Ghillean T. Prance

Introduced plants in the indigenous Pharmacopoeia of Northern South America

The intellectual property rights debate focuses on the flow of germplasm from developing tropical countries to developed temperate nations. Few investigators have addressed the converse. We discuss the abundance and importance of introduced plants in pharmacopoeias of northern South America. Introduced species commonly are employed as medicines throughout the region and include at least 216 Eurasian, North American, African, and Pacific species. Among the Shuar of lowland Ecuador, four introduced plants (Citrus aurantium, Cymbopogon citratus, Saccharum officinarum, and Zingiber officinale) are included in their most commonly prescribed remedies. The widespread use of introduced plants is due, in part, to the medicinal value of plants whose primary use is for food (e.g., Musa X paradisiacal Similarly, many introduced ornamentals also have therapeutic value (e.g., Hedychium coronarium). Other species have been introduced specifically as medicines (e.g., Aloe vera). Restrictions on the flow of germplasm and plant knowledge may protect the economic interests of governments and national industry. If applied bilaterally, however, constraints on the movement of plants will limit the continued evolution of traditional medicinal systems in areas where they are most needed.ResumenEl debate sobre los derechos de propiedad intelectual se enfoca principalmente en el movimiento de germoplasma desde los paises en vias de desarrollado de las regíones tropicales hacia los paises desarrollados de la zona templada. Pocos investigadores han examinado lo contrario. Discutimos la abundancia y la importancia de plantas introducidas en las farmacopeas del norte de América del Sur. El uso medicinal de plantas introducidas es mu común y incluye por lo menos 216 especies de Europa, Asia, América del Norte, Africa, y la regián Pacífica. Entre las Shuaras de las tierras bajas de Ecuador, cuatro plantas introducidas (Citrus aurantium, Cymbopogon citratus, Saccharum officinarum, and Zingiber officinale) estan incluidas en sus remedios más comunes. El extenso uso de plantas introducidas, es en gran parie, debido al valor medicinal de plantas que tienen su uso primario como alimento (e.g., Musa X paradisiaca). Muchas plantas ornamentales también tienen valor terapéutico (e.g., Hedychium coronarium). Otras especies han sido introducidas específicamente como medicinas (por ejemplo, Aloe vera). Restricciones en el movimiento de germoplasma y conocimiento respecto a plantas quizás protejan el interés económico de gobiernos y industrias nationales. Sin embargo, si se aplica en una manera bilateral, restriciones en el movimiento de plantas limitará la evolutión continuada de sistemas tradiconales de medicina en los regiones en donde son más necesarias.

Species richness and floristic composition in four hectares in the Jaú National Park in upland forests in Central Amazonia

Four hectares were inventoried for all trees with diameter at breast height (DBH) of 10cm or greater in a terra firme forest 200km Northeast of Manaus, Central Amazonia. The number of species varied from 137 to 168, the number of individuals from 639 to 713, total basal area from 32.8 to 40.2 and total biomass from 405 to 560 tons per hectare. The majority of trees, 90%, had a DBH between 10 and 30 cm. Leguminosae, Lauraceae, Sapotaceae, Chrysobalanaceae and Moraceae were the most rich families (number of species) in all sampled hectares. The most abundant families in all sampled hectares (number of trees) were Leguminosae, Burseraceae, Myristicaceae, Moraceae and Chrysobalanaceae. The most dominant families in all sampled hectares (basal area and biomass) were Leguminosae, Lecythidaceae, Chrysobalanaceae, Bombacaceae and Moraceae. Similarity indexes at family level varied from 67 to 86% between the four hectares sampled. Alexa grandiflora (Leguminosae) was the most abundant species in the hectares one and three, while Scleronema micranthum (Bombacaceae), and Oenocarpus bacaba (Palmae) were the most abundant species in hectares two and four. S. micranthum was the most dominant species (basal area) in hectares one and two, while Bertholletia excelsa (Lecythidaceae) and Goupia glabra (Celastraceae) were the most dominant species in hectares three and four. S. micranthum (Bombacaceae), Buchenavia sp. 2 (Combretaceae), B. excelsa (Lecythidaceae) Couepia obovata (Chrysobalanaceae) were the most dominant species (biomass) in hectares one to four, respectively. Similarity indexes at species level varied from 26 to 44% between the four sampled hectares. This inventory is compared with previous studies and it was found that, in our study area, there was a greater proportion of trees of 60cm diameter or more and consequently a considerably higher total basal area. It is concluded that there are still an inadequate number of inventories of Amazonian terra firme forests to elucidate the major floristic pattern a both regional and local levels. Since the area is a mosaic of distinct floristic communities it is essential to obtain further standardized inventory data in order to set adequate conservation policies for the region.

