Algaflora of the State of São Paulo

• Grant number: 98/04955-3
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Thematic Grants
• Start date: July 01, 1999
• End date: September 30, 2003
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Plant Taxonomy
• Principal Investigator: Carlos Eduardo de Mattos Bicudo
• Grantee: Carlos Eduardo de Mattos Bicudo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Botânica. Secretaria de Meio Ambiente, Infraestrutura e Logística (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Pesquisadores principais: Orlando Necchi Junior
• Associated scholarship(s): 10/14658-0 - The order Cymbellales (Bacillariophyceae) in the State of São Paulo: floristic survey, BP.MS; 08/02202-1 - Diversity of seaweeds from Laje de Santos Marine State Park, SP, Brazil, BP.MS; 02/10946-4 - Genus Staurodesmus (Zygnemaphyceae) in the State of São Paulo: floral survey, BP.MS; + associated scholarships 02/10938-1 - Nictemeral variation in the structure and dynamic of the phytoplanktonic community in the dry and wet seasons in the mesotropical environment (Ninféias lake), Fontes do Ipiranga State Park, São Paulo, BP.MS; 01/10698-8 - Genus Staurastrum (Desmidiaceae, Zygnemaphyceae) in the State of São Paulo: floral diversity, BP.DR; 01/13836-2 - Experimental taxonomy of the Bostrychia radicans (Rhodomelaceae, Rhodophyta) complex of the coastline of the State of São Paulo, BP.IC; 00/12459-8 - Comparative study of the phycological diversity of three environments with different trophic indices in the biological reserve of the Fontes do Ipiranga State Park, São Paulo, SP, BP.MS; 01/03794-0 - Genus Staurodesmus (Zygnemaphyceae) in the State of São Paulo: floral survey, BP.IC; 00/04005-7 - Eunotiaceae family (Bacillariophyceae) in the State of São Paulo: floral survey, BP.MS; 99/10215-5 - Order Codiolales (Ulvophyceae) in the State of São Paulo: floral survey, BP.IC; 99/10241-6 - Order Trentepohliales (Trentepohliophyceae) in the State of São Paulo: floral survey, BP.IC; 99/06286-4 - Genus Euastrum (Zygnemaphyceae) in the state of São Paulo: floral survey, BP.AP - associated scholarships

