Tsiino Hiiwiida: Unveiling multiple dimensions of plant and fungal biodiversity of the Upper Rio Negro

• Grant number: 24/23894-1
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2025
• End date: March 31, 2028
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Plant Taxonomy
• Principal Investigator: Denilson Fernandes Peralta
• Grantee: Denilson Fernandes Peralta
• Host Institution: Instituto de Pesquisas Ambientais (IPA). Secretaria de Meio Ambiente, Infraestrutura e Logística (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Danilo Soares Gissi ; Felipe Gonzatti

Abstract

The Cabeça do Cachorro region (or Tsiino Hiiwiida, in the Baniwa language) of the Upper Rio Negro in Brazilian Amazonia is a last global frontier of untapped biodiversity knowledge. The spatially complex arrangement of habitats in the region, including archipelagos of white-sand forests within a matrix of black-water, upland, and montane forests, is a major 'theatre' for evolution over millions of years of geological history. This region remains an epicentre for the discovery of new and endemic species, however it is disproportionately less explored botanically than other diversity hotspots of northern South America. An integrated effort is imperative to more comprehensively document and understand its biodiversity at multiple scales. In this proposal, we have built a broad collaborative network among professors, researchers, indigenous and non-indigenous students, as well as parataxonomists to aggregate scientific knowledge, accelerate the discovery of plants and fungi, and fill gaps in taxonomic, biogeographic, and evolutionary knowledge of this biologically and culturally unique region. We propose to conduct floristic surveys which combine traditional fieldwork and studies in taxonomy, evolution, molecular systematics, and biomonitoring, with cutting edge metagenomic technology and interacting with and empowering local indigenous communities to offer a novel glimpse into the diversity of this extraordinarily rich region. Research expeditions focusing on plants and fungi will lay the groundwork for enriching scientific collections, revealing new, cryptic, or phylogenetically enigmatic species and lineages, and producing the first taxonomically verified catalog of the flora and fungi of the Cabeça do Cachorro. Our proposal also aims to foster collaborations among educational and research Amazonian institutions with other Brazilian states and the United Kingdom in order to continue expanding horizons for discovery in a global epicentre of biodiversity. (AU)