George E. Schatz

Aligning Conservation Priorities Across Taxa in Madagascar with High-Resolution Planning Tools

Globally, priority areas for biodiversity are relatively well known, yet few detailed plans exist to direct conservation action within them, despite urgent need. Madagascar, like other globally recognized biodiversity hot spots, has complex spatial patterns of endemism that differ among taxonomic groups, creating challenges for the selection of within-country priorities. We show, in an analysis of wide taxonomic and geographic breadth and high spatial resolution, that multitaxonomic rather than single-taxon approaches are critical for identifying areas likely to promote the persistence of most species. Our conservation prioritization, facilitated by newly available techniques, identifies optimal expansion sites for the Madagascar governments current goal of tripling the land area under protection. Our findings further suggest that high-resolution multitaxonomic approaches to prioritization may be necessary to ensure protection for biodiversity in other global hot spots.

Climate Change Adaptation for Conservation in Madagascar

Madagascars imperilled biota are now experiencing the effects of a new threat—climate change ([Raxworthy et al . 2008][1]). With more than 90% endemism among plants, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, the stakes are high. The pristine landscapes that allowed this exceptional biodiversity to

The endemic and non-endemic vascular flora of Madagascar updated

Background and aims - The Catalogue of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar project aims to evaluate and enumerate the native and naturalized vascular plant flora of Madagascar. In light of the past two decades of intensive collecting and taxonomic work, all relevant published literature and available specimens are being reassessed in order to evaluate the taxonomic status and distribution of the native and naturalized taxa of vascular plants. Here we provide current figures for the total numbers of vascular plants and levels of endemism at the order, family, genus and species levels, comparing them to previous historical counts and analyzing the distribution of the non-endemic element of the flora. Key Results - At the time of writing (April 2010), more than a century after Baron first counted 4,100 species of vascular plants in Madagascar, the Madagascar Catalogue database had registered a total of 14,883 accepted names at all taxonomic levels (64 orders, 243 families, 1,730 genera, 11,220 species and 1,626 infraspecific taxa). Of the 11,220 species of vascular plants in Madagascar, 10,650 (95%) are angiosperms, of which 331 are naturalized introduced species. The remaining accepted indigenous angiosperm species total 10,319, of which 8,621 (84%) are endemic to Madagascar (82% endemism for all indigenous vascular plants). Among the 1,698 non-endemic species of indigenous angiosperms, a total of 1,372 (81%) also occur in Africa, of these 654 (39%) are present only in Africa and Madagascar.

Plants on the IUCN Red List: setting priorities to inform conservation

The continuing decline of plant diversity will have a greater impact on human society than any other type of biodiversity loss. It is imperative, therefore, that efforts are increased to assess the conservation status of plants for the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, the de facto baseline reference for many conservation decisions. As discussed here, a review of plants on the current Red List suggests that priorities for future Red Listing should serve multiple purposes: to inform national conservation policy, to contribute to global conservation analyses, to encompass the phylogenetic diversity of plants and to address the dependence of human societies on plants. Future progress in plant Red Listing requires greater participation by the worlds herbaria and increased support for expert networks.

New combinations and a new name in Syzygium (Myrtaceae) from Madagascar and the Comoro Islands

Acceptance of current generic concepts in Myrtaceae results in the proposal of 14 new combinations and 1 new name in Syzygium Gaertner. Those taxa from Madagascar and Mayotte originally described in Eugenia L. that have terminal inflorescences and calyptrate corollas should be accommodated within Syzygium. Complete synonymy and typification are given for all accepted

Conspectus of the vascular plants of Madagascar: a taxonomic and conservation electronic database

The Conspectus of the Vascular Plants of Madagascar Project is an international multi-institutional effort involving the Missouri Botanical Garden (MO), the Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle (P), the Parc Botanique et Zoologique de Tsimbazaza (TAN), and the Centre National de la Recherche Appliquee au Developpement Rural (TEF), whose goal is to make widely accessible information on all vascular plant names attributed to Madagascar. In addition to names and bibliography, the database will hold a maximum number of exsiccatae to voucher the occurrence of taxa within the protected areas system, and to permit automated mapping and analyses of distribution patterns. By maintaining the database in an updatable electronic form, and by incorporating GIS and image technology, we hope the Conspectus will both facilitate new and revised treatments for the Flore de Madagascar, as well as serve the needs of conservation NGO’s and the Malagasy people.