Abstract

Despite algae studies in Brazil having already over 160 years of publications, the first 124 years are almost solely the contributions of foreign specialists that either visited sparse sites of the Brazilian territory in search of algae material or received in their own countries small lots of material collected for study. Only in the last 40 years did Brazilian students take over the task of studying the algal biodiversity of the state of São Paulo. Analysis of the 47 publications that deal with the taxonomy of the macroscopic marine benthic algae of the state of São Paulo demonstrated that the state's algalflora is represented by 308 taxa (corrected list), 198 (64.3%) of which are of Rhodophyceae, 68 (22.1%) of Chlorophyceae, and 42 (13.6%) of Phaeophyceae. However, many gaps still exist in the information on the São Paulo State macroscopic marine benthic algalflora due to, mainly, the lack of institutional or individual programs that aim at including the survey of the São Paulo State seaweed flora in an organized manner. Furthermore, due to methodology limitations the macroscopic marine benthic algae community of the intertidal zone of rocky beaches and estuaries remained unstudied, except for a few instances. The infralittoral, only accessible by diving or dredging equipment, was completely ignored. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to taxonomically explore the infralittoral rocky shores since the algalflora of these areas may support different community compositions when compared to the supralittoral. Another aspect for consideration is the very probable underestimation of the taxa number for the state of São Paulo due to the superficiality of some of the floristic surveys. The 12 publications that constitute the entire taxonomic literature on marine bluegreen alga e for São Paulo list the occurrence of 108 taxa in the state's supralittoral zone. It is important to note, however, that three of these publications date from the period 1930-1963 and the others from 1983 on, which proves that the study effort of this algal group is still extremely recent. Furthermore, the area that has been covered up to now is extremely restricted, so that the total number of taxa already identified (108) is severely underestimated and does not at all represent the real taxonomic diversity of the marine Cyanophyceae of the state of São Paulo. Regarding freshwater forms, a preliminary analysis based on inaccurate catalogues totaled 2,226 taxa already documented for the state of São Paulo. These figures are distributed as follows: 1,053 of Zygnemaphyceae, 388 of Cyanophyceae, 299 of Chlorophyceae, 110 of Euglenophyceae, 62 of Xanthophyceae, 61 of Bacillariophyceae, 49 of Oedogoniophyceae, 46 of Chrysophyceae, 43 of Cryptophyceae, 41 of Dinophyceae, 31 of Charophyceae, 21 of Prasinophyceae, 14 of Rhodophyceae, and 8 of Raphidophyceae. It soon becomes clear that some of these totais are extremely distorted because they are very dependent on the existence or absence of specialists in the different algal groups. Consequently, because there are specialists presently working on Charophyceae, Cryptophyceae, Cyanophyceae, Euglenophyceae, Rhodophyceae, and Zygnemaphyceae, the numbers referring to their respective totais of taxa reasonably reflect this reality. On the other hand, the numbers referring to Bacillariophyceae, Chlorophyceae, Chrysophyceae, Dinophyceae, and Xanthophyceae are absolutely incorrect and underestimated due to the present lack of specialists in these groups. Another point to be discussed is that some comparatively small algal classes in terms of species number and infraspecific taxa, such as Charophyceae, Cryptophyceae, and Rhodophyceae, have already been surveyed at the state of São Paulo levei within a major project that aims at surveying the state's freshwater algalflora. The existing plan that includes specific gathering of material of the various algae groups by specialists that will obviously increase the accuracy of the information collected. Numbers of taxa presently available for the Charophyceae, Cryptophyceae, and Rhodophyceae are, therefore, extremely reliable. Some other groups, like the Cyanophyceae and Zygnemaphyceae, still are in an inventory phase at the state level. This implies that the total number of taxa already mentioned for these groups are, on one hand, relatively high compared to the others, but on the other hand, Glose to reality, in spite of still being incomplete. The total numbers of taxa for the other groups (Oedogoniophyceae, Euglenophyceae, Bacillariophyceae, Chrysophyceae, Xanthophyceae, and Dinophyceae) are to a greater or lesser extent inaccurate and for from being Glose to reality. Finally, groups such as the Eustigmatophyceae and the Chrysophyceae, which possess a siliceous exoskeleton, have not yet had floristic inventory started due to the lack of specialists, incomplete dominion of specific methodology, or lack of highly specialized equipment (transmission and/or scanning electron microscopes). Consequently, the total number of freshwater algal taxa that occur in the state of São Paulo will easily double or even triple if an organized, extensive, joint program of surveying the algal biodiversity of the state is established. The main objectives of the present plan are: (1) know the biodiversity of the different algal groups in the area of the state of São Paulo through the survey of the state's algalflora, including seaweeds, freshwater phytoplanktonic and periphytic forms, and soil and subaerial forms; 2} to foster the capacity of the state of São Paulo and of the public and priva te organizations of the whole country to manage, monitor, and utilize its biodiversity of algae; (3) detect areas in the state of São Paulo in which loss of biodiversity is occurring, considering spatial and temporal scales; (4) evaluate the efectiveness of the conservation effort in the state of São Paulo for algae through the identification of areas and priority components for conservation; (5) enable the state of São Paulo to estimate the value of its algal biodiversity and of some of its services such as: conservation of water resources, biological control, etc; (6) provide training of specialized personnel in taxonomy and systematics of algae mainly in the state of São Paulo, but also in other states in the country; (7) subsidize projects in ecology, genetics, citology, molecular biology, etc, which will demand previous, essential knowledge of the local algalflora composition; and (8) improve the quality of formal and informal teaching of Biological Sciences and Environmental Education in the state of São Paulo, but also in other states of the country regarding knowledge, conservation, and rational utilization of its algal biodiversity. The Phycology Section, the Coordination Center for the II Algalflora of the state of São Paulo", already has and will place at disposal of the project the following: (1) a complete survey of the literature containing references to algae material for the state of São Paulo; (2) a corrected list of the macroscopic marine benthic forms and an inaccurate one of the continental (phytoplankton, periphyton, soil, and subaerial) ones; (3) a herbarium containing more than 15,000 exsiccatae of macroscopic marine benthic forms and almost 3,000 vials containing fixed and preserved material of the freshwater forms; (4) the libraries of the Instituto de Botânica and those of each faculty member in the Phycology Section of the Instituto de Botânica, the best and most complete phycological library with emphasis on taxonomy and systematics of algae in Latin America; (5) a vehicle for field work; (6) laboratorial infrastructure represented by sampling devices and equipment, stoves for the drying of material, microscopes, chemicals and vials, etc; (7) more than 35 years of tradition in the taxonomy and systematics of both marine and freshwater algal forms, which led the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) to consider the Phycology Section of the Instituto de Botânica a National Center of Excellence in the area. Some products from the development of the present project will be: (1) produce a series of 13 volumes of the São Paulo State algalflora; (2) produce manuals for identification of algae to be used in high schools and universities throughout the country; (3) produce slides, CD-roms, and other illustrative materials for use in teaching and research institutions of the country; (4) train taxonomists and systematatists of algae for the state, country, and other countries in Latin America; (5) subsidize project on environmental impact evaluation, ecology, genetics, physiology, cytology, molecular biology, etc that will necessarily demand fundamental knowledge of the local floristic compositon. (AU)

