Hepaticae and Anthocerotae

FUNGAL AND PLANT DIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FRENCH GUIANA:

HEPATICAE AND ANTHOCEROTAE

S. Rob Gradstein

Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany

email: sgradst@gwdg.de

Barbara M. Thiers,

New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458-5126, U.S.A.

email: bthiers@nybg.org

The hepatic flora of tropical America is still very inadequately studied. There is no Flora treating the species of any single region in the Neotropics. Our goal is to write a concise Flora of the Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of Central French Guiana. The present catalogue is the first step in that direction.

Central French Guiana is probably one of the richest lowland rain forest areas in the world for hepatics (liverworts, hornworts). An inventory of 28 trees in a few hectares of rain forest near Saül (Gradstein et al. 1990, Montfoort & Ek 1990) yielded 88 different species, being the highest number of hepatics recorded of any piece of lowland rain forest worldwide. The collections were especially representative because the inventory included detailed analysis of the forest canopy, where at least 50% of the species of hepatics occur.

The present catalogue is based on identified material kept in the herbarium of the University of Utrecht (on long-term loan in Göttingen) gathered by G. Cremers, ORSTOM, around Saül and on Mt. Galbao (Onraedt & Cremers 1980) and by Gradstein and students during May-October 1986 and in 1987 in the same area. Further collections from the area in NY (leg. Buck, Thiers, a.o.) are still in the process of identification and have not yet been included here.

In all, 172 species of hepatics (15 families, 59 genera) and 2 species of hornworts (2 genera, 2 families) are reported from Central French Guiana. Together they constitute more than half of the lowland hepatic flora of northeastern South America (French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, below 1000 m; see Gradstein & Hekking 1989, Gradstein 1997). The most important hepatic family is the Lejeuneaceae, which include 123 species (in 40 genera) or about 75% of the entire hepatic flora of Central French Guiana. Of next importance are the Plagiochilaceae (9 spp.), Jubulaceae (8 spp.), Lepidoziaceae (6 spp.) and Radulaceae (6 spp.). The remaining twelve families have less than five species; seven families, including the two hornwort families Dendrocerotaceae and Notothyladaceae, are represented by only 1 species each.

Since the available collections are based on limited sampling around Saül and on Mt. Galbao, further exploration in Central French Guiana is necessary to assess the biodiversity of the liverworts and hornworts of the area. Fieldwork should include careful analysis of the forest canopy and of epiphylls, which were incompletely studied and may yield many unique and possibly novel taxa. We estimate that a minimum of 3-4 expeditions of about one month will be necessary to adequately explore the hepatic flora of the region.

The Flora of the Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of Central French Guiana shall be written by S.R. Gradstein & B.M. Thiers as a joint effort. Thiers will treat Lepidoziaceae, Radulaceae and Lejeuneaceae subfam. Cololejeuneoideae, Gradstein the remaining groups. Illustrations will be made at NY under supervision of Thiers and shall include a plate for one species per genus with selected diagnostic details of additional species.

Alphabetical list of families, genera and species of Hepaticae and Anthocerotae

recorded from Central French Guiana

Taxa followed by an * are species found only on Mount Galbao (ca. 650 m, near Saül)

ANEURACEAE
Aneura Dumortier: Aneura sp.
Riccardia S.F. Gray: R. amazonica (Spruce) Schiffner
CALYPOGEIACEAE
Calypogeia Raddi

Acknowledgments

For help with identifications we thank R. Grolle (Pycnolejeunea), S. Jovet-Ast (Colura, Riccia), M. Onraedt (selected Lejeuneoideae), P. Tixier (miscellaneous species), J. Vána (Odontoschisma) and K.Yamada (Radula).

References

Bernecker-Lücking, A. 1998. The genus Cyclolejeunea A. Evans (Hepaticae, Lejeuneaceae) in Costa Rica. Phyton 38: 175-193.

Dauphin, C. in prep. Lejeuneaceae: Ceratolejeunea. Flora Neotropica Monograph.

Gradstein, S. R. 1994. Lejeuneaceae: Ptychantheae, Brachiolejeuneae. Flora Neotropica Monograph 62: 1-216.

Gradstein, S. R. 1997. Hepatophyta. Pages 9-15 in J. Boggan et al., Checklist of the Plants of the Guianas (Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana), 2nd ed. Georgetown, Guyana.

Gradstein, S. R. & W. H. A. Hekking 1989. A Catalogue of the Bryophytes of the Guianas. I. Hepaticae and Anthocerotae. Journ. Hattori Bot. Lab. 6: 197-230.

Gradstein, S. R., S. P. Churchill & N. Salazar Allen, in press. A Guide to the Bryophytes of Tropical America. Mem, N. Y. Bot. Garden 86.

Gradstein, S. R., D. Montfoort & J. H. C. Cornelissen 1990. Species richness and phytogeography of the bryophyte flora of the Guianas, with special reference to the lowland forest. Trop. Bryol. 2: 117-126.

Grolle, R. 1995. The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of the East African Islands, an annotatred catalogue. Bryophyt. Biblioth. 48: 1-178.

Grolle, R. & E. M. Reiner-Drehwald 1999. Review of the genus Harpalejeunea (Lejeuneaceae) including the description of H. grandis, a new species from the páramos of Colombia. J. Bryology 21: 31-45.

He, X.-L. 1999. A taxonomic monograph of the genus Pycnolejeunea (Lejeuneaceae, Hepaticae). Acta Bot. Fenn. 163: 1-77.

Heinrichs, J. & S. R. Gradstein, in press. A revision of Plagiochila sect. Crispatae and sect. Hypnoides (Hepaticae) in the Neotropics. I. Nova Hedwigia.

Heinrichs, J., C. Renker & S. R. Gradstein, in press. A taxonomic revision of Plagiochila subplana Lindenb., a widespread liverwort of tropical America. Haussknechtia, Beiheft 9.

Montfoort, D. & R. Ek 1990. Vertical distribution and ecology of epiphytic bryophytes and lichens in a lowland rain forest in French Guiana. Herbarium, Institute of Systematic Botany, Utrecht.

Onraedt, M. & G. A. Cremers 1980. Contribution à la flore bryologique de Guyana francaise I. Cryptog., Bryol. Lichénol. 1: 269-276.

Onraedt, M. 1988. Contribution à la flore bryologique de Guyana francaise III. Cryptog., Bryol. Lichénol. 9: 51-62.

Onraedt, M. 1989. Contribution à la flore bryologique de Guyana francaise IV. Cryptog., Bryol. Lichénol. 10: 119-129.

Pinheiro da Costa, D. 1999. Metzgeriaceae no Brasil. Tesis, Universidade de Sâ o Paulo, Brasil, 261 p.

Pócs, T. & A. Bernecker-Lücking, in prep. Lejeuneaceae: Aphanolejeunea. Flora Neotropica Monograph .

Reiner-Drehwald, E. 1999. Catalogue of the genus Lejeunea Lib. (Hepaticae) in Latin America. Bryophyt. Biblioth. 54: 1-101.

Tixier, P. & T. Pócs, submitted. Lejeuneaceae: Cololejeunea. Flora Neotropica Monograph

Uribe M., J. & S. R. Gradstein 1998. Catalogue of the Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of Colombia. Bryophyt. Biblioth. 53: 1-99.

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