What is ethnobotany today

A review is given of contemporary ethnobotany. Emphasis is placed on the interdisciplinary nature of the subject and most progress is made when botanists, anthropologists, ecologists, chemists, etc. work in close collaboration. Ethnoecology, the study of the management systems of indigenous peoples, is particularly important for its application to the creation of sustainable use systems in the tropics. This must include the study of peasant agriculturalists who have adapted many techniques from cultures that have long been extinct. Quantitative studies of the extent to which rainforest Indians use the forest have provided many data useful for conservation. The study of indigenous medicines is leading to the discovery of new medicines and agrochemicals. When commercial benefit is gained from products derived from information obtained from indigenous peoples, it is essential to ensure that they and their countries benefit from the royalties. There is a great urgency for further ethnobotanical research before indigenous cultures and natural habitats are destroyed.

Structure and species richness of low-diversity floodplain forest on the Rio Tapajós, Eastern Amazonia, Brazil

Rivers in the Amazonian region have annual water level fluctuations varying from 6 to 20m, and the flooding period ranges from 50 to 270 days between the rising and falling phases. Along the rivers there are many different types of vegetation which are annually flooded. In order to study the variation of the species composition and structure of a forest that is seasonally flooded by a clear water river in Brazilian Amazonia 20km SW of Santarém, Pará State, Brazil, we surveyed three hectares, each divided in ten randomly placed rectangular quadrats (10×50m). The number of species per hectare ranged from 21 to 30. The number of trees varied from 242 to 741. Total basal area ranged from 0.70 to 10.9m2. Leguminosae was the most abundant and dominant family in the three hectares sampled. Couepia paraensis (Chrysobalanaceae), Campsiandra laurifolia (Leguminosae) and Leopoldinia pulchra (Palmae) were the most abundant species in the hectares sampled. Similarity indexes at species level varied from 46 to 60% between the three hectares sampled. The hectares studied have the lowest species richness observed in igapó floodplain forest of the Brazilian Amazonia. This may be correlated with the water type, soil condition and proximity of savanna.

Systematics, conservation and sustainable development

The contribution of systematics to conservation and sustainable use of species is discussed. An adequate inventory of species is required for both areas and recent field work shows that the inventory is far from complete. This supports the first mission of Agenda 2000 which is to discover described and inventory global species diversity. The importance of making these data available in data base format is stressed. Sound systematics is a necessity for conservation legislation where control depends on the ability to identify organisms correctly. The establishment of reserves is also dependent upon data from systematics about centres of diversity and endemism and examples of this are given. Molecular systematics has made new tools available to conservation such as genetic fingerprinting which is useful both to breeding programmes of rare species and for identification for legal proceedings.Systematics is also one of the foundations for programmes of sustainable development especially in the search for new crops, non-timber forest plants from extraction forests and the identification of wild relatives of crop species. Examples of the role of systematics in a fuelwood programme in Zimbabwe, a sustainable development programme in northeast Brazil and in the search for a chemical component with medicinal properties for curing AIDS are given. The more predictive a classification we can develop using modern cladistic and molecular techniques the more useful systematics will be for both conservation and sustainable development. The goal of Agenda 2000 to organize the information derived from the programme in an efficiently retrievable form that best meets the needs of science and society is a laudable target that is crucial for conservation and the sustainable use of the plant resources of the world.

A revision of African Lecythidaceae

SummaryThis is a revision of all the African species of Lecythidaceae s.l. Representatives of all four subfamilies occur in Africa. A total of 50 species are recognised in ten genera. Seven genera are endemic to continental Africa: Brazzeia, Crateranthus, Napoleonaea, Oubanguia, Pierrina, Rhaptopetalum and Scytopetalum and three also occur elsewhere: Barringtonia, Petersianthus and Foetidia. New species are described in Napoleonaea: N. alata, N. beninensis, N. cuneata and N. sapoensis, in Crateranthus: C. cameroonensis, and in Rhaptopetalum: R. cheekii. Keys for identification and distribution maps of all species are provided. The distribution of Lecythidaceae in Africa is predominantly in West Africa from Guinea to the Democratic Republic of the Congo with only a few species occurring in East Africa.

