Notícias
Illustrated guide helps identify trees in ReBio Tinguá with a new approach
The Illustrated Guide to Tree Species of Rebio Tinguá (RJ), based on vegetative characters, published by the JBRJ on February 6, aims to facilitate the identification of trees found in the Tinguá Biological Reserve and other areas of the Atlantic Rainforest using a different approach, which does not require the presence of reproductive structures, that is, flowers and fruits.
The publication - aimed not only at researchers, but also at students, foresters and local residents - provides identification keys, information and illustrations so that 91 taxa (species or genera) from 27 families can be identified based on the arrangement of the leaves and other structures such as bark and branches, and the shape of the leaves and leaflets. In this way, even if the plants are without flowers or fruit at the time of collection, their identification in the field is made possible. At the end, the authors also provide an illustrated glossary with the terms most used in the guide.
Rebio Tinguá is a 26,260 hectare federal Conservation Unit located between the municipalities of Petrópolis and Japeri, in Rio de Janeiro, and is in a biodiversity hotspot. The images and descriptions of the species presented in the Guide come from individuals chosen from a 1 ha permanent plot, called "PPBIO 5 Tinguá RAPELD", in which 439 trees were found. The researchers also point out that six species recorded in the plot are threatened with extinction.
The Guide is the result of more than a decade of work by researchers from the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden in this UC. The dissertation defended by Fernanda Felipe de Negreiros at the National School of Tropical Botany (ENBT/JBRJ), in the Professional Postgraduate Program and supervised by researcher Massimo Bovini, provided the scientific information and photos for the publication, which also has researchers Claudia Franca Barros, Haroldo Cavalcante Lima, Mariana Iguatemy, Pablo J.F. Pena Rodrigues, Warlen S. da Costa and Massimo Bovini himself as co-authors.
The Guide received funding from the Biodiversity Research Program/CNPq (PPBio) and grants from Capes, CNPq and FAPERJ, as well as support from the Atlantic Forest Biodiversity Research Network (PPBioMA).
Researcher and professor Helena de Godoy Bergallo (UERJ), coordinator of the PPBioMA Network, believes that the publication could also be useful in other regions, since 35 of the species presented also occur in the Cerrado, Amazonas, Caatinga, Pampa and Pantanal.
"Illustrated field guides can be an important motivator in the process of reconnecting people with nature. Identifying species in the field with the help of guides is not only a scientific activity, but also a fun one, which can awaken interest in nature and establish a strong bond, inspiring the care that nature requires," wrote Bergallo in the preface.