Takhtajania perrieri rediscovered

Spectacular finds of early Cretaceous fossil flowers during the past decade have fuelled a resurgence of research into the origin of flowering plants, the “abominable mystery” that so captivated Darwin. Now Takhtajania perrieri (Capuron) Baranova & J.-F. Leroy, the only extant Africa/ Madagascar representative of the family Winteraceae, has been rediscovered in northeastern Madagascar, 85 years after its original finding. Scientists will thus once again have a ‘living fossil’ to study and place in the context of both extinct and other extant primitive angiosperms.

Towards a Global Tree Assessment

Although trees have high economic, cultural and ecological value, increasing numbers of species are potentially at risk of extinction because of forest loss and degradation as a result of human activities, including overharvesting, fire and grazing. Emerging threats include climate change and its interaction with the spread of pests and diseases. The impact of such threats on the conservation status of trees is poorly understood. Here we highlight the need to conduct a comprehensive conservation assessment of the worlds tree species, building on previous assessments undertaken for the IUCN Red List. We suggest that recent developments in plant systematics, online databases, remote sensing data and associated analytical tools offer an unprecedented opportunity to conduct such an assessment. We provide an overview of how a Global Tree Assessment could be achieved in practice, through participative, open-access approaches to data sharing and evaluation.

A New, Restricted Range Species of Annona (Annonaceae) Endemic to the Caribbean Slope of Panama

Abstract.  Annona caesia G. E. Schatz, C. Ramos & O. Ortiz is described from the lowland forests of the Caribbean slope of Panama. The new species differs from other Annona L. (Annonaceae) by the medium to large, broadly ovoid flowers (including three other species in Panama: A. acuminata Saff., A. billbergii R. E. Fr., and A. spraguei Saff.), by the glabrous and bluish glaucous underside of its leaves, and by the presence of small inner petals. The conservation status according to IUCN Red List categories and criteria has been assessed as Vulnerable (VU).

ConR: An R package to assist large-scale multispecies preliminary conservation assessments using distribution data

Abstract The Red List Categories and the accompanying five criteria developed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) provide an authoritative and comprehensive methodology to assess the conservation status of organisms. Red List criterion B, which principally uses distribution data, is the most widely used to assess conservation status, particularly of plant species. No software package has previously been available to perform large‐scale multispecies calculations of the three main criterion B parameters [extent of occurrence (EOO), area of occupancy (AOO) and an estimate of the number of locations] and provide preliminary conservation assessments using an automated batch process. We developed ConR, a dedicated R package, as a rapid and efficient tool to conduct large numbers of preliminary assessments, thereby facilitating complete Red List assessment. ConR (1) calculates key geographic range parameters (AOO and EOO) and estimates the number of locations sensu IUCN needed for an assessment under criterion B; (2) uses this information in a batch process to generate preliminary assessments of multiple species; (3) summarize the parameters and preliminary assessments in a spreadsheet; and (4) provides a visualization of the results by generating maps suitable for the submission of full assessments to the IUCN Red List. ConR can be used for any living organism for which reliable georeferenced distribution data are available. As distributional data for taxa become increasingly available via large open access datasets, ConR provides a novel, timely tool to guide and accelerate the work of the conservation and taxonomic communities by enabling practitioners to conduct preliminary assessments simultaneously for hundreds or even thousands of species in an efficient and time‐saving way.