 1970sDepartment of Botany archives <\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The lianas offer a good reference for study because they both typify tropical forests and differentiate them from temperate ones.\u00a0 However, because Lohmann had proceeded well into her system of Bignoniaceae classification\u2014up to then a big headache for botanists\u2014she could only use these plants as a group model for the project as a whole. The researcher then redid the entire classification \u00a0to reflect inter-species lineages. This work, cross-checked with current data on the geographic distribution of the species, led to the identification of the places of origin of numerous lineages, as well as the biogeographic history of that particular group.<\/p>\n

The origin of vines, also known as lianas, can be traced back approximately 50 million years to the Atlantic Forest region. A little more than 40 million years ago, these plants arrived in the Amazon region, where they underwent vast diversification. Ten million years later, a liana lineage went on to occupy parts of the Cerrado and rupestrian regions, undergoing profound transformation and adaptation to scrub fire.\u00a0\u00a0 Some species became shrub, losing their tendrils, while others developed a buried stem that\u2014like a bulb\u2014allowed them to bloom again after a fire. Later, particular species occupied the Atlantic Forest, reaching their current number of 400.<\/p>\n

Oceans<\/strong>
\nOur growing knowledge of biodiversity is not limited to the information we gather on land, however. Research into marine algae through the use of phylogenetic techniques is expanding the number of known species in our seas. \u201cOur diversity has been thoroughly studied but is still not sufficiently recognized,\u201d says Mariana Cabral de Oliveira, an expert on algae and head of the Department of Botany. \u201cThe number of species has doubled for some groups of algae, and we\u2019ve even discovered new genera\u201d she adds. Researchers are using molecular markers that work as barcodes to distinguish species that appear morphologically identical, or to unite others that present morphological variations in different environments. Among other findings, along the Brazilian coast the group discovered a species of algae\u2014only a few millimeters in size\u2014found previously only in coastal Somalia and Kenya by an Italian researcher in the 1970s and 1980s.\u00a0 These algae are already a component of the fossil record and play an important role in explaining the evolution of calcareous algae (Corallinales<\/em>).<\/p>\n

Despite novel approaches, surveys of flora continue to form the basis of biodiversity studies. The department has already compiled exhaustive lists of flora from the Serra do Cip\u00f3 and Serra do Gr\u00e3o Mogol\u2014an area of rupestrian vegetation\u2014both in the Espinha\u00e7o range of Minas Gerais State and collaborated on the flora of S\u00e3o Paulo, a project that involves work coordinated by the Botanical Institute of S\u00e3o Paulo. The department also published a study of the\u00a0 flora of benthic marine algae (those that remain at the bottom of the ocean) in Brazil, as well as the algae of Abrolhos Reef, in the state of Bahia. \u201cThe survey of flora forms the basis of all research concerning plant evolution, since an understanding of plant morphology is required to establish a connection between the ecological and phylogenetic aspects,\u201d explains Jos\u00e9 Rubens Pirani, a professor at the department, adding that \u201cthis also contributes to one\u2019s academic training, as each student can focus on a particular family or group as he begins his studies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Marine

Eurico C. de Oliveira \/ IB-USP<\/span>Marine algae diversity remains underestimated despite the tradition of research by the departmentEurico C. de Oliveira \/ IB-USP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Surveys have also played an important role in promoting conservation. The flora of the Serra do Cip\u00f3 and Serra do Gr\u00e3o Mogol served as decisive arguments to convince government authorities to establish parks in these areas. Also, Eurico Cabral de Oliveira\u2019s algae studies contributed to the creation of the Marinho de Abrolhos National Park as well as the Atol das Rocas Biological Marine Reserve.<\/p>\n

Tradition<\/strong>
\nThe focus on native biodiversity can be traced back to the work of \u00a0plant anatomist Nanuza Luiza de Menezes, the first to study a family known only to Brazil\u2014the Velloziaceae<\/em>\u2014of the Vellozia squamata <\/em>group, popularly known as \u201ccanela-de-ema\u201d, typical of rupestrian vegetation.\u00a0 Menezes, who turned 80 along with USP, studied under Aylthon Brand\u00e3o Joly, who instituted the department\u2019s biodiversity studies in 1940. At Joly\u2019s insistence, Menezes abandoned her avocado research (at the time it was common practice to focus on exotic species) and focus exclusively on plants that were native to Brazil. She then became the first researcher to visit the rupestrian areas. \u201cI fell in love with the landscape and the Velloziaceae, and focused my research there,\u201d she explains. Today Menezes\u2019 anatomical studies are one of the pieces of the puzzle that contribute to understanding the evolutionary history of the plants.<\/p>\n

The new holistic approach follows along the lines of this tradition of conservation and research into flora. \u201cWith the knowledge that we\u2019re acquiring, conservation goes from being merely a topic for discussion to having a solid scientific basis,\u201d says Lohmann, adding that \u201cit will be possible to pinpoint priority areas and species for purposes of conservation.\u201d \u00a0The project Lohmann coordinates involves a partnership between USP and the American Museum of Natural History in New York, along with 17 other institutions in Brazil, the United States, Argentina, England and Canada. Now in its third year, the thematic project promises the introduction of a new methodology to serve as a standard for studying other Brazilian biomes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Researchers study the processes of species diversification","protected":false},"author":545,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[159],"tags":[209,213,231],"coauthors":[1498],"class_list":["post-168261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science","tag-biology","tag-botany","tag-evolution"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/545"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168261\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168261"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=168261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}