Enhancement of conservation knowledge through increased access to botanical information.

Herbarium specimens are increasingly recognized as an important resource for conservation science and virtual herbaria are making specimens freely available to a wider range of users than ever before. Few virtual herbaria are designed with conservation use as a primary driver. Exceptionally, Brazil's Reflora Virtual Herbarium (RVH) was created to increase knowledge and conservation of the Brazilian flora. The RVH is closely integrated with the Flora of Brazil 2020 platform on which Brazil's new national Flora is under construction. Both resources are accessible via the Reflora home page and thousands of users move seamlessly between these Reflora resources. To understand how the Reflora resources are currently used and their impact on conservation science, we conducted a literature review and an online survey. We searched for publications of studies in which Reflora resources were used and publications resulting from Brazilian researchers who were part of Reflora's research and mobility program. The survey contained multiple choice questions and questions that required a written response. We targeted Reflora webpage visitors with the survey to capture a wider range of Reflora users than the literature review. Reflora resources were used for a variety of conservation-relevant purposes. Half the 806 scientific publications in which Reflora was cited and 81% of the 1069 survey respondents accessing Reflora resources mentioned conservation-relevant research outputs. Most conservation-relevant uses of the Reflora resources in scientific publications were research rather than implementation focused. The survey of Reflora users showed conservation uses and impacts of virtual herbaria were more numerous and diverse than the uses captured in the literature review. Virtual herbaria are vital resources for conservation science, but they must document use and impacts more comprehensively to ensure sustainability.

Revalorización del Conocimiento sobre Conservación por Medio de Mayor Acceso a la Información Botánica Resumen Los especímenes de los herbarios son reconocidos cada vez más como un recurso importante para la ciencia de la conservación, y, como nunca antes, los herbarios virtuales están poniendo a los especímenes a libre disposición para una gama mucho más amplia de usuarios. Pocos herbarios virtuales están diseñados con el uso para la conservación como conductor primario. Excepcionalmente, se creó el Herbario Virtual Reflora de Brasil (RVH, en inglés) para incrementar el conocimiento y la conservación de la flora brasileña. El RVH está integrado cuidadosamente con la plataforma Flora de Brasil 2020, sobre la cual está bajo construcción la nueva flora nacional de Brasil. Se accede a ambos recursos a través de la página inicial de Reflora y miles de usuarios navegan continuamente entre estos recursos de la página. Para entender cómo se usan actualmente los recursos de Reflora así como su impacto sobre la ciencia de la conservación, realizamos una revisión de la literatura y una encuesta en línea. Buscamos las publicaciones de estudios que usaron los recursos de Reflora y las publicaciones elaboradas por investigadores brasileños que formaron parte del programa de investigación y movilidad de Reflora. La encuesta incluyó preguntas de opción múltiple y preguntas que requerían una respuesta escrita. Enfocamos la encuesta en los visitantes a la página web de Reflora para obtener una gama más amplia de usuarios de Reflora que la que obtendríamos sólo con la revisión de la literatura. Los recursos de Reflora se usaron para una variedad de propósitos relevantes para la conservación. La mitad de las 806 publicaciones científicas en las que se citó a Reflora y el 81% de los 1069 encuestados que acceden a los recursos de Reflora mencionaron resultados de investigación relevantes para la conservación. La mayoría de los usos relevantes para la conservación de los recursos de Reflora en las publicaciones científicas estuvieron más enfocados en la investigación que en la implementación. La encuesta para los usuarios de Reflora mostró que los usos e impactos de los herbarios virtuales fueron más numerosos y diversos que los usos capturados en la revisión de la literatura. Los herbarios virtuales son recursos vitales para la ciencia de la conservación, pero deben documentar su uso y sus impactos exhaustivamente para asegurar su sustentabilidad.

Herbarium collection of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden (RB), Brazil.

