Partnership for conservation of rare species yields article published in Cambridge University journal

The International Journal of Conservation, from Cambridge University, has published an article about a rare plant species that has only been recorded so far in the Poço das Antas Biological Reserve, in Rio de Janeiro state, Brazil. It is the Grazielanthus arkeocarpus, belonging to the Monimiaceae family, and classified as Critically Endangered by the National Center for Flora Conservation (CNCFlora/JBRJ).

The article reports on the conservation work of the species, in which the authors have been directly involved, detailing actions such as population monitoring, research, ex situ conservation and expansion of the population in situ (i.e., in its own habitat).

Grazielanthus arkeocarpus was described in 2008 by Ariane Luna Peixoto and Maria Veronica Leite Pereira Moura. The researchers concluded that they were facing not only a new species, but also a new genus, and named it Grazielanthus in honor of Dr. Graziela Maciel Barroso, a researcher who worked at the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro and was responsible for training generations of botanists, and also noted for the importance of her research and her fight for biodiversity conservation.

In 2013, it was discovered that there was only one known specimen of this plant in botanical gardens in the world - and it was precisely in the JBRJ. That was when the actions for its conservation intensified. Thais Hidalgo, technologist at the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro and co-author of the article, explains that G. arkeocarpus requires very specific conditions to survive, difficult to reproduce in ex situ conservation: "It grows in alluvial soil, dark, with fine, acid clay. The one that survived in the Botanical Garden is over a waterhole".

According to Diego Gonzaga, from the Coordination of Living Collections team of the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro and also co-author of the article, the material for ex situ cultivation is collected from different matrices in nature in order to have genetic diversity. However, it is only possible to know if it is a male or female individual after the plant reaches sexual maturity. Of the plantations made at the Botanical Garden of Rio de Janeiro, two survived. One of them is male, but the other is still too young to know.

Seedlings are being produced at Rebio Poço das Antas and distributed both to the Botanical Garden of Rio and to the botanical gardens of USP and UFRRJ, in an attempt to guarantee the survival of the species. Meanwhile, the work in partnership with the Rebio team has already resulted in an increase of the G. arkeocarpus population in situ and with genetic diversity.

"This case is an example of integrated conservation - in situ and ex situ. It is a totally partnership work - among institutions, scientists, technicians, students and employees of the Rebio," says Thais Hidalgo.

Access the paper in the International Journal of Conservation.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)