Unraveling the biogeographical history of Chrysobalanaceae from plastid genomes.

PREMISE OF THE STUDY The complex geological and climatic history of the Neotropics has had major implications on the diversification of plant lineages. Chrysobalanaceae is a pantropical family of trees and shrubs with 75% of its 531 species found in the Neotropics, and a time-calibrated phylogeny of this family should shed light on the tempo of diversification in the Neotropical flora. Previously published phylogenetic hypotheses of this family were poorly supported, and its biogeography remains unclear. METHODS We assembled the complete plastid genome of 51 Chrysobalanaceae species, and increased taxon sampling by Sanger-sequencing of five plastid regions for an additional 88 species. We generated a time-calibrated tree including all 139 Chrsyobalanaceae species and 23 outgroups. We then conducted an ancestral area reconstruction analysis and estimated diversification rates in the family. KEY RESULTS The tree generated with the plastid genome alignment was almost fully resolved. It supports the polyphyly of Licania and Hirtella. The family has diversified starting around the Eocene-Oligocene transition. An ancestral area reconstruction confirms a Paleotropical origin for Chrysobalanaceae with several transoceanic dispersal events. The main Neotropical clade likely resulted from a single migration event from Africa around 28 mya ago, which subsequently underwent rapid diversification. CONCLUSIONS Given the diverse ecologies exhibited by extant species, we hypothesize that the rapid diversification of Chrysobalanaceae following the colonization of the Neotropics was triggered by habitat specialization during the complex geological and paleoclimatic history of the Neotropics.

Future of the Amazonian rainforest.

Abstract The Amazonian rainforest has mostly been felled by projects of little long-term gain such as temporary cattle pastures. Little thought has been given to sustainable use systems for the region. Since less than 10% of the total area has been clear-cut to date, there is considerable chance of avoiding the disaster of removing the entire forest. Some signs of a changing attitude towards the value of this forest are given, and suggestions are made about ways to build a sustainable long-term future for the region. These include: the creation of larger conservation areas and indigenous reserves; the adaptation of indigenous agroforestry techniques to use mixed cultures where crops are grown; the restoration with sustainable timber plantations of areas which have already been destroyed; the increase of extractivist reserves and development of markets for products that are extracted from the forest; the greater use of oligarchic forests which are quite abundant in some parts of Amazonia; and the development of agriculture only in the few places where the soils are suitable, such as in the flood plains of white water rivers.

Towards a monophyletic Licania : a new generic classification of the polyphyletic Neotropical genus Licania (Chrysobalanaceae)

SummaryLicania, currently the most species-rich genus of Chrysobalanaceae, is confined to the Neotropics, and is highly polyphyletic in molecular phylogenetic analyses. These studies show that the three subgenera of Licania, as well as sections within them, are not supported as monophyletic. Here we re-delimit the genus using a molecular phylogenetic analysis as a framework. We recognise the following eight genera: core Licania, Moquilea, Leptobalanus, Hymenopus, Microdesmia, Parinariopsis, Geobalanus; and Cordillera gen. nov. is described to accommodate Licania platycalyx. New combinations, as well as a description of each genus and a key to the species are provided, in addition to a key for all the Neotropical genera of the family, including those presented here. Chrysobalanaceae now comprise sixteen Neotropical genera and the redefined Licania, with c. 100 species, is then the second largest genus in the family after Hirtella (107 species).

Flora das cangas da Serra dos Carajás, Pará, Brasil: Chrysobalanaceae

This taxonomic treatment comprises the species of Chrysobalanaceae recorded in the cangas of the Serra dos Carajás, Pará state. Four genera and seven species occur in the study area, none of which endemic to the region: Hirtella (3 spp.), Licania (2 spp.), Leptobalanus (L. octandrus), and Moquilea (M. egleri). The treatment includes keys, descriptions, illustrations, and comments for all treated taxa.