Reference: Nyberg, B., Bairos, C., Brimhall, M., Deans, S.M., Hanser, S., Heintzman, S., Hillmann Kitalong, A., Menezes de Sequeira, M., Nobert, N., Rønsted, N., Soaladaob, N., Wood, K.R., & Williams, A.M. 2024. The conservation impact of botanical drones: Documenting and collecting rare plants from vertical cliffs and other hard-to-reach areas. Ecological Solutions and Evidence 5:e12318. Link (open access:  https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12318)

Abstract:

1. A high percentage of island floras are at risk of extinction and have been reduced to relic populations, often in remote hard-to-reach areas. Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS aka drones) are now being utilized to assist in the survey and collection of rare plants in inaccessible areas or vertical cliff habitats.

2. Here, we test the application of this technology for conservation of 23 plant taxa in three oceanic island hotspots: Hawaiʻi, Madeira and the Republic of Palau. We collect high-resolution imagery using a small UAS to document the distribution and abundance of vascular flowering plants. Location information is then used to map and assess plant populations. Depending on the terrain, collections are completed using either traditional rope techniques or newly developed remote drone-based collection methods.

3. Over the course of 6 years, we have greatly expanded our knowledge of rare and endangered species, while increasing survey efficiency and staff safety. Most importantly, this work has had a large impact on the conservation of critically endangered plants. Although using drones for botanical conservation comes with limits and challenges, we see great potential in the continued employment of these techniques wherever plants are growing on cliffs or in other hard-to-reach areas.

Abstract: Plant specimens obtained by the authors from several expeditions to the Selvagens Islands (2004-2021), complemented by the study of herbarium specimens, led to the identification of several new species records for the Selvagens archipelago, namely the taxa currently considered as Canary Islands endemics Trisetaria lapalmae and Polycarpaea divaricata. Other new taxa records for the Selvagens Islands include Convolvulus siculus subsp. elongatus and the grasses Bromus rigidus and Phalaris minor. Notes on Misopates salvagense, Asplenium marinum, Spergularia diandra and Rostraria pumila are also included. Comments on taxa include distribution, ecology, taxonomy, nomenclature, conservation, and historical data. Results are discussed in the light of habitat restoration, following Nicotiana glauca near eradication and rodent eradication. These aspects are also discussed considering the historical evolution of knowledge on the Selvagens vascular flora.

Link: revistas.ucm.es/index.php/BOCM/article/view/88585/4564456566364

Description and systematic affinity of flower and seed fossils of Erica sect. Chlorocodon (Ericaceae) from the early Pleistocene of Madeira Island, Portugal

New paper by Mª Zita Ferreira (GBM), Inés Álvarez Fernández (RJBM) & Miguel Menezes de Sequeira (GBM).

Abstract: Currently two subspecies of Andryala glandulosa endemic to Madeira (Portugal) are recognized: A. glandulosa subsp. glandulosa and A. glandulosa subsp. cheiranthifolia. A thorough revision of both taxonomical and nomenclatural aspects led us to the conclusion that the subspecific epithet cheiranthifolia was misapplied. Thus, we suggest to synonymize Andryala glandulosa with A. cheiranthifolia and accept A. glandulosa as the correct name for the taxon presently known as A. glandulosa subsp. glandulosa. The taxon currently recognized as A. glandulosa subsp. cheiranthifolia exhibits distinct vegetative and reproductive structures when compared to A. glandulosa subsp. glandulosa and should, therefore, be treated as a separate species, for which the name A. subglabrata is hereby proposed. A detailed description and illustration of A. subglabrata are provided and its lectotype is designated. Diagnostic characters are discussed and compared with those of A. glandulosa.

Population decline in the Critically Endangered Musschia isambertoi (Campanulaceae) endemic to Desertas Islands (Madeira Archipelago) calls for urgent conservation management

Abstract:

Keywords: Campanulaceae; Conservation; Goats; Invasive species; Islands

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2021.125955

Tracing insular woodiness in giant Daucus (s.l.) fruit fossils from the Early Pleistocene of Madeira Island (Portugal)

Link: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/tax.12175

Abstract: Plants on oceanic islands can evolve insular syndromes such as secondary woodiness, a generalized trend found in island floras worldwide. This phenomenon occurs through evolution in situ. It is triggered by ecological and physiological stimuli that transform herbaceous annuals into woody perennials. However, well-dated and informative fossils that could help track and frame the evolution of this syndrome are lacking. Remarkably, in Madeira Island (Portugal), there are good examples of Apiaceae that evolved secondary woodiness, like the giant neoendemic Melanoselinum (≡ Daucus). Apiaceae has a very scarce fossil record, despite being a cosmopolitan family and an economically important crop. Here we describe the oldest Daucus s.l. fossil known to date and the first fossil evidence of a plant with insular woodiness. The fossils are preserved as mummified/compressed mericarps within 1.3-millionyear- old fluvio-lacustrine sediments of the Funchal unit, Upper Volcanic complex, near Porto da Cruz. We assign them to the extant neoendemic species Melanoselinum (≡ Daucus) decipiens. The mericarp morphology shows remarkable stasis since the Calabrian stage of the Early Pleistocene. Our results demonstrate that in the Madeiran Daucinae clade, insular woodiness developed at least 1.3 million years ago, indicating a coeval or earlier immigration toMadeira Island of a Daucus sp. Our results reinforce the role of palaeobotanical research in oceanic islands, supported by stratigraphy and geochronology studies, as a key element for the understanding of plant palaeobiogeography, ecology and evolution worldwide.We expect this contribution to shed light on the evolutionary origins of carrots, and related plant groups, an important element of human food, and to better comprehend the evolution of plant insular woodiness.

Keywords island syndromes; Macaronesia; Melanoselinum; neoendemic; palaeobotany; palaeocarpology

New paper is out: Góis-Marques, C.A., Rubiales, J., de Nascimento, L., Menezes de Sequeira, M., Fernández-Palacios, J.M., Madeira, J., 2020. Oceanic Island forests buried by Holocene (Meghalayan) explosive eruptions: palaeobiodiversity in pre-anthropic volcanic charcoal from Faial Island (Azores, Portugal) and its palaeoecological implications Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology 273, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.revpalbo.2019.104116

Free to read through the following link: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1a3Q37uTvVLBo

A new paper was published by our group, by Zita Ferreira, Inés Álvarez and Miguel Menezes de Sequeira, available here: novon.mobot.org/index.php/novon/article/view/297

Title: Nomenclature and Typification of Names in the Ibero–North African Andryala arenaria (Asteraceae) and Taxonomic Implications (DOI: https://doi.org/10.3417/2019297)

Abstract: A taxonomic and nomenclatural revision of the genus Andryala L. (Asteraceae) revealed that A. arenaria (DC.) Boiss. & Reut. var. ficalhoana (Daveau) Cout. had never been typified. Based on an analysis of the protologue and original material, a specimen at LY is designated here as the lectotype. The relevance of this typification resides in the fact that the recently described A. cintrana S. Talavera & M. Talavera is here considered a heterotypic synonym of A. arenaria var. ficalhoana. In addition, A. cossyrensis Guss. var. oligadena Maire & Weiller from Libya is here synonymized with A. arenaria var. pinnatifida Lange ex Willk., leading to the extension of the known distribution area of A. arenaria.

Keywords: Andryala, Asteraceae, holotype, lectotypification, Mediterranean