Delimitation of species in the Myrcia neoobscura complex (Myrtaceae): where are the differences hiding?

• Grant number: 21/06436-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2022
• End date: July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Botany - Plant Taxonomy
• Principal Investigator: Maria do Carmo Estanislau do Amaral
• Grantee: Paulo Henrique Gaem Barbosa
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 22/02864-1 - Phylogenomic studies in the Marlierea clade (Myrcia sect. Aulomyrcia, Myrtaceae): towards untangling the Myrcia neoobscura species complex, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Clarifying taxonomic identities in species complexes allow allocating conservation efforts to endemic and/or threatened taxa. For this purpose, employing several evidences is important and, in this context, biological collections are potential sources of good information. Thus, this project aims to infer limits of the taxa of the Myrcia neoobscura complex (Myrcia sect. Aulomyrcia, Myrtaceae), an Atlantic group distributed from Pernambuco to Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil, and currently composed by eight accepted binomial names. This group has priority in such studies for belonging to one of the main Angiosperm plant families in Brazil, also considered a model taxon for studies in the Atlantic domain and a predictor of highly biodiverse areas. Digital collections of herbaria will be consulted for obtaining images of specimens, from which classic and geometric morphometric data will be extracted and submitted to a hierarchical clustering analysis. Leaves of herbarium materials will be submitted to scanning electron microscopy to investigate micromorphological patterns that corroborate the groups delimited by morphometrics. In addition, phylogenomic data obtained from exsicattae leaves will be used to build a phylogenetic hypothesis. A taxonomic treatment will be provided, including an identification key, accepted names, synonyms, morphological descriptions, notes, conservation statuses, and lists of examined material. This is one of the first studies to employ independent evidences to solve species complex in Neotropical Myrtaceae, representing an innovative proposal, and may be used as a model for similar works in the future.