BACKGROUND: This paper provides a quantitative and general description of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden herbarium (RB) dataset. Created over a century ago, the RB currently comprises ca. 750,000 mounted specimens, with a strong representation of Brazilian flora, mainly from the Atlantic and Amazon forests. Nearly 100% of these specimens have been entered into the database and imaged and, at present, about 17% have been geo-referenced. This data paper is focused exclusively on RB's exsiccatae collection of land plants and algae, which is currently increasing by about twenty to thirty thousand specimens per year thanks to fieldwork, exchange and donations. Since 2005, many national and international projects have been implemented, improving the quality and accessibility of the collection. The most important facilitating factor in this process was the creation of the institutional system for plants collection and management, named JABOT. Since the RB is continuously growing, the dataset is updated weekly on SiBBr and GBIF portals. NEW INFORMATION: The most represented environments are the Atlantic and Amazon forests, a biodiversity hotspot and the world's largest rain forest, respectively. The dataset described in this article contains the data and metadata of plants and algae specimens in the RB collection and the link to access the respective images. Currently, the RB data is publicly available online at several biodiversity portals, such as our institutional database JABOT, the Reflora Virtual Herbarium, the SiBBr and the GBIF portal. However, a description of the RB dataset as a whole is not available in the literature.

Epiphytic angiosperms in a mountain forest in southern Bahia, Brazil / Angiospermas epífitas de uma floresta montana no sul da Bahia, Brasil

The Atlantic Forest in southern Bahia State, Brazil, has high levels of diversity and vascular plant endemism. There have been few floristic surveys of the mountain forests there, however, especially those focusing on herbs and canopy plants, with studies of Atlantic Forest epiphytes having been limited to the southern and southeastern region of that country. The present study therefore surveyed the epiphytic angiosperms in the Serra das Lontras National Park (SLNP), the distribution of their species among genera and families, and their biogeographical patterns. Fieldwork was performed between February 2011 and March 2012. Collections were made along roads and trails and phorophytes were occasionally climbed and fallen trees and branches examined in order to sample canopy species. The study site demonstrated high epiphyte richness (256 spp.), one of the highest recorded in the Atlantic Forest. The richest families are Orchidaceae, Bromeliaceae, and Araceae, reaffirming the patterns reported in previous major reviews on epiphytes. The species exhibit high degrees of endemism (45%) to the Atlantic Forest, especially among the Bromeliaceae and Orchidaceae. One new occurrence to Brazil, four to the Atlantic Forest and 30 to Bahia state are registered. The SLNP shares more species with areas of southern and southeastern Brazil than with other northeastern states.

A Floresta Atlântica do sul da Bahia apresenta elevados níveis de diversidade e endemismo de plantas vasculares. No entanto, poucos levantamentos florísticos foram realizados em áreas de floresta montana, especialmente para ervas e plantas de dossel. Estudos com epífitas estão concentrados principalmente em áreas do Sul e Sudeste do Brasil. Desta forma, o presente estudo realizou o levantamento das angiospermas epífitas do Parque Nacional da Serra das Lontras (PNSL) e verificou a distribuição das espécies pelas famílias e gêneros e seus padrões biogeográficos. As coletas foram realizadas entre fevereiro de 2011 e março de 2012 nas trilhas e estradas de acesso. Alguns forófitos foram escalados e árvores e ramos caídos foram examinados com o intuito de coletar espécies restritas ao dossel. A área de estudo apresentou alta diversidade de epífitas (256 spp.), uma das maiores já registradas para a Floresta Atlântica. As famílias com maior riqueza são Orchidaceae, Bromeliaceae e Araceae, reafirmando os padrões encontrados anteriormente em revisões do tema. As espécies apresentam alto grau de endemismo (45%) è Floresta Atlântica, especialmente em Bromeliaceae e Orchidaceae. São registradas uma nova ocorrência para o Brasil, quatro para a Floresta Atlântica e 30 para a Bahia. O PNSL possui mais espécies em comum com o Sul e o Sudeste do que com a região Nordeste.