Scientific publications

(8)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

WENGRAT, SIMONE; MARQUARDT, GISELE C.; BICUDO, DENISE C.; BICUDO, CARLOS E. DE M.; WETZEL, CARLOS E.; ECTOR, LUC. Type analysis of Cymbella schubartii and two new Encyonopsis species (Bacillariophyceae) from southeastern Brazil. PHYTOTAXA, v. 221, n. 3, p. 247-264, AUG 4 2015. (10/14658-0, 12/25366-5, 09/03950-4, 09/53898-9, 98/04955-3)

LILIAN MOS BLOIS CRISPINO; CÉLIA LEITE SANT'ANNA. Cianobactérias marinhas bentônicas de ilhas costeiras do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Rev. bras. Bot., v. 29, n. 4, p. 639-656, 2006-12-00. (98/04955-3)

FUJII‚ M.T.; GUIMARÀES‚ S.M.P.B.; GURGEL‚ C.F.D.; FREDERICQ‚ S.. Characterization and phylogenetic affinities of the red alga Chondrophycus flagelliferus (Rhodomelaceae‚ Ceramiales) from Brazil on the basis of morphological and molecular evidence. PHYCOLOGIA, v. 45, n. 4, p. 432-441, 2006. (98/04955-3)

MILSTEIN‚ D.; DE OLIVEIRA‚ M.C.. Molecular phylogeny of Bangiales (Rhodophyta) based on small subunit rDNA sequencing: emphasis on Brazilian Porphyra species. PHYCOLOGIA, v. 44, n. 2, p. 212-221, 2005. (98/04955-3)

MARQUARDT, GISELE C.; WENGRAT, SIMONE; BICUDO, DENISE C.; WETZEL, CARLOS E.; ECTOR, LUC; BICUDO, CARLOS E. DE M.. Morphology and distribution of Encyonema angustecapitatum KRAMMER species complex (Bacillariophyceae) with description of four new species from Sao Paulo, southeast Brazil. Fottea, v. 17, n. 2, p. 164-177, 2017. (10/14658-0, 12/25366-5, 13/10314-2, 09/53898-9, 98/04955-3)

MARQUARDT, GISELE C.; BLANCO, SAUL; BICUDO, CARLOS E. DE M.. Distance decay as a descriptor of the diatom compositional variation in tropical reservoirs. MARINE AND FRESHWATER RESEARCH, v. 69, n. 1, p. 105-113, 2018. (98/04955-3, 13/10314-2, 09/53898-9)

BICUDO, CARLOS E. DE M.. FAPESP and the Sao Paulo state freshwater algal flora: history and challenges. Biota Neotropica, v. 22, p. 7-pg., 2022-01-01. (98/04955-3)

LUISIANA ANDRESA CARNEIRO; DENISE DE CAMPOS BICUDO. O gênero Lemnicola (Bacillariophyceae) no Estado de São Paulo, Brasil. Hoehnea, v. 34, n. 2, p. 253-259, 2007-00-00. (98/